RHOADES LESS TRAVELED:

Politically, I’m all over the map.

For instance, I’m pretty liberal on social issues such as gay marriage.

On the other hand, I have no tolerance for violent criminals. It astounds me when I read of a killer getting out of jail after, say, five years, during which he showed “good behavior.” A lifetime of good behavior will not bring back his or her victim, nor assuage the bereaved family’s wounds.

I realize our prisons are overcrowded, but killers, rapists, armed robbers and pedophiles should be subjected to the one-strike law, in my book. Whatever it takes, keep them away from the general populace.

Dig a deep, wide hole in the ground, somewhere in Arizona, and toss them in, for all I care.

After committing such heinous acts, they have forfeited their rights to mingle in civilized society.

But my views are not always in line with the law.

Take the case of Victor Manuel Garcia.

He’s the human highlight film who, defense and prosecutors agree, walked into the dark of Fairview Park and killed 16-year-old Ceceline Godsoe in 2001.

Make that the human lowlight film.

But lawyers disagree on how and why he killed her. And that’s what his fate — convicted of either murder or manslaughter, each with different sentences — hinges upon. So defense lawyers are making the case that Garcia punched Godsoe, broke her jaw and that she drowned in her own blood. He didn’t intend to kill her, defense lawyers say. In legal terms: manslaughter.

Prosecutors say he beat her repeatedly and dragged her body about 25 feet. If they can prove their case, Garcia is a murderer.

And there’s a twist to the story: Garcia is the first Mexican native juvenile (he was 17 at the time of the killing) to be extradited to the United States — he had fled south — to face a possible murder charge.

But back to the defense.

If I were a juror, it would be extremely difficult to detach myself from my bias and operate according to the letter of the law, a law that, in my view, is flawed.

In other words, if Garcia hit Godsoe once — breaking her jaw — then fled the scene while she choked on her own blood, he should be put away forever.

Because if that isn’t murder, I don’t know what is.

But jurors aren’t afforded the luxury of such bias and simplicity. They’re under strict orders to follow the law and court orders.

For all we know Garcia may be convicted of manslaughter and back out on the streets in five or six years; or, if he’s a model prisoner, fewer.

And there’s something so wrong about that that it makes your stomach turn.

BRADY RHOADES is the Daily Pilot’s editor. He may be reached at [email protected] or at (714) 966-4607.