Wow...

Very surprising for Alabama!

I guess that's why they did no "To catch a predator" episodes in Alabama.

Wow! I have been saying that all along about the no victim part. Since this is a former prosecutor I wonder if any other folks have been convicted even though there is no victim? Was this a fed investigation? I am thinking no since it was in front of an Alabama judge? So my other question is why were the cops even conducting the sting if the statute says it must have an actual victim?

Rew, do you have another link? I get an error.

Thought,

Here is an alternate link.

http://jonathanturley.org/2012/12/07/charges-dismissed-against-former-child-sex-crimes-prosecutor-for-lack-of-actual-minor-in-fbi-sting/

Just make sure you copy and paste the entire address into your browser address bar.

rewdiazepam

Thanks Rew. Very good article

This case has a pretty long history. The investigation that led to him being charged was performed by the FBI and ran for 3 and a half months in 2008. A search warrant was issued for his home in 2009 and his computer and such was seized. It was roughly 16 months after that before he was charged with anything and it was with Alabama state charges, not federal.

The first clue the case was seriously flawed is taking so long for an indictment. The second clue is the feds refused to prosecute their own case that didn't involve any investigative agency other than the FBI knowing passing it off to Alabama would cause huge conflict of interest issues because Giardini was a state prosecutor.

He was charged with three counts one of which was dismissed pretty early on. He had a trial on the other two which resulted in a hung jury. I'm not sure which way the jury votes actually went but it wasn't even really close with a 7 - 5 tally so this is yet another clue the case was flawed.

During his case there was another case on appeal where the appellate court determined the law required an actual victim. It was this appellate decision that eventually led to the dismissal of his charges. Since then the Alabama legislature has amended the law so this isn't a defense anymore.

The final clue the case was flawed is that the Alabama Bar didn't find any misconduct that would result in being disbarred. Mr. Giardini still has his law license and is practicing as a defense attorney now.

he just barely slipped loose from the noose. a poorer man would be on the registry by now.