Getting back to my original point… is it true that:
- many local DAs are under pressure to get high conviction rates
- many DAs are under pressure to enter plea bargain agreements rather than go to court
- if a mariner was innocent of a crime it would be difficult for him to go through the trial process and maintain his employment at sea
My main point is less about the Coast Guard and more about the local judicial process.
Police are human and like all of us they make small mistakes all the time. They issued tickets and make arrests based on their judgment. Sometimes they are wrong.
I have LEO’s (and lawyers) in the family and it is my experience that of these individuals rarely come right out in court and say I fucked up here, I’m sorry. What they tend to do is allow a plea bargain down to a “slap on the wrist”.
That slept on the rest could be for example a $50 fine and a few hours community service “already served”.
The problem I have is how the NMC interprets that “slap on the wrist” which is technically a conviction (sometime without even an arrest).