You only feel that way because your dear leader finally faced justice.From a legal standpoint I honestly don't give a ****. I am not a lawyer and frankly I think our current legal system is a giant flaming piece of shit left on someone's doorstep. I look at it from just an ethical POV. He killed that girl, intentionally in my mind based on his actions of leaving someone to drown in a sinking car. He didn't try to get her any help because he was afraid of consequences for him. To me that is murder and I could care less what category it falls in from a legal standpoint. Negligent homicide? Who cares? He killed her. Period.
(The dictionary definition of murder is to kill someone with premeditation. When he walked away from that car and didn't inform anyone for at least 9 hours, that is arguably premeditation in my book. YMMV but what is inarguable is that Kopechne was dead solely because of that drunken asshole whose political and familial connections kept him from facing any consequences whatsoever.)
Our system is flawed because there is always a rush to judgement or hard ass prosecutors and judges who can’t admit they made a mistake in wrongly convicting someone. Just read a long story about a guy here in Florida convicted in the 80’s with zero evidence and a jailhouse snitch facing a long prison sentence who miraculously got no time for kidnapping after he said the guy confessed. DNA finally freed him after 33 years and identified the two murderers who by the way murdered at least two others. The former prosecutor in the case still says the guy is guilty. This after the real murderers admitted to killing and raping the girl. The judge in the case overroad the jury’s sentence of life and gave him the death penalty. Same judge once gave an excon life for being $41 behind on his probation payments.
Thankfully the guy got $14M in a settlement. He was a model prisoner who was so trusted by the prison that he was allowed outside the wire and fixed things for the warden. He is a model citizen who just helps people in his community of Tampa.