On 11/30/2012 04:01 PM, Naslund, Steve wrote:
I am a little concerned that this guy keeps a safe deposit box with a burner phone and cash around. Is he a CIA agent? :) Anyone who DOESN'T have such things stashed away somewhere is, IMHO, incredibly naive and taking on quite a large amount of risk.
The likelihood (and hope) is that you'll never need it. But on the off chance that you get f***ed by the legal system because of some power hungry, mouth-breather cop who can't/won't understand that you've done nothing wrong -- or worse, that you're easily provably within the law, but he "believes" that you're not and drags you through the process anyways -- you'll be very happy that you stashed away that old unlocked cell phone, old laptop, change of clothes and cash. I'm a (legal) firearms owner... up here in Canada, where some previous governments enacted extreme anti-gun legislation, that pretty much means that if I so much as sneeze in a way that a cop doesn't like, I can have my life ruined pretty damned fast (not quite, but really close). I wouldn't bet against me having an excrement-hitting-the-oscillator stash like this guy does. ;) (Note: I don't mean to imply that all cops are power hungry mouth-breathers intent on destroying the lives of citizens. Most cops are fundamentally good people and do a great job. But like every other profession, there ARE bad cops out there, and it's within the realm of possibility that you'll deal with one of them one day.)
Why would I donate to his legal defense when he has not been charged yet? A little premature, no?
If you think that legal costs in a criminal case only start when you've been formally charged, you're grossly misinformed. At what point you personally decide to donate is one thing, but implying that someone doesn't need a defense fund prior to charges being laid is a bit naive about how the process works. - Pete