Former Teacher Acquitted of Videogame Massacre Threat
A former high-school teacher who spent a month in jail for threatening to kill hundreds of people was found not guilty of "terroristic threatening" when somebody finally clued in to the fact that he was talking about a videogame.
29-year-old former teacher Jason Davis of Knox County, Kentucky was already having a rough day when he stepped out of his classroom for a moment, a quick break that led a mischievous student to hide some markers. The student later returned the markers, at which point Davis remarked that he wanted to blow off some steam by killing 500 people. His comments were overheard and reported, the police were called in, Davis was arrested and wound up spending a month in jail before he was finally released on bond.
But here's the catch: The student who stashed the markers had previously played some online games with Davis and that's what the two were talking about. Whoever heard the comment, he said, had no idea of the context.
Fortunately, it took a jury all of ten minutes to find him not guilty of "second-degree terroristic threatening"; unfortunately, it's too late to do him much good. Davis had already been notified that he wouldn't be rehired for the next school year and even though he's been acquitted, he's afraid that the charge and his month in jail will follow him wherever he goes. "He never should have been charged," said attorney David Hoskins.
Source: GamePolitics [http://www.kentucky.com/2010/08/05/1378090/former-knox-teacher-acquitted.html]
Permalink
A former high-school teacher who spent a month in jail for threatening to kill hundreds of people was found not guilty of "terroristic threatening" when somebody finally clued in to the fact that he was talking about a videogame.
29-year-old former teacher Jason Davis of Knox County, Kentucky was already having a rough day when he stepped out of his classroom for a moment, a quick break that led a mischievous student to hide some markers. The student later returned the markers, at which point Davis remarked that he wanted to blow off some steam by killing 500 people. His comments were overheard and reported, the police were called in, Davis was arrested and wound up spending a month in jail before he was finally released on bond.
But here's the catch: The student who stashed the markers had previously played some online games with Davis and that's what the two were talking about. Whoever heard the comment, he said, had no idea of the context.
Fortunately, it took a jury all of ten minutes to find him not guilty of "second-degree terroristic threatening"; unfortunately, it's too late to do him much good. Davis had already been notified that he wouldn't be rehired for the next school year and even though he's been acquitted, he's afraid that the charge and his month in jail will follow him wherever he goes. "He never should have been charged," said attorney David Hoskins.
Source: GamePolitics [http://www.kentucky.com/2010/08/05/1378090/former-knox-teacher-acquitted.html]
Permalink
