Man spits on cop, gets life in jail

[Guest Bannable Offense]

Source: Associated Press, MSN.com

 

Man spits on cop, gets life in jail

 

Oklahoma man had faced just a year in wife-beating case

 

OKLAHOMA CITY, July 2 — An Oklahoma man arrested on suspicion of beating his wife faced year in prison and a fine. But when he spit in an arresting officer’s face, he got a life sentence instead, officials said on Wednesday.

 

John Carl Marquez, 36, was convicted of “placing bodily fluid upon a government employee,” a felony that can carry a life sentence because of the possibility of transmitting a potentially deadly disease. 

 

State judge April Sellers White sentenced Marquez this week even though Marquez and the officer tested negative for any communicable disease.

 

Marquez also was convicted of assaulting a police officer, and a jury recommended the maximum sentence because he had previous convictions.

 

Marquez, arrested several months ago, could have received one year in prison and a $3,000 fine for wife-beating, according to the Creek County court clerk’s office.

 

His lawyers said they plan to appeal.

 

Something about only a year for wife-beating but life for bodily fluids on a government official doesn't sit right with me. I really don't want to feel sympathy for a wife-beater, but the sentence is a bit extreme from what I have read thus far.

[Guest MrRant]

What would happen if the cop beat the suspect down and he was bleeding and bled on the officer?

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

What would happen if the cop beat the suspect down and he was bleeding and bled on the officer?

Assault.

 

They wouldn't tack on extra charges to a police officer, in all likelyhood. I would speculate that this guy is a repeat offender, and they're just trying to get him off the streets.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

That's probably the case. There's no WAY someone would get life for spitting on a cop, unless either he's got pneumonia or worse, or else has a record a mile long that includes several violent offenses, and he blew his last chance.

[Guest Samurai_Goat]

Well, hey, that bleeding thing did the trick in Fight Club. It's a smart move.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

"You Don't Know where I've beeeeeen, Lou!!!! AHAHAHAHA, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN!!!!!"

[Guest Ravenbomb]

Best. Scene. In That Part Of The Movie.

[Guest NoCalMike]

"You Don't Know where I've beeeeeen, Lou!!!! AHAHAHAHA, YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN!!!!!"

That scene was so classic~!

[Guest Vern Gagne]

What if the guy knew he was HIV positive and did this. Could he of been charged with attempted murder, or even murder if the cop became infected?

[Guest Tyler McClelland]

Attempted, perhaps. However, there's likely no malice aforethought, and he'd get off rather lightly.

[Guest Some Guy]

Source: Associated Press, MSN.com

 

Man spits on cop, gets life in jail

 

Oklahoma man had faced just a year in wife-beating case

 

OKLAHOMA CITY, July 2 — An Oklahoma man arrested on suspicion of beating his wife faced year in prison and a fine. But when he spit in an arresting officer’s face, he got a life sentence instead, officials said on Wednesday.

 

John Carl Marquez, 36, was convicted of “placing bodily fluid upon a government employee,” a felony that can carry a life sentence because of the possibility of transmitting a potentially deadly disease.  

 

State judge April Sellers White sentenced Marquez this week even though Marquez and the officer tested negative for any communicable disease.

 

Marquez also was convicted of assaulting a police officer, and a jury recommended the maximum sentence because he had previous convictions.

 

Marquez, arrested several months ago, could have received one year in prison and a $3,000 fine for wife-beating, according to the Creek County court clerk’s office.

 

His lawyers said they plan to appeal.

 

Something about only a year for wife-beating but life for bodily fluids on a government official doesn't sit right with me. I really don't want to feel sympathy for a wife-beater, but the sentence is a bit extreme from what I have read thus far.

He had previous convictions, of what I don't know because the article conviently omits that extremely important aspect of the case.

 

What if the guy knew he was HIV positive and did this. Could he of been charged with attempted murder, or even murder if the cop became infected?

 

HIV can't be tranmitted by spiting on someone. Unless you are talking about the bleeding hypothetical in which case the officer would have to injest a lot of blood or have an open wound that the attacker's blood got into and even then how can you convict someon of purposely trying to bleed on someone during a fight with teh intention of trying to invect them with a virus? That's pretty stupid. What if someone who had a cold intentially coughed on an officer with the intention of giving him a cold? Is that just a misdemeaner (SP?)?

[Guest Lightning Flik]

Meh... And stupidity runs rampant.

 

And I mean the getting charged for life for harming a "government offical". Not the guy doing it.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

That's a little drastic...I could see the first charge and then another couple years to teach him a lesson.

[Guest JMA]

Ugh. This whole situation reeks of insanity. No one should be spitting on the police, obviously. But to give a guy life for it? I find that insane. The guy should be charged with beating his wife and be judged in a court of law. After all, this is America, not Saudi Arabia.

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Here's a more detailed report on this case from the AP.

 

SAPULPA, Okla. - A convicted rapist has been sentenced to life in prison for spitting on a police officer.

 

Creek County Associate District Judge April Sellers White followed the recommendation of a jury for the maximum sentence against John C. Marquez under a law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers.

 

White rejected a prosecution request for a 25-year prison term and a defense request for a four-year term.

 

Following sentencing Monday, Marquez's attorney, Jason Serner, promised an appeal to the state Court of Criminal Appeals. No appeal had been filed by Thursday.

 

Marquez, 35, was convicted of hurling body fluids on Sapulpa Officer Charles Gadd while Gadd was taking Marquez to jail following a domestic disturbance in which a woman's arm was broken.

 

The 1996 state law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers was enacted amid concerns that deadly diseases, such as AIDS, could be transmitted this way.

