Legal Issues

Legal Issues

by Mike Masnick




If You Commit A Crime, Chances Are The Police Will Read Your Blog

from the just-saying... dept

It's true that, when you're blogging, it's easy to believe that no one is actually reading what you write. That's why people end up getting fired, not for blogging, but for saying something they shouldn't on a blog, and assuming no one would ever notice. Taking that to a much further extreme, a kid has now pleaded guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge after he confessed on his blog to pulling the steering wheel of a car his friend was driving -- while denying responsibility to the police.

16 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments

(Flattened / Threaded)

    Dec 21st, 2005 @ 11:04am
  • No Subject Given

    by Haggie

    Just another example of the intelligence level of your average blogger.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Dec 21st, 2005 @ 11:55am
    • Re: No Subject Given

      by Anonymous Coward

      I blog but never tell......

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Dec 21st, 2005 @ 1:46pm
    • Re: No Subject Given

      by MadJo

      On the other hand... blogs are personal, and you should be able to talk about most everything on your _own_ website if you feel like it.
      But in this case, it might have been better if he wrote it in an actual diary.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      • Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 6:04am
      • Re: No Subject Given

        "On the other hand... blogs are personal, "

        No, diaries are personal. Blogs are exhibitionism.

        (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

        • Dec 23rd, 2005 @ 2:41am
        • Re: No Subject Given

          by Carol DaRonch

          We are all exhibitionists...just look at what you are all doing: commenting on the personal anguish of someone you don't even know or have the intelligence to even contemplate what he might be going through. The idiotic things that people do - get over yourselves.

          (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

          • Dec 23rd, 2005 @ 5:37pm
          • Re: No Subject Given

            by Anonymous Coward

            Blogs suck. People who kill their friends suck. Idiots who kill their friends then blog about it suck twice over. I doubt whether he's going through very much, he obviously hasn't enough brain to suffer.

            (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

          Jan 13th, 2006 @ 3:05am
        • Re: No Subject Given

          by Jean Pierre

          I agree, You just pulled the words right out of my mouth...

          (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

      Dec 21st, 2005 @ 2:33pm
    • Re: No Subject Given

      by USA Citizen

      One should always assume that if its on the web it will be read. So either keep access private or dont type it.

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    Dec 21st, 2005 @ 12:35pm
  • No Subject Given

    From his story in the articles on this I've read, I find it plausible--that he was in an alcoholic blackout with no recollection of what happened, that the driver told him he had grabbed the wheel and he believed it and felt guilty enough to "confess." However, I also find it unlikely that the driver lied to him in the state she was reportedly in at the time, so this in no way states that he wasn't guilty--only that he was telling the truth when he said he couldn't remember what had happened.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 21st, 2005 @ 1:38pm
  • No Subject Given

    by Landon

    True about eh intelligence of your average blogger. Couldnt agree more. I was prepared to type about 13 paragraphs on the stupidity, but figured your line covers it pretty well.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 21st, 2005 @ 4:03pm
  • No Subject Given

    by Landon

    Even so, writing it in your diary would still be a risk.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 21st, 2005 @ 11:49pm
  • Blog and tell can be pretty helpful

    by Retail Manager

    A few years back, I worked at a book store. We had a number of computer games disappearing from our racks, and were having a difficult time figuring out where they were going.

    Then one day somebody happened on a blog that talked about our store in specific. How they were getting the video games out of the store.

    Once we discovered the exact MO, we knew how to catch them. I think we ended up catching three or four before they caught onto to the fact that we were on to them.

    Talk about sweet justice.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  • Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 8:27am
  • Whatsup with the dates??

    by Anonymous Coward

    FTA: "Coker lay in a coma at Orlando Regional Medical Center until he died Jan. 11."

    So the story is posted on December 21, 2005. Right now its only December 22, 2005. And the driver died on January 11?????? HUH????? He died (past tense) on Jan. 11 (in the future).

    Even the orlandosentinel, which the AP article references, has the same dates.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 10:16am
    • Re: Whatsup with the dates??

      by Mike

      Try paying attention next time you read the article:
      Blake Ranking wrote "I did it" on his blurty.com journal three days after the October 2004 crash that caused a friend's death and left another seriously injured

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

    • Dec 23rd, 2005 @ 11:56am
    • Re: Whatsup with the dates??

      by Yeller@morons

      Moron

      (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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