Liberal talk-show host to plead 'No Contest' in child porn case

[82Marine89]

LINK (http://www.examiner.com/a-1093218~Report__Talk_show_host_weighs_deal_in_porn _case.html)


Radio talk show host Bernie Ward is considering pleading no contest to child pornography charges as part of a plea deal offered by federal prosecutors, one of his attorneys confirmed.

Jeannette Boudreau, Ward’s business attorney and longtime friend, acknowledged that a five-year sentence has been one of the options discussed but said she wasn’t sure anything had been finalized.

The KGO host and former priest faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Boudreau, who said she believes Ward is innocent, said that if he took the plea agreement, it would be because going to trial would likely bankrupt him.

“I’m not sure he agreed to it, but the power the federal prosecutors have if it goes to trial, it would be extremely expensive for Bernie [to fight the charges],” Boudreau said.

Department of Justice spokesman Erik Ablin would not comment on the reported deal and Ward’s criminal lawyer, Doron Weinberg, did not return calls for comment.

On Wednesday, Ward pleaded not guilty to two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography.

The federal grand jury indictment, which was unsealed Friday, alleges the crimes took place between Jan. 1 and Jan. 13, 2005. Ward claims he downloaded the images on the Internet while researching a book he was planning on hypocrisy in America.

Reports of a plea deal opened speculation that Ward may have been negotiating with federal prosecutors long before Wednesday, when the indictment was handed down.

Steven Clark, a San Jose defense attorney and legal analyst, said it’s not unusual for plea deals to be cemented before charges are filed.

“Negotiations can take place at any stage,” he said. “Sometimes precharging negotiations are done.”

Even if a jury believed Ward’s defense — that he was conducting research — it would not necessarily absolve him of the charges.

“It may be a mitigating factor, but it’s not a defense, because you can’t obtain it legally for any purposes,” Clark said.

Boudreau said Ward’s intense focus on his project might have blinded him to the legal implications.

“Bernie is just so intense,” she said. “If you listen to him on the air, he has to win the argument; he sort of pummels his opponent.”

“It makes sense that in his research, he would become narrowly focused, dive in and forget what he was doing and where he was and lose the broader perspective,” she said.

[theHawk]

Hahaha, He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge because a trial would bankrupt him. Riiiight.

Who downloads kiddie porn in order to 'research' it? Hope the sick phuck rots in jail.

[truthmatters]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/MNFHTPMQD.DTL

heres some more on the story


As part of the research for the book, Ward - a married father of four - downloaded a few images of child pornography, Weinberg acknowledged.

In a brief interview, Ward said he "thought it was time to expose the dirty secret of the Internet in a book."

Federal authorities learned about Ward's activities in December 2004, Weinberg said, adding: "The fact that these events happened three years ago - and they are just being prosecuted - shows the fact that nobody believes that he is a child predator.

"He is just being prosecuted for a mistake he made (more than) three years ago."

Federal authorities seized Ward's computer in early 2005, and there was no evidence of child pornography or any other impropriety, Weinberg said.

[pegwinn]

Hahaha, He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge because a trial would bankrupt him. Riiiight.

Who downloads kiddie porn in order to 'research' it? Hope the sick phuck rots in jail.

Ditto. Too bad they won't put him in with the general population.

[eighballsidepocket]

I've lived in the S.F. bay area for all my life, and have listened to Bernie Ward on KGO AM radio on a few occasions in the past. He's been with KGO 810 AM radio for many years. It's a powerful 50,000 watt station that can be heard in the evenings throughout most of the Western states.

I don't accept his political stance one bit, but I hope he gets a fair trial.

I may vehemently disagree with him, but If he was trully doing a research project, and stupidly or ignorantly downloaded this filth, and degradation of children, and isn't a pedophile-type, I hope the trial or whatever happens will reveal the truth in full.

