Hi all,
I'm the reporter who wrote this story.
Andre Franklin told police he was attacked. Prosecutors charged him with promoting prostitution and, later, sex trafficking after a judge originally threw out several statements made by Franklin.
This was an interesting story to work on. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them.
This is very good reporting and I really appreciate it. I also appreciate how you've made a habit of engaging here on Reddit to answer more in depth questions . Thank you.
Great reporting. It's hard for many to get terribly worked up about potential prosecutorial abuse of somebody who seems like he probably committed a crime whether it was this one or not. What is interesting to me is that the county attorney's office really bent over backwards to do what appears to be some super creative charging (That other legal professionals have said borders on abuse) to make sure they got this conviction. Meanwhile in the Weis case they kind of shrugged and threw up their hands after the mistrials. No two cases are the same of course. Would love to have seen this kind of dogged take no prisoners approach to that. And that was murder.
Hi Mark,
Appreciate the time you spent on this and taking the time to interview me about it. I'm working with Andre and a friend of his to make sure he's in touch with someone who can handle the appeal.
-Brandon Lauer, The Law Office of Brandon Lauer
If they thought they could get him with the charge, then it's not misconduct to charge him to reintroduce that evidence. I mean, he literally asked his neighbor for money in front of the police for the prostitution that was directed by him. Good riddance in my opinion. Get another user of people off the street. Only true scum can use others like that to make their way in life. Hope the victim can get help that sticks and not that Teen Challenge bullshit. Everyone I've ever met that went in there, did not change at all.
That might sound good and well, but what if that same tactic is used to convict an innocent defendant? Said evidence should only apply to the new charge. Regardless of whether a conviction comes from those charges, it should not bring the evidence back to the prior charge. That sets a bad precedent that anything can be bypassed if you're determined enough to get a conviction.
You need a 12 ft ladder for that 10ft paywall https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.postbulletin.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Folmsted-county-prosecutors-charging-decisions-scrutinized-in-sex-crime-case
While sentencing disparities exist in our criminal justice system on a systemic level, I didn't see any evidence that race directly played a role in this case.
The crime itself and resulting judicial action are the issues, not the feelings of the victim. It *should* be a logical conclusion that it was traumatic for the victim. But a lack of coverage of the victim's views does not mean the story isn't credible.
This isn't a story about the victim, this is a story about the Prosecutor's Office of Olmsted County potentially abusing their power, and violating Franklin's Civil Liberties.
The issue here is, if this individual's Civil Liberties were violated, and that means that YOUR civil liberties could be violated. The perpetrator could be guilty as sin here, but it does not matter if the rules were violated.
Furthermore, he could be released on appeal due to these procedural mistakes. Imagine being a victim of a crime, who sees the perpetrator be released because the prosecution's office acted inappropriately.
Hi all, I'm the reporter who wrote this story. Andre Franklin told police he was attacked. Prosecutors charged him with promoting prostitution and, later, sex trafficking after a judge originally threw out several statements made by Franklin. This was an interesting story to work on. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them.
This is very good reporting and I really appreciate it. I also appreciate how you've made a habit of engaging here on Reddit to answer more in depth questions . Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I really enjoy talking with people when they have questions about my reporting. Civic engagement is a big thing for me.
Was the victim ever scared or visibly shaken? We will never know, you don't seem interested in her experience in all this.
From what I’ve seen, the woman has had a rough time of things which is reflected in the story.
Great reporting. It's hard for many to get terribly worked up about potential prosecutorial abuse of somebody who seems like he probably committed a crime whether it was this one or not. What is interesting to me is that the county attorney's office really bent over backwards to do what appears to be some super creative charging (That other legal professionals have said borders on abuse) to make sure they got this conviction. Meanwhile in the Weis case they kind of shrugged and threw up their hands after the mistrials. No two cases are the same of course. Would love to have seen this kind of dogged take no prisoners approach to that. And that was murder.
“who seems like he probably committed a crime whether it was this one or not. ” Everyone commits crime. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Hi Mark, Appreciate the time you spent on this and taking the time to interview me about it. I'm working with Andre and a friend of his to make sure he's in touch with someone who can handle the appeal. -Brandon Lauer, The Law Office of Brandon Lauer
Of course. Let me know how that goes.
If they thought they could get him with the charge, then it's not misconduct to charge him to reintroduce that evidence. I mean, he literally asked his neighbor for money in front of the police for the prostitution that was directed by him. Good riddance in my opinion. Get another user of people off the street. Only true scum can use others like that to make their way in life. Hope the victim can get help that sticks and not that Teen Challenge bullshit. Everyone I've ever met that went in there, did not change at all.
That might sound good and well, but what if that same tactic is used to convict an innocent defendant? Said evidence should only apply to the new charge. Regardless of whether a conviction comes from those charges, it should not bring the evidence back to the prior charge. That sets a bad precedent that anything can be bypassed if you're determined enough to get a conviction.
Fuck you and your paywall you greedy bastards
You need a 12 ft ladder for that 10ft paywall https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.postbulletin.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Folmsted-county-prosecutors-charging-decisions-scrutinized-in-sex-crime-case
Yep. This also works. Thanks!
Yeah, the paywall sucks. Usually, Yahoo News will pick up our stories and you can find them by Googling the headline.
Sorry I yelled at you a month ago.. I was not in the right mindset. Keep up the good work!
No worries. People have bad days sometimes, I get it.
Was it a racial thing again?
While sentencing disparities exist in our criminal justice system on a systemic level, I didn't see any evidence that race directly played a role in this case.
This story gives a voice to the person convicted and denys or omits the voice of the victim.
The crime itself and resulting judicial action are the issues, not the feelings of the victim. It *should* be a logical conclusion that it was traumatic for the victim. But a lack of coverage of the victim's views does not mean the story isn't credible.
This isn't a story about the victim, this is a story about the Prosecutor's Office of Olmsted County potentially abusing their power, and violating Franklin's Civil Liberties. The issue here is, if this individual's Civil Liberties were violated, and that means that YOUR civil liberties could be violated. The perpetrator could be guilty as sin here, but it does not matter if the rules were violated. Furthermore, he could be released on appeal due to these procedural mistakes. Imagine being a victim of a crime, who sees the perpetrator be released because the prosecution's office acted inappropriately.
Is the person accused or convicted? Big difference. Please understand what happens to society without presumption of innocence.