The Case of Cheecho Mertaris (w/ 3 updates)

In June, Cheecho Mertsaris will go on trial for sexual harassment of a female judge. Cheecho and the judge (sounds like a TV series) both work for the Taxi and Limousine Commission in Queens, New York. The judge claims Cheecho grabbed her upper thigh and buttocks. Cheecho claims it was an accident, sometimes he can't control his arms, the sun got in his eyes, and the dog ate his homework. Mostly because he can't control his arms.

That's not good enough for the District Attorney. The DA claims Cheecho can indeed control his arms.

Assuming that Cheecho does not have Harold Comer as his attorney, I predict Cheecho will walk free. Make that roll free. Cheecho is wheelchair bound. He has cerebral palsy. He's had it his entire life, due to complications at birth. He has no control over his limbs. Despite the impediments, Cheecho managed to obtain a law degree. He is a lawyer for the Taxi and Limousine Commission. He operates his computer via head movements.

Sometimes, particularly when people get too close to him, his limbs flail. At least that's what his doctors say. Alternatively, his condition is merely a clever scam to cover his buttoccal grabbing ways.

To get to the bottom of all this, I weighed the evidence by use of  my Actual Innocence Scorecard. It did little to clarify the case, the evidence being so sparse, the waters of jurisprudence being so murky. I scored him at 67. That doesn't help much.

You can read the story here. I've done all I can. It's now in the hands of the furies.

CHEECHO UPDATE:

I have found of picture of Cheecho Mertsaris. I suspect few of us would care to roll a mile in his shoes. I suspect also that the DA would not be pursuing this case if the complainant were not a judge. And I suspect finally that the DA has zero chance of getting 12 jurors to vote guilty. Still, why would they wish to make life any more difficult for this man?

I'll add an alert for Cheecho Mertsaris and keep you posted should I hear anything more.

CHEECHO UPDATE 2:

Now I have found a video of Cheecho Mertsaris. You can decide for yourself whether Cheecho is capable of committing the crime for which he will stand trial.

It's time for the DA to throw in the towel. It's remarkable that this man (and those who care for him on a daily basis) have managed to earn a law degree and hold down a productive job. It's shameful that the State of New York wants to transform him into a felon.

I repeat my question from my last post. Have we reached the point where we now have more to fear from the State than from the criminals we hoped it would control?

CHEECHO UPDATE 3:

Cheecho shows up on the Drudge Report this morning, 12 May 2010.

Man charged for touching judge's butt - says cerebral palsy made him do it!

That link leads to another picture of Cheecho and to his actual first name: Hippocrate.

The Urban Dictionary defines Hippocrate as  a "container used in the transport of the large animal known as a hippopotamus." While that may be true in its own clever sort of way, it probably doesn't relate to the origin of Cheecho's given name.

Wikipedia, on the other hand, has an article on the better known Hippocrates: "an ancient Greek physician ... considered one of the most outstanding figures in the in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the Western father of medicine." Perhaps "father of Western medicine" would have read better, but I have to work with I can find.

Perhaps his name reflects his father's early intention that Hippocrate, though terribly disabled, would grow up to be a doctor. Whatever the source of the name, the father has much to be proud of.

The father of the DA pursuing Cheecho, maybe not so much.