<p>I believe the legal definition of slander is that the statement has to be both false and known to be false. Since the police have probably done this before and possibly even faced slander charges, it is safe to assume that they have enough facts that they are comfortable it is not slander.</p>
<p>Secondly, you are now accusing the police of slanderous behavior. Whatever happened to the idea of “INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY”? </p>
<p>Slander is a serious charge that should be decided in the courts with all the facts on the table and a jury and you should not have an opinion on that until all of that is settled!! (I read that on the internet about another case in which people made a similar case).</p>
<p>Criminal charges filed by the state are <em>allegations</em> only. They do not have to be supported by proof, other than a showing of “probable cause” which is a low hurdle. They are the opening salvo of the legal process to bring charges against a suspect, but are not legal evidence that the suspect actually did anything wrong.</p>
<p>When Joe Citizen makes a statement on a public internet forum, that e.g., “Bill Smith sold cocaine to high school students on X High School campus,” and knows that statement is supported by no facts or evidence other than the charges written in a criminal complaint, then it rises to the level of being slanderous, because every time someone searches Bill Smith’s name, they are going to come across that statement. Go ahead and go there if you want, but I wouldn’t take your case if I was a defamation lawyer.</p>
<p>These men set up a business where they sold coke and ecstasy to minors on school property.</p>
<p>You are accusing me of slander. You are accusing me of purposefully stating what I know to be a false statement. </p>
<p>I don’t know if this is a false statement. Like everyone else here I have discussed this case based on what I have read on line. I have linked and quoted numerous articles on where I got my information.</p>
<p>That is all any of us have. No one has first hand knowledge.</p>
<p>What is it about lacrosse players? This case, the UVA kid who murdered his girlfriend…</p>
<p>I asked the google and this article came up. Even though the Duke “lax bros” were cleared in the rape case, apparently 15 of the 47 players on the team had arrest records.</p>
<p>I’m still surprised that so many people have such a casual attitude towards teens and college students smoking pot. I see articles like this in the news often. It certainly isn’t something I would ever condone or shrug off in my kid. </p>
<p>I never actually accused you of slander. I did my best to point out that nothing I’d seen here or online provides proof of your statement - it still doesn’t, as far as I can tell. If you are comfortable with your statement, then own it. I don’t believe in judging the guilt or innocence of people based on news stories, and that is what appears to be happening on this thread. While no one here has first hand knowledge of what transpired, a court trial or plea agreement will provide a proper basis upon which to describe what these defendants actually did.</p>
<p>Different story, same underlying biases. This is about two college athletes who beat a homeless man until a FEMALE bystander rushed in to protect him.</p>
<p>One of the accused is described as a “wonderful young man from a fine family.” Because of course he’s not actually a “thug” like other people who do such things. And of course they were both released on their own recognizance.</p>
<p>From the article sax linked, the two alleged ringleaders “played lacrosse at the swanky Montgomery County private school and coached youth sports leagues, according to Ferman. The DA said Brooks and Scott exploited those relationships to help grow the criminal enterprise.” If they provided drugs to kids they were coaching, that is a new level of evil. It is scary to think about all the adults and older kids who have positions of responsibility over our kids - coaches, music teachers and band leaders, etc. (I am not talking about teachers and school personnel here.) I don’t usually wonder if any of these people are pushing drugs. </p>
<p>Also, according to the article the drug supplies were regularly shipped to the older guy’s apartment and both guys’ parents’ houses. What did the parents think all those deliveries were?</p>
<p>surfcity, I feel the same way. The prevailing attitude even among many parents is that marijuana is benign. I feel as though I’m swimming against the tide when I talk to my teen about it. I’ve found the NIH/NIDA website to be very helpful because the director, Dr. Nora Volkow, has posted discussion and interpretation of the studies addressing the effects of pot on teenagers. We’ve discussed this information in great detail. I’ve also pointed out that, although many kids will use small amounts and go on to normal life, there will be some kids who won’t be able to walk away and will not have normal adult lives. There’s no way to know ahead of time which category you fall into.</p>
<p>Paoli is also on the Main Line, so I’m not sure what your point is.</p>
<p>One of the accused Haverford School students (an all-county swimmer on his way to Lehigh) is from Glenolden, definitely on the “other side of the tracks.” But Paoli, like most towns on the Main Line, has a mix of middle-, upper-middle and uber-wealthy people.</p>
<p>People have guns everywhere, even in the purple Main Line suburbs. But semiautomatic weapons in a home with all kinds of illegal drugs and drug-related paraphernalia is fairly incriminating. Especially when there are text messages in evidence that say things like this: </p>
<p>These guys had strict quotas and an agenda, to create and encourage more users. And they were just getting started, with much bigger plans for the future. Scary for parents and a relief they were caught before this went even farther than it did.</p>
<p>What I just can’t wrap my mind around is how these guys actually thought someone, somewhere wouldn’t eventually report them. These days, everyone knows everything in real time, so it’s no surprise it was sooner rather than later. </p>
<p>JHS spoke about low rates of gun ownership in Haverford. I was clarifying that the primary defendant didn’t live in Haverford, he lived in Paoli. I have never heard of Paolia and don’t know anything about most of PA, so that is why I added “if it makes a difference,” regarding rates of gun ownership/hunting where the defendant lived.</p>
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<p>I don’t disagree with this. But from what I read, and this was pointed out way at the beginning of this thread, the OP news report stated that all of those items came from 9 different locations. So, it is possible that one gun came from a location with no drugs, or nearly all the drugs came from the same location as all three guns. We don’t know. The incrimination factor is going to vary depending upon where and it what combination those items came from. </p>
<p>I keep thinking of all those packages being delivered. Maybe UPS dropped a dime on them? Why didn’t the parents wonder? If my kid was having packages regularly delivered to my house without a good explanation, I wouldn’t have waited very long before opening one. </p>
<p>Adding to my previous comment, it has also not been established that any of those items belonged to any of the defendants. It is possible that the guns belonged to one of the juvenile’s dads, or some of the drugs belonged to one of the defendant’s brothers. The police are going to search the entire residence and seize everything they deem relevant to the case, without regard to who actually owns it. It is easy to jump to conclusions about what was happening when all we see is stuff from 9 places laid out on one table.</p>
<p>“…In all, police confiscated 8 pounds of marijuana, 3 grams of hash oil, 23 grams of cocaine, 11 grams of MDMA and more than $11,000 in cash. They also found in Scott’s apartment an assortment of loaded and ready-to-fire guns, ranging from a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol to an AR-15 assault rifle>”</p>
<p>“…Shipments from California reportedly went to Scott’s Haverford apartment, his parents’ home in Paoli and Brooks’ Villanova home.”</p>