Zach Zeigler stands before Judge John Payne
Other than the Blarney Blowout, Amherst arraignments heard on Monday morning at the Eastern Hampshire District Court (covering weekend arrests) don't seem to generate much buzz as the bailiffs, prosecutors and clerks office personnel have pretty much seen it all.
Zachary Zeigler managed to make himself an outlier -- and that's a bad thing. The almost unanimous comment I heard this morning in the courtroom while picking up my public documents request from yesterday was, "He's lucky he did not get shot!" Indeed.
Click photo to enlarge/read
As the father of a seven-year-old who sleeps in a bunk bed I'm not sure how I would have reacted to finding Mr. Zeigler passed out in the lower bunk but I'm pretty sure Amherst police would have had to call in the Amherst Fire Department to transport him to the Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
In Court yesterday Zeigler seemed to have no idea of the severity of the incident telling Judge Payne he wanted to settle the case immediately as he has a job in his hometown that starts on Friday. The Judge barely glanced at the prosecutor's table while shaking his head side to side.
Zeigler then said he would hire an attorney. The Judge continued his case until June 3rd and transferred probation oversight to a District Court near his hometown, but with a provision he is continuously, "tested for alcohol."
Judge Payne then glared at Zeigler and said in no uncertain terms, "If you come back before me having tested positive for alcohol, you will spend your summer in Hampshire County -- and it will not be a vacation!"
In the real world, this is actually more common than you might think -- and is why one said real world tends to lock ones doors at night.
ReplyDeleteIn the real world, it usually is treated as a mental health and not criminal matter as well.
Furthermore, in the real world, it's also kinda understand that it really isn't a good idea for someone who has been consuming a massive amount of alcohol for any length of time to suddenly stop without being under medical supervision -- for some very good medical reasons.
But the real world also has a criminal justice system where bigotry and openly expressed prejudice (towards any group of people) quickly leads to disbarment. If Judge Payne really said what you quote him as saying, he just gave that kid a slam-dunk appeal of any conviction.
If you think about it....
This is so sad how we have to have lockdowns at night just to protect or family and possessions from people that act like this. This guy is damn lucky he didn't pick my house for nappy time!
ReplyDeletei don't get what you mean Ed, you don't make much sense, please clarify.
ReplyDeletei don't get what you mean [DOCTOR] Ed, you don't make much sense, please clarify.
ReplyDeleteApparently you lack a basic familiarity with the English language?
Other than perhaps not having enough of a medical background to recognize my implicit (albeit not explicit) reference to Delirium Tremens, anyone with the reading ability of a Middle School student ought to be able to figure out what I meant.
"This is so sad how we have to have lockdowns at night just to protect or family and possessions from people that act like this."
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to protecting your family from rapists, murderers and child molesters?
I hate to tell you this but we live in a country where children have been dragged out of their beds and later found to have been raped, murdered and/or not at all.
I hate to tell you this but the drunken college kids are neither the only folk the APD are concerned about nor the ones they are most concerned about. (They may be the most obnoxious, but they are by no means the most dangerous...)
Have a candid conversation with a cop who trusts you enough to be candid before you nonchalantly dismiss the wisdom of locking your doors before you go to bed.
And no matter what you boast about being able to do to defend your family (and I hope are able to do) -- reality is that the splintering of wood or shattering of glass is going to give you a warning that the silent turning of a doorknob simply won't.
The sooner you learn of the threat and the quicker you learn that it truly is a threat, the better tactical position you are in to deal with it -- no matter how "good" you are.
Someone kicking open a door is going to (a) make enough noise to wake you up and (b) clearly declare a hostile intent. This not only gives you additional time to chamber a round but considerably greater legitimacy in sending it downrange...
"i don't get what you mean [DOCTOR] Ed, you don't make much sense, please clarify."
ReplyDeletePeople who walk around calling themselves doctor, unless they are physicians, are just insecure pretencious fools. Ed, please go on.
wow DOCTOR Ed, way to be a dick when I ask you a simple question to clarify yourself. So much for showing respect, but I guess I've never seen you show any so why would I expect it now.
ReplyDeleteperhaps it's my fault, I should have clarified myself. You don't make sense because of your sarcastic tone and I'd like you to clarify how you come to your conclusions.
for one, how common is this exactly? and why is this not the real world? I'm quite certain Larry isn't reporting a story he found in a comic book.
