Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Appeals court: Yisroel Weingarten improperly convicted of one count of incest - but upheld remaining abuse charges


NYPost

A perverted Hasidic rabbi who sexually abused his daughter throughout her adolescence could get 10 years knocked off his sentence under terms of an appeals court decision this morning.

Israel Weingarten was improperly convicted on one count involving incest that occurred during a trip from Belgium to Israel, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled.

The unanimous decree says that citizens can't be found guilty in America for crimes committed overseas unless there's a "territorial nexus to the United States."

The three-judge panel upheld other convictions covering abuse that took place during travel from Brooklyn to Belgium, and from Israel to Brooklyn.[...]

7 comments:

  1. in a copenhagen hotelJanuary 19, 2011 at 3:10 AM

    the court is saying it didnt have jurisdiction on that case, but the crime still took place.
    And he is still lialbe to deathpenalty under Torah law.

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  2. I do not think your pronouncement about being liable to death penalty is accurate. It is at least an overstatement. You are correct in noting that the decision did not challenge the guilt conclusion, only the jurisdiction of the court to make the ruling. The Torah criteria for the death penalty are quite complex, and many of those criteria may not have been met here. I believe your point is that the crime committed was a capital offense.

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  3. He's - almost certainly - חייב כרת. But without two witnesses and התראה, he would not be חייב מיתת בית דין, even in the days when we could judge דיני נפשות. (However, הכנסה לכיפה might well have been applied in a case like this, for several reasons.)

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  4. The evidence necessary to convict in Beis Din -- even in a non capital case -- was far from met in the secular court.

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  5. didnt the belgian police decide not to prosecute? (unless they can change their mind)

    not that i'm advocating for him.

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  6. I know rabbi weingarten personally - it is very clear that he is innocent 100% and was framed by the neturei karta and m witriol. His kids support him

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  7. I have read all the papers from family court went to his trail every day spoke to a lot of people where he lived spoke to people who showed up in court I know that the Rabbi did not do what they said I spoke to his kids and people who did not like him every one said he did not do it

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