 

Gadd told the jury that Marquez spit on him despite being warned and then bit him when Gadd was trying to prevent Marquez from spitting again.

 

Gadd and Marquez tested negative for any communicable diseases.

 

The jury took 15 minutes on May 14 to recommend the life sentence. Marquez's prior felony convictions, including rape and burglary, were taken into consideration in determining the sentence.

 

In addition to the life term, Marquez received one year in jail and a $3,000 fine for his conviction for domestic assault and a $500 fine for resisting a peace officer.

 

Telephone calls to the judge, the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney were not returned Thursday.

 

====================================================

 

He's a multi-time felon convicted of rape and burglary. Let the man rot.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

What if the guy knew he was HIV positive and did this. Could he of been charged with attempted murder, or even murder if the cop became infected?

HIV doesn't transmit through spit

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

"Ummm...he could have given me the 24-hour flu!"

[Guest Anglesault]

Wahoo!

 

The fucked up lunacy of the system finally works in favor of the good guys!

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Marquez, 35, was convicted of hurling body fluids on Sapulpa Officer Charles Gadd

Now that just sounds sick.

 

If he was trying to bite him, then there could be an arguement made for trying to pass on communicable diseases, but this just reeks of trying to get scum off the streets.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course...

[Guest Anglesault]

Marquez, 35, was convicted of hurling body fluids on Sapulpa Officer Charles Gadd

Now that just sounds sick.

 

If he was trying to bite him, then there could be an arguement made for trying to pass on communicable diseases, but this just reeks of trying to get scum off the streets.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course...

Gadd told the jury that Marquez spit on him despite being warned and then bit him when Gadd was trying to prevent Marquez from spitting again.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

Marquez, 35, was convicted of hurling body fluids on Sapulpa Officer Charles Gadd

Now that just sounds sick.

 

If he was trying to bite him, then there could be an arguement made for trying to pass on communicable diseases, but this just reeks of trying to get scum off the streets.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course...

Gadd told the jury that Marquez spit on him despite being warned and then bit him when Gadd was trying to prevent Marquez from spitting again.

Yeah, I saw that, thats why i brought it up. I just phrased it poorly. My bad.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

The 1996 state law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers was enacted amid concerns that deadly diseases, such as AIDS, could be transmitted this way.

So what this means is that there are parts of America as ignorant and uninformed about how AIDS spreads as the parts of Africa where it is pandemic. And they're passing laws based on this misinformation.

 

This guy is a worthy candidate for long-term incarceration, but for him to get it for spitting on an officer (and not for beating his wife, or for the many other things he has probably done but we're not told about in this article) is shameful, and has a slight odor of fascism to it.

 

It's a legal system rooted in WWE logic. We should not praise the blindfold-wearing squirrel when it finds the occasional acorn, as it could take the blindfold off and find a lot more. [sounds a bit Warriorish, doesn't it? I'm sorry.]

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

"John Carl Marquez, 36, was convicted of “placing bodily fluid upon a government employee,” a felony that can carry a life sentence because of the possibility of transmitting a potentially deadly disease."

 

Obviously, the facts are presented. Sorta opposite to the ones that caused much grief.

 

I'm not too unhappy about this

[Guest Vitamin X]

Why can't we just take a gun to the back of his head and shoot him while we're at it?

 

That'll teach people to respect the police.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Why can't we just take a gun to the back of his head and shoot him while we're at it?

 

That'll teach people to respect the police.

 

Because that's the sort of theory on law enforcement we just made such a big deal about DEPOSING in a certain mideast nation not too long ago.

 

EDIT: or were you being sarcastic?

[Guest Youth N Asia]

THUG IN JAIL: "I killed a man cause he looked at me funny. How bout you?"

 

SPITTER: "I spit on a cop."

 

THUG *takes a step back* "Whoa, easy there fella."

[Guest Ripper]

The 1996 state law that makes it a felony to place bodily fluids on law enforcement officers was enacted amid concerns that deadly diseases, such as AIDS, could be transmitted this way.

So what this means is that there are parts of America as ignorant and uninformed about how AIDS spreads as the parts of Africa where it is pandemic. And they're passing laws based on this misinformation.

 

This guy is a worthy candidate for long-term incarceration, but for him to get it for spitting on an officer (and not for beating his wife, or for the many other things he has probably done but we're not told about in this article) is shameful, and has a slight odor of fascism to it.

 

It's a legal system rooted in WWE logic. We should not praise the blindfold-wearing squirrel when it finds the occasional acorn, as it could take the blindfold off and find a lot more. [sounds a bit Warriorish, doesn't it? I'm sorry.]

This law and others like it were made for the protection of prison personel. Convicts will often make "cocktails" using spit, blood, semen, urine and every other bodily fuid they could and throw it in the faces of correctional officers on duty, and there was a chance of diesease being spread, not just AIDS, but everything else. these laws made it a felony to do this for the protection of its officers; mostly because previously it would just result in some time in the hole for the prisoner. Now there are bigger reprecussions to this. This law states that dieseases could be spread from this, and a cocktail of semen or blood getting in a persons mouth could possibly trasmit AIDS. But the law doesn't specify AIDS, it says disease.

 

And on a kinda related note, does anyone remember that guy that got life in jail when he was going around having unprotected sex with people when he knew he had the AIDS virus. What was he charged with.

[Guest deadbeater]

In the Practice they had a guy being sentenced 3 years for a brutal murder of a lawyer when he snitched on his partner. Prosecutor Helen got the perp to make a threat on her life. The judge, using wide discrection as allowed in Massachusetts law, gave the perp 95 years in contempt of court. Ouch!!