Interestingly, Ward is an former Catholic Priest. After all these years I had no idea about that. Priest doesn't equate to pedophile by the way, as the greatest percentage of Catholic priests are men of great integrity. This is coming from a "eightball" who is no Catholic, and doesn't agree with all of Catholic doctrine, either. I do know that Catholics can and are strong Christians just like biblical fundies. They are ethical, Jesus believing folks too.

He/Ward, conducts a weekend morning show in addition to his politically charged evening show on KGO AM, that's called God Talk. He's hosted God Talk on Sunday mornings for years.

I've always wondered why he got that God Talk job with the station, but maybe it's because of his previous credentials as a former Catholic Priest.

Never the less, if you ever listen to him on that show, he doesn't seem the host that would be a right fit for that topic, God Talk, as he is very anti-evangelical, anti-fundamentalist, anti-sola scriptura(Bible as only authority for Christians), as well as many other abherrent beliefs.

In fact, I doubt that he gets many calls on Sunday mornings anymore from folks that want to just talk to Bernie Ward about biblical scriptural topics, as he is so off-beam, with his "anti" Christian talk. In fact he's much more tolerant of every person that has a belief system that's not Christian/biblical based, but goes out of his way to really "lay" into the biblically based Christian. I think he'd make a great "Unitarian". :) I'll leave that to you curious folks to unravel the definition of the Unitarian. Lets just suffice to say, that if there is a definition for watering down the bible scripture to the point that it is totally moot, that's Unitarianism.
******
Michael Savage used to share the same studios or building as Ward, as there are two major talk radio stations in San Francisco, KGO and KSFO 560 AM. KSFO is very conservative in format, where KGO is moderate to liberal, with a slight sprinkling of a "token" conservative that they showcase at at the worst listener time of the week, 10 pm-1am on Sat-Sun, named Dr. Bill Wattenberg.
Both KGO and KSFO are owned by ABC.

Now, Savage who is still S.F. based is on another station by the call letters KNEW 910 AM, as he had a rift with KSFO 560 AM and left them, used to make little terse comments about that "guy"(Bernie Ward) down the corridor from him while at KSFO.

Not sharing this Savage/Ward thing to validate anyone's guilt, as actually Savage yesterday on his show was really lamblasting Ward's attorney for being inept in Savage's opinion. He felt that the current public statements by Wards attorney were like driving "3" of the "4" nails into Ward's coffin. He said he'd fire that lawyer in a second. Savage also voiced his distate and hatred for child pornographers or those that share it to.

I wondered also, why the attorney had to broadcast to all the media about Ward's downloading of photos for research for a book. I don't think that made things that much better. It just sounded like an excuse.

Also the lawyer's comments of doing this download in ignorance just has me baffled, as a person with the I.Q. of 50 even knows that if you do that stuff, it's going to be monitored and or watched closely by the Feds. or some Anti-child Pornography agency. Ward is a very intelligent person, but may lack a key element, called "wisdom", and respect for law and authority in our society.

If, and I'm not defending Ward, If he was doing a research project, he still violated the law, never the less. He claimed that he was doing this to research, to reveal how bad the internet is in this area or topic of the information highway, but I really think an intelligent person like Ward would know better, and have a legal or ethical means to obtain this evidence of this kind of Porn without doing it at home on his P.C., for legitimate reseach.

Also, apparently there is the charge of "sharing". Now that does raise red flags to me, because that is one of the tell tale evidences of some unethical/criminal behavior in this area.

Now, with that, I've known for years that Bernie Ward is very anti-authoritarian. You just have to listen to a couple of his shows to gather that. He's defended just about every extreme "wack" job liberal you can think of. He's been a very adamant supporter of Sheehan, and that type of calibre of political activist. I think that Ward dates back to the old "hell no I won't go" activists generation too. He's no Spring chicken liberal.

Anyway, with that, I don't want Ward rail-roaded if that man was totally ignorant. Yet there's something that doesn't add up. He's not an ignoramous. Most pedophiles are not ignoramouses. They very often are family men, that even end up shocking their spouses/children and relatives at the revelation of their other, dark side of life, that is hidden.
*****
Also, I was listening to a talk show where an expert or Federal Gov. man that handles or is an internet pro, mentioned that every bit of our internet traffic flows through a main hub through Washington D.C.. They are constantly filtering or watching for key words, in various communications that on the web or mail circuits that could be a "tip-off" of terrorist activities or communique's happening between possible suspects.

