@jj-adams saidThe guy fell asleep at the wheel and killed two people. His claim it was because of a medical emergency was rejected by Japanese courts.
Sec of Defense defends the decision to not pay him.
Wonder if he'd feel the same if the sailor was black like him?
https://www.foxnews.com/us/mike-lee-calls-out-defense-department-halting-pay-navy-officer-jailed-japan?yptr=yahoo
Why should the US government continue to pay someone who killed two civilians due to his carelessness?
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@no1marauder saidHe didn't fall asleep, he fainted due to some medical reason. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system. He had his wife and two children in the car.
The guy fell asleep at the wheel and killed two people. His claim it was because of a medical emergency was rejected by Japanese courts.
Why should the US government continue to pay someone who killed two civilians due to his carelessness?
The Japanese judge convicted him just to make the locals happy.
@jj-adams saidI take it you’re one of those obnoxious types who think that other peoples civilians are just there for the killing and the US should send in the gunships if an American falls foul of the host legal system.
He didn't fall asleep, he fainted due to some medical reason. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system. He had his wife and two children in the car.
The Japanese judge convicted him just to make the locals happy.
He killed two people if he had the sort of condition that makes you conk out at the wheel then you should t be driving at all, no excuses.
That being said I think there is a case for the navy taking care of his family until he is released.
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@kevcvs57 saidHe didn't have a condition, it was an unforseen medical emergency. He was fine one minute, then passed out the next.
I take it you’re one of those obnoxious types who think that other peoples civilians are just there for the killing and the US should send in the gunships if an American falls foul of the host legal system.
He killed two people if he had the sort of condition that makes you conk out at the wheel then you should t be driving at all, no excuses.
That being said I think there is a case for the navy taking care of his family until he is released.
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@kevcvs57 saidI read about the case, unlike you.
And you know this because ?
The Japanese penal system is very liberal they must have had their reasons for thinking he fell asleep at the wheel.
All you are doing is making up what-ifs based on nothing.
Japanese penal system is very liberal?
Where did you get that idea?
@jj-adams saidNo you read a Fox News filtered version of reality so your opinion is based on a partisan diatribe
I read about the case, unlike you.
All you are doing is making up what-ifs based on nothing.
Japanese penal system is very liberal?
Where did you get that idea?
I’d trust the Japanese legal system over Fox News any day of the week.
Having read the article it contains nothing that wasn’t put forward at his trial and I’ve already said that I believe the US navy does have a moral responsibility for the care of his family.
@kevcvs57 saidA more balanced article is here at the Navy Times: https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/06/05/us-naval-officer-in-japan-faces-prison-over-deadly-crash/
No you read a Fox News filtered version of reality so your opinion is based on a partisan diatribe
I’d trust the Japanese legal system over Fox News any day of the week.
Having read the article it contains nothing that wasn’t put forward at his trial and I’ve already said that I believe the US navy does have a moral responsibility for the care of his family.
It was published before Alkonis' appeal was rejected by a higher court. An excerpt:
"English-language court records obtained by the AP show that the judge expressed skepticism over the mountain sickness claim, citing an initial statement from Alkonis to police in which he said he felt drowsy after driving through mountainous curves.
He later testified to feeling sudden mountain sickness — a finding supported by a neurologist’s June 2021 diagnosis — but the judge said such a sensation should have abated as Alkonis drove down the mountain.
The judge said that though it was conceivable Alkonis was suffering from light mountain sickness, it was difficult to imagine he went from not feeling drowsy at all to becoming suddenly incapacitated."
When I was a teenager we had weekend warrior army training and the high ranking military men and women would stay up all weekend.
One bad ass soldier could stay up for 72 hours! Apparently it's a requirement sometimes.
I'm wondering if this navy guy was working and pushed the limit on staying awake and fell asleep at the wheel?
I don't know the case but it got me thinking.
That would explain the doctors not finding anything medically wrong with him.
"Multiple sources told CNN that the US government has been in contact with the Japanese government regarding the case, and that US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel as well as national security adviser Jake Sullivan have been urging Japan to agree to a prisoner transfer in line with rules set out by the Council of Europe.
Essentially, the process would allow Alkonis to be transferred back to the US to carry out the rest of his sentence in an American prison, while the US sentencing commission reviews the appropriateness of his sentence.
“I think our posture as a government is to try to make for a better resolution to this matter, recognizing a ton of heartbreak from many people involved in this,” said an administration official when discussing the situation. “There’s a relatively regular dialogue between the US and Japan on this. It is not just a one-time thing.”
The National Security Council declined to comment.
Emanuel discussed the possibility of a prisoner transfer with Alkonis’ family in July, but a source close to the Alkonis family told CNN that the idea is “completely unacceptable” to Alkonis and his family.
“The family is not OK with Ridge coming back in handcuffs, and for him to be a felon in two countries,” the source said, adding that Alkonis would lose his right to vote in the US, among other penalties. The source added that the idea appeared to simply be an “easy out” that elements of the US government were considering.
Jonathan Franks, a spokesperson for the family, echoed that sentiment during Wednesday’s news conference. “The Council of Europe treaty, also known as a prisoner of transfer treaty, is not an acceptable remedy here for the family,” he said. “That would involve Ridge coming home in custody, going to federal prison, waiting some period of months for the sentencing commission to act, and affix a charge and a sentence to the foreign offense, which would leave him a felon in his own country, for something that would never have been charged in this country and that’s unacceptable.”
Franks added that “so far, none of the agencies nor the White House can explain an outcome under the prisoner transfer treaty that won’t be that, and it’s just not acceptable to ask someone that’s rendered extraordinary service to this country to come home in handcuffs.”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/politics/ridge-alkonis-jailed-japan-family-biden/index.html
It seems to me the family is being unreasonable in insisting that Alkonis be exonerated when he was convicted under a friendly country's legal system that generally meets international standards. It's probable that if they agreed to the transfer of prisoner procedure, Alkonis would be released in months at most. And it's simply not true that negligent driving that caused deaths is something "that would never have been charged in this country" as the family's lawyer insisted; all States have such laws. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/vehicular-manslaughter-driving-related-homicides.html
@no1marauder saidThe Russian court rejected Brittany Griner's claim.
The guy fell asleep at the wheel and killed two people. His claim it was because of a medical emergency was rejected by Japanese courts.
Why should the US government continue to pay someone who killed two civilians due to his carelessness?
Yet she was brought back in exchange for a for an illegal arms dealer because she is a black, female, homosexual, and thus a "role model".
@techsouth saidStop telling such obvious and blatant lies.
The Russian court rejected Brittany Griner's claim.
Yet she was brought back in exchange for a for an illegal arms dealer because she is a black, female, homosexual, and thus a "role model".
There's a big difference between Russian courts and Japan's as I already pointed out:
no1:" It seems to me the family is being unreasonable in insisting that Alkonis be exonerated when he was convicted under a friendly country's legal system that generally meets international standards."