"Rhonda Lea Kirk Fries" <rhondaleakirk@earthling.net> wrote in message
news:j3od4e$6f2$1@news.datemas.de...
> FromTheRafters wrote:
>> "Rhonda Lea Kirk Fries" <rhondaleakirk@earthling.net> wrote in message
>> news:j3nlei$ce$2@news.datemas.de...
>>> FromTheRafters wrote:
>>>> "G. Morgan" <G_Morgan@easy.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:vv4r57piudgb7r0n0oquauegbv9hrs8khb@Osama-is-dead.net...
>>>>> http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...ed-for-spying/
>>>>>
>>>>> "The case revolves around a laptop that Clemens-Jeffrey, a
>>>>> substitute teacher, bought from one of her students in 2008.
>>>>>
>>>>> The laptop belonged to Clark County School District in Ohio, and
>>>>> had been stolen from one of its students in April 2008. Another
>>>>> student at Kiefer Alternative School subsequently purchased the
>>>>> laptop at a bus station for $40, even though he suspected it was
>>>>> stolen, and turned around and offered it to Clements-Jeffrey for
>>>>> $60. Clements-Jeffrey, who was a long-term substitute teacher at Kiefer,
>>>>> says the student told her his aunt and uncle had given him the
>>>>> laptop, but that he no longer needed it after getting a new one.
>>>>> She asserts she had no idea the computer was stolen
>>>>>
>>>>> Clements-Jeffrey, described in court papers as a 52-year-old widow,
>>>>> had recently renewed a romance with her high school sweetheart,
>>>>> Carlton Smith, who lived in Boston. In the course of their
>>>>> courtship, she exchanged sexually explicit email and instant
>>>>> messages with her beau, using the computer she had just purchased.
>>>>>
>>>>> What she didn't know was that Clark County School District, which
>>>>> legally owned the laptop, had purchased Absolute's theft recovery
>>>>> service, which includes the installation of its remote-recovery
>>>>> software LoJack, onto client computers. The system gives Absolute
>>>>> employees remote access to a stolen computer and allows them to
>>>>> record and intercept any data from the machine."
>>>>
>>>> I don't think that the "I didn't know that it was stolen" defense is
>>>> gonna fly.
>>>
>>> It already did fly. The charges were dropped because it flew.
>>
>> The charges were dropped, so I assume it wasn't ever presented in
>> court.
>
> Exactly. The prosecutor has to believe s/he actually has a case to present for
> a case to go forward.

Or the aggrieved (the school) declines to pursue charges.

>> The charges were dropped is not the same as being found innocent
>> of a charge, they probably just didn't want to persue it.
>
> Actually, people aren't found innocent. They are found "not guilty."

True, they are assumed innocent until proven otherwise.

[...]

> On the other hand, having the charges dropped often means the case was a
> non-starter.

Often. Also sometimes a PR move on the part of the complainant.
Bring charges to teach them a lesson, drop them for PR purposes.

[...]