I wouldn't be surprised if Washington doesn't monitor in some way Kiddie porn type lingo, and various transmissions too, as this is a Federal offense.

Now I don't see this as quelching "free speech" folks. We live in some awfully tough times. Society is unraveling at it's very core with so much anti-authoritarian and unethical behaviour, and add to that the handy use of the internet by potential enemies of our country from within and without, and I'm not alarmed or surprised.

Just remember, for those that worry about too much authority coming; we aren't rationing butter, milk, cheese, gasoline, and doing scrap metal drives for a war effort yet. I don't see that in the future. :)

[eighballsidepocket]

I just want to add to my previous post, that Mr. Ward is not hated by me, because he differs in his political/religious outlook on life.

I do hope that he gets a fair hearing and trial.

Just because a person expresses differences with another doesn't mean that they don't respect another's differing opinion/view. Nor should a person that differs or disagrees over another's religious views/doctrine, assume this to mean there is "hate" involved. That's a big presumption to take. They just might have fundamental differences.

I was recently negative repped for doing "hate speech" on my previous post, and I just want to clarify that I'm saddened and shocked, as no one on this board will or ever has been ever negatively repped by me, no matter what they may say to me because of differences.

In my conscience, I cannot negative rep. people. For me and my conscience, I find myself feeling or thinking that I'm being a judge a jury if I neg rep. It's one thing to discern, and make a statement about that discernment based on unmitigated facts, and another to presume and judge, one "hates" based on a few words that differ philsolphically or religiously with another.

In conscience I can positive rep, folks, because I really enjoy encouraging people. :)

[82Marine89]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/MNFHTPMQD.DTL

heres some more on the story

As part of the research for the book, Ward - a married father of four - downloaded a few images of child pornography, Weinberg acknowledged.

In a brief interview, Ward said he "thought it was time to expose the dirty secret of the Internet in a book."

Federal authorities learned about Ward's activities in December 2004, Weinberg said, adding: "The fact that these events happened three years ago - and they are just being prosecuted - shows the fact that nobody believes that he is a child predator.

"He is just being prosecuted for a mistake he made (more than) three years ago."

Federal authorities seized Ward's computer in early 2005, and there was no evidence of child pornography or any other impropriety, Weinberg said.

What was he researching? The difference in time it took to reach ejaculation when looking at a naked eight year old as compared to a naked pre-schooler? Why didn't anyone else know he was researching this? Why do liberals defend this fuck when if it were a conservative they would call him a lying sack of shit?

Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.

[April15]

As a person who was railroaded by the justice system I can understand what Ward is dealing with. The church of the holy donut will be missed.

[pegwinn]

Judge: Baliff, brang that guilty sumbitch in here. He gets a fair trial afore we hang im.

[82Marine89]

As a person who was railroaded by the justice system I can understand what Ward is dealing with. The church of the holy donut will be missed.

His donut will be holey and cream filled. I say they put him in the general population.

[nevadamedic]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/07/MNFHTPMQD.DTL

heres some more on the story


As part of the research for the book, Ward - a married father of four - downloaded a few images of child pornography, Weinberg acknowledged.

In a brief interview, Ward said he "thought it was time to expose the dirty secret of the Internet in a book."

Federal authorities learned about Ward's activities in December 2004, Weinberg said, adding: "The fact that these events happened three years ago - and they are just being prosecuted - shows the fact that nobody believes that he is a child predator.

"He is just being prosecuted for a mistake he made (more than) three years ago."

Federal authorities seized Ward's computer in early 2005, and there was no evidence of child pornography or any other impropriety, Weinberg said.

If it was a Republican you would be foaming at the mouth attacking but since is is one of your precious Liberals you will do anything you can to defend him. Can we say hipocrite?