NY policeman Gilberto Valle acquitted in cannibal plot

[webfact]

NY policeman Gilberto Valle acquitted in cannibal plot

NEW YORK: -- A federal judge in New York has overturned the conviction of a former police officer found guilty of plotting to murder his wife and cook and eat other women.

Judge Paul Gardephe found insufficient evidence to support the March 2013 conviction of Gilberto Valle.

His lawyer had argued Valle was only engaged in online role-playing fantasy on fetish websites.

Valle, dubbed the "cannibal cop" by US media, had faced life in prison.

Calling the case "extraordinary" in his opinion on Monday night, Judge Gardephe found the government failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Valle "entered into a genuine agreement to kidnap a woman, or that he specifically intended to commit a kidnapping".

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28113850


-- BBC 2014-07-02

[PETERTHEEATER]

I suppose that a policeman's diet of coffee, hamburger and donuts palls after a while......

[orosee]

Good news for kids who "roleplay" shooting up their school...

[wpcoe]

I haven't followed the story, but it sounds like a jury found the evidence sufficient to convict him, but a judge throws out the verdict for lack of evidence? Why bother with a jury trial, why not ask some judge?