How Not To Framed for Any Crime

Here is some simple points to keep the fuzz from you anytime soon. Though ask a baby not to cry, it would seem impossible to do, like using birth control, being falsely accused would seem like an act of Devine Punishment if one does some simple homework keeping themselves beyond blame from the cops.

1. Do not hang out with known criminals who have any domestic violence convictions on their record. You may think you can help Mr. Smith, but what if Mr. Smith wacks his mate and then blames you for the crime?

2. Do not live in a area with a history of utter corruption. Though any police department can get systemic corruption thanks to one or two bad seeds, if those bad seed is the one under some sort of leadership position in the department, run for the hills or the nearest city.

3. Only worry about an urban area if you are a minority. Maybe suburbs and smaller communities cannot handle a minority, at least the racism is not endemic as it is in the big city.

4. Have plenty of money and prestige. Being in the upper class cuts down on false accusation for murder outside the family. No officer goes after a rich person if some stranger turns up dead. It is usually the people from the poorer classes they always go after. Poor people generally cannot afford top-notch lawyers unless the case is notorious enough to attract a high-powered legal defense team out of the belief that they understand the prosecution is abusing their power and belief in innocence is quite high.

5. Do have a criminal record. Then again maybe not in some jurisdiction. Often, smaller departments go after the person with the clean record, thinking their inexperience with the system would force a confession out of them. The only place this would not work well is the police in a big metropolis and its suburbs. A suspect with a prior record know every trick in the book more than their small-town counterparts.

6. If there are multiple suspects in a case, a police depart would go after the suspect that is not difficult to bring to justice. The most difficult suspect is the one in jail in another jurisdiction for fear the suspect would fight extradition. Even if he or she is the one who did it, the cops more likely would go after a suspect they do not have to fight the court system to obtain. It does seem right sometimes, but if the hard-to-get suspect lies to the cops who want him, they would behave as if it is the truth and guess the schmuck who gets the murder charges?

7. Assume the wrong person would be arrested in a case of a discovery of a dead body. A stiff with no doer in sight is just asking some police officers to cloud their judgement when someone fitting their possible crime reconstruction comes to mind. Though some arrests often nab the real killer, some killings result in a person or persons falsely accused. Bad policework, bad prosecuting and bad forensics are three of the biggest reasons the wrong person stands accused. Meanwhile the real killer continues to roam the street.

8. If an ex-lover is mad at you, be prepared for a cop to get an earful. Either they believe them or they don't. If you ever did something to cause an ex pain, expect a cop to haul you downtown more ofter than said ex taking you down into the ground. No crime will be overlooked when an ex is after you for money, the kids or other property.

These are just the beginning. There may be more over the course of time. But these basic rules can keep you from decades rottening in jail for making someone mad enough to frame your sorry ass, whether a criminal mastermind, overzealous office, corrupt prosecutor or combinations of the three.

Buster and Billie (1974) - A Tale of Bittersweet Romance

The setting of "Buster and Billie" is the rural part of the American South in the late 1940's, when normalcy met the post-war world. The movie starred Jan-Michael Vincent and Jean Goodfellow as unlikely lovers just finishing high school. Vincent plays Buster, a gutsy, no-nonsense model student who wants to follow his father in the farming trade. Goodfellow plays Billie, the dirt-poor lass from the wrong side of the tracks, who is the object of scorn to many a teenage boy, including the boys Buster hangs out with.

There is some excellent stand-out acting in this teen romance, from Pamela Sue Martin, who is marvelous as Buster's former flame to Robert Englund in his film debut as Whitey (long before he became Freddie Kreuger in "Nightmare on Elm Street"). Look out for Clifton James standout performance as Jake.

But the best scene is saved for last as the scene is split between the local sheriff and his people wondering about a series of petty crimes and Buster's movements of utter sorrow, but to explain more would ruin the mystery. Otherwise, if you find an uncut version, enjoy the fact that it was one of the first mainstream movies featuring full-frontal male nudity, something that was unheard of in 1974, six years after the death of the Hays' office. It earned its R rating and then some. But ladies everywhere got an eyeful of Jan-Michael Vincent in his nakedness! Daniel Petrie had some nerve letting that one through.

So for the story alone, it would deserve a DVD release or a remake. I was thinking, how about Josh Hutcherson, that young lady from "Hugo" and maybe Gavin Fink to play Whitey. Though the original was one of Petrie's masterstrokes as a filmmaker, along with "Lassie", which he directed two decades later. (The TV series was just ending in 1974 and Vincent actually had a recurring role on that classic series earlier in his acting career.)