Patterico's Pontifications

4/21/2009

Somali Pirate’s Father Invents Time Machine

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:25 pm



I get lied to for a living, so stories like this (about the surviving Somali pirate) don’t surprise me much:

The courtroom was briefly closed yesterday while the pirate’s age was debated. The defense claimed he was 15; prosecutors said he was over 18.

The feds said Muse had given conflicting information about his age – telling Navy officials and an NYPD detective he was anywhere between 15 and 26.

The judge called Muse’s father in Somalia and he said his son was his first-born and was born in November 1993, making him just 15.

Under questioning, though, the father said his fourth-born son was born in 1990 – and the judge ruled his testimony was not credible.

Ya think?

P.S.: Ron Kuby for the defense!

33 Responses to “Somali Pirate’s Father Invents Time Machine”

  1. Look at the big smile on his face. American prisoners live better than the average Somali.

    Roy Mustang (9deca0)

  2. Be prepared for this terrorist/pirate to start receiving support from the left because he is just a victim of racism and the imperialist oppression of countries like the US.

    This is going to be interesting because this case is a slam dunk compared to the Gitmo prisoners that they want tried in our court system.

    Baxter Greene (8035ae)

  3. They should have just hung the bastard.

    Dr. K (e70a2d)

  4. Quick! Get a hold of Mr. Peabody, Sherman and the WayBack Machine, set it to 1822 coastal Florida and hang the wee jibber from the nearest and highest yardarm.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  5. Arrest and prosecute the father for perjury.

    Mitch (e72811)

  6. Doesn’t seem as though it matters much. He’s going to be tried as an adult, so whether he’s 15 or 26, it doesn’t really matter. Assuming he gets the appropriate sentence, life in prison without parole, if he’s only fifteen, then he’ll get an additional eleven years as our guest.

    Since no one was killed in the incident for which he was arrested, there was never a possibility of capital punishment if he was to be tried under American law.

    The only point in saying that he is a juvenile is to try to generate some sympathy for the miscreant; as eager to throw people under the bus as our President has been, I don’t see him showing much mercy to this guy, juvenile or not.

    It’s just good politics for the Administration to prosecute this misunderstood boy as an adult, and throw the book at him, so that’s exactly what they’ll do.

    The cold-hearted Dana (3e4784)

  7. Since no one was killed in the incident for which he was arrested, there was never a possibility of capital punishment if he was to be tried under American law.

    That is not entirely accurate…

    And besides, isn’t it the liberal side of the court who keeps telling us we should be willing to apply law from sources outside the US?

    Scott Jacobs (90ff96)

  8. #7 Only when said laws support a result they want.

    This case is going to be very interesting to follow. The piracy was committed against an American flagged ship with an American crew, universal jurisdiction doesn’t apply. So this case will absolutely put The Law to the test.

    LarryD (feb78b)

  9. There are ways to estimate his age with x-rays and bone maturation although the malnutrition common in Somalia might alter that a bit. It matters little but will get some mileage in the press. If Kuby is the defense counsel, a conviction is pretty much assured. Do any of his clients ever get off ?

    Mike K (2cf494)

  10. Law of the sea is to hang Pirates immediately upon capture. What is the problem here?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  11. #8

    Oh yeah… I keep forgetting that part…

    Scott Jacobs (90ff96)

  12. In a just world, after his conviction, he would be hung from the Verazanno Narrows Bridge so that all mariners would know that piracy will not be tolerated, still.
    In a realistic world, he would have been shackled to an anchor and line immediately after his capture, and tossed off the fantail.

    AD (c6623a)

  13. 12, How about welding the pirate in with a drunken Ted Kennedy in an old Olds for a tour of bridges of the Northeast? Or to make sure of the job, launch the welded shut Olds of an aircraft carrier for Ted to search the Atlantic floor for JFK’s original coffin?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  14. No! I wouldn’t wish Teddy on my worst enemy, last of all some illiterate goat-herder from the arm-pit of Africa. Teddy has his own accounting that he has to answer for, and that session is fast approaching.

    AD (c6623a)

  15. Did anyone see that knob-job clip of Barcky lauding praise and accolades on Kennedy yesterday? If you are a Republican, and speak positively of an elderly douchenozzle at his birthday party, you can get run out of office. If you are a Dem, you can heap praise on someone that got all Kennedy’d up, drove off a bridge, and fled like a coward, allowing a passenger to drown, and that is fine.

    JD (ae4db3)

  16. Maybe Keith Ellison (D-CAIR) will adopt the little nipper.

    daleyrocks (5d22c0)

  17. Actually I think I saw something about some Somali group in Minnesota paying for his legal defense.

    SPQR (72771e)

  18. 17. http://powerlineblog.com has that story. Seems taxpayers are supporting the group that fawns over the poor somali pirates.

    aoibhneas (0c6cfc)

  19. … the judge ruled his testimony was not credible.

    Maybe he had the two sons by different wives

    /snark

    JayC (7c1245)

  20. I don’t suppose anyone has bothered to check if he has/had wisdom teeth?

    Soothsayer (14eb1d)

  21. Here’s the federal complaint, via PACER, if you’re interested.

    Beldar (5cbfc1)

  22. Why all the rancor? In perspective, this kid is a lot less of a threat to our society than the ten thousand others of our homegrown ones who will rob you for the three dollars in your pocker, rape you if they think they have time to, kill you because they’re too stupid not to rest their finger on the trigger, and be out on parole in six years.

    nk (3e53ec)

  23. Thank you for posting the complaint, Beldar. It has several new and interesting details.

    Anon (b0f193)

  24. Maybe so, NK, but on land we can call on law enforcement for help and in theory they will provide timely assistance. It’s much easier for lawlessness to flourish on the seas, and IMO that’s why applicable law allows more aggressive enforcement.

    Anon (b0f193)

  25. Because one is more likely does not mean that we should not pursue others to the extent possible, nk.

    Anon prefers the Stones to the Beatles. The real question is … NC or CA ? 😉

    JD (ae4db3)

  26. This year it’s definitely CA.

    Anon (b0f193)

  27. You are a sexist misogynistic racist looksist, Anon.

    😉

    JD (ae4db3)

  28. You forgot homophobic.

    Anon (b0f193)

  29. oops. Good catch. Looks-ist is one of my favorites. I almost fell out of my chair the 1st time I saw that one.

    JD (ae4db3)

  30. #22 nk:

    In perspective, this kid is a lot less of a threat to our society than the ten thousand others of our homegrown ones…

    I’m not so sure, nk.

    The actions of our homegrown thugs are certainly more immediate, and more tragic for their individual victims…but they aren’t disrupting international trade.

    It may be that our attitudes towards piracy are a little outdated, we no longer live in an era where the content of a single ship pirated might devastate the economy of a entire town or even threaten the survival of individuals needing to be supplied from the cargo of the vessel, but piracy is still a very real economic concern just because so much of our trade is carried across the oceans.

    Kind of like the urbanites who have difficulty associating groceries with the farms and ranches they came from, it’s difficult for us in the internet age to associate stuff ordered online and dropped at the door with ships and the sea, but they do play a huge part in the delivery of most of our goods.

    EW1(SG) (e27928)

  31. I’d give him ten years before sending him back home. It’s a long enough time, now that we are aware of the nuisance, for us to make piracy a quaint memory again.

    nk (4b5c8a)

  32. And just for a test, my respected and very much valued fellow commenters. What would be your proposed solution to men urinating in public, on any corner of any building, on the streets of your city?

    nk (4b5c8a)


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