Also, please tell me your experiences with this being treated as a mental health issue, and what the "real world" scenario is that you know so much about. Alcoholics absolutely would be treated for mental health issues. And when they break the law, they are also treated for criminal matters. Albeit, when they have HISTORY of mental health issues, this is taken into account, and I see no history stated. If you are making the ASSUMPTION he might have a mental history based on his CRIME, I could also make the ASSUMPTION that a 19yo is unlikely to have such a history based on age, job, hair, and clothing. just at a glance.
and when I think about it, I see a slam dunk conviction, and a tough bet in arguing for prejudiced based on what Judge Payne said. In the real world, he committed a crime and will pay the price for it.
But, AGAIN, if you'd like to CLARIFY your point, maybe I could see what you are trying to say. I mean, after all, even a middle school student ought to be able to figure out what clarify means, dick (oh, I mean Doc).
I have the right to use the title, and I do because I know how much it annoys people that I can use it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy annoying them.
DOCTOR, DOCTOR, DOCTOR, DOCTOR
I really enjoy it...
Awesome maturity level youre showing there Ed. I couldn't understand your original post either. Is that how you answered questions in a classroom? Thank God you wont be teaching kids anymore.
ReplyDeleteSchool of ED is not a real doctorate. That's why its graduates are so full of themselves.
ReplyDelete"Ed is a pussy who would never speak to you in such a manner if not from the safety of his keyboard. To Speak to me in such a condescending manner face to face is a sure way to need a trip to the dentist. "
ReplyDeleteBlustered the anonymous coward and criminal.
Yes, this is "criminal threatening" -- a crime -- and with the inclusion of the word "pussy", quite likely a "hate crime" as well. It's something that you can be arrested for and go to jail for -- and as a "hate crime" be subject to enhanced sentencing.
In fact, my friend, unless you want to claim you were incapacitated by alcohol when you typed that out, you actually committed a more serous offense than Zach Zeigler did -- and if you happen to be a public employee, you've also committed a fairly serious Federal offense on top of everything else.
I've been through way to much to be worried about criminal threats from people hiding "on the perch of anonymity." How very brave...
And Larry, you should be ashamed of yourself for posting that threat. The First Amendment doesn't protect c*** like that.
And as to the other coward, exactly what makes you think I'm "not teaching anymore"?
I can tell you exactly how I would have reacted if I found a man in my child's bedroom. I probaby shouldn't give any specifics, but there wouldn't have been a 911 call, or a news story, that's for damn sure.
ReplyDeleteThree things worth considering:
ReplyDelete"...there wouldn't have been a 911 call, or a news story, that's for damn sure."
1: You do realize how the Gun Control folk are going to spin that statement to convince people that gun owners are dangerous trigger-happy nuts, don't you?
2: In the event that you ever did need to use deadly force to defend your family, rest assured that some ambitious leftist will find that statement and link you to it -- and you're gonna have one heck of a fun time explaining how you really didn't mean it.
3: As someone who had to deal with an incredible amount of bullbleep -- and for absolutely no legitimate reason -- I can assure folks that one doesn't want to make statements like this. It's recklessness on the level of firing a flare gun in a gas station, not an overly good idea...
Thanks for the advice Ed, I'll be sure to keep it in mind. I do think you might be inferring too much from my comments. Perhaps I was suggesting that I would have had a heart to heart talk with rhe young man in hopes of changing his path in life. Maybe we'd sit around a campfire, sing Cunbiya, and talk about our feelings. Or...maybe not. who knows. See, that's why I kept my comments suitably vague. Oh, and who said anything about a gun? I certainly didn't. I don't even own one of those moisy impersonal things. So please, try not to jump to any conclusions. I would think that a person who takes such pains to comvince everyone of his intelligence would guard against making such an error.
ReplyDeletethanks for clarifying, Dr. Ed.
ReplyDeleteoh, wait.
Ed, the comment wasnt that you are "not teaching," it was that you wont be teaching kids anymore.
ReplyDeleteEd, the comment wasnt that you are "not teaching," it was that you wont be teaching kids anymore.
ReplyDeleteWhiskey Tango Foxtrot???
As I write this, someone is waving pictures of Dead White Guys in hopes of getting me to do just that in the fall -- and enough pictures to make me seriously consider it.
So like, umm, WTF?
Yeah, well, they're pretty desperate down in Dade County.
ReplyDelete