You are correct Larry, the act itself *IS* criminal. But in order to be able
to successfully prosecute the perpetrator, one needs to be able to show: 1) WHO
did it, and 2) that there was INTENT. Without those two, no individual will
ever be prosecuted.
Tell ya what - you take the photo Jeff put up, with the info he provided, and
go to your local prosecutor and ask him if he'd be able/willing to pursue a
court case without info regarding who (SPECIFICALLY) did it. (An I mean what
individual actually cut the cable, not whose machine it's connected to.) I
think you're in for a surprise. Better yet, get out your statutes for wherever
you live and read the statute on Criminal Damage to Property. You'll find
references similar to this (from Illinois law):
Sec. 21‑1. Criminal damage to property.
(1) A person commits an illegal act when he:
(a) knowingly damages any property of another without his consent;
Note where it says "person", "knowingly" and "without his consent". In IL,
you'd need to prove these three things before any conviction can be achieved.
In this instance, "without consent" goes without saying... Sure, one can point
fingers at the group who owns the equipment to which the offending coax is
connected, but until we can prove >>WHO<< cut that cable, there is no criminal
prosecution. Sorry... (Of course, there are grounds for a CIVIL suit, but as
far as anything criminal - no dice.)
I understand the futility of the situation - and believe me, nobody would like
to nab idiots like this more than those of us here, but it is apparent you
don’t deal with the legal system on a regular basis... NOW PLEASE DON’T
MISUNDERSTAND MY STATEMEMT - IT IS NOT MEANT AS DEGRADING!! However, I **AM**
familiar with the legal system, so I speak from a relative position of
knowledge.
Now, for fear of having strayed WAY off topic, I will cease any further
"transmissions" on this subject.
73,
Mark - N9WYS
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
Larry Wagoner
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 6:25 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Bad adapter
At 06:22 AM 4/22/2008, you wrote:
>Larry,
>I thought the same thing except I would go for more 240 V...a good
>old TV transformer with about 800V would do. Also if you stand
>inside the building looking for smoke it would lead to the user of
>the feedline. Bet they would not do it again.
>This was obviously a poor and botched job. The RG58 and crummy
>splice tells one this person would not be working at my site. I
>would not even let them on the property to look.
I defer to your obviously superior ideas. :)
I do think in all seriousness that there should be criminal charges
in play. The idea that you cannot show criminal intent when someone
CUT your hardline is absurd. The cutting of the hardline ITSELF is criminal.
Larry
N5WLW
