Predators Everywhere: Rejoice!

Think about this.

You have a daughter. She is fourteen. She works at a mall. As she is leaving her job one day, a guy in a red truck drives up next to her in the parking lot. He asks her if she needs a ride. She says no. The guy raises his voice. He says "Get in the truck." She flees.

The red truck guy has broken the law somehow, right?

In Commonwealth v. LaPlante, No. 07-P-1541, the Appeals Court says no. The Court states that the evidence "was insufficient to prove intent forcibly to confine the victim . . . ." As a matter of law, that is, meaning no reasonable jury could find that Mr. Red Truck intended forcibly to confine your daughter.

There's a conspicuous absence in this case of the panel having any notion that their result is even the slightest bit problematic. Not that they need to agonize or anything. Just a slight nod, maybe. To those of us who look at the facts of this case and say: "What else is Mr. Red Truck trying to do other than kidnap the girl?"