Surprise Plea in the Dugard Case Shocks All

A surprise plea in the Dugard case shocked all when Phillip Garrido, who everyone thought would plea guilty, pleaded not guilty. Phillip Garrido is accused of kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard in 1991 when she was 11 years old and raping and holding her captive for 18 years. Garrido's wife, Nancy, has also pleaded not guilty.

Phillip's attorney, Susan Gellman, is basing the surprise plea in the Dugard case on her claim that the grand jury was not selected properly, due to its racial and geographical makeup, and did not conduct itself in an appropriate manner. Nancy's attorney, Stephen Tapson, claims that Phillip had planned to plead guilty. However, Gellman is angry with Tapson for conveying that to the public. Said Gellman, "He shouldn't have been speaking for Phillip. He should speak for his client."

If anyone should be angry with the surprise plea in the Dugard case, should it be the public? Phillip Garrido was convicted of this type of behavior before. He went to jail for kidnapping and raping a woman in 1977. Furthermore, the Garrido couple confessed to grabbing Jaycee from a school bus stop and hiding her in the backyard behind tents and sheds.

Dugard bore two children while in their captivity, one when she was 14 and one when she was 17, and they were delivered by Nancy Garrido. Dugard's children grew up knowing Phillip Garrido was their father but they thought Dugard was their sister. Dugard reunited with her family in 2009.

The first question in the minds of anyone with compassion is what right does a person have to grab a person off the street, raped them and hold them captive? These types of actions not only destroy the life of a victim, it also destroys the victim's family who search to regain their lost loved one. As Elizabeth Smart said, who was also a kidnap victim, "Nobody should have to go through, you know, what I went through. And you know, nobody deserves to be hurt like that."

Despite the surprise plea in the Dugard case, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said, "My responsibility is to see that these two are held accountable for the enormity of their actions. We are determined to do that."

Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

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