The Perfect Headline

Basu: What a waste

If only it would have stopped there and the scientific community is united in that fact.

The headline, however, continued with...In prison at 17; there 'til 36.

It's another sob story about some thug punk, Nikkolas Kemp, who was convicted of taking part in a robbery at age 17 and stunningly proclaims his innocence.

His family wails about what a "gentle giant" and "cowardly lion" the thug is and how he kept out of trouble, with the exception of a couple of property crimes.

Check Iowa Courts online, you'll find his name listed several times (as of this post the site was experiencing problems with an application error message).

You'll also find the names of his mother (Kandace Kemp) and father (Gary Isom Harris).

Basu also buys into his story of only knowing of the plot, luring a pizza deliveryman to a vacant home across the street from where Kemp lived with his mother and using a brick to knock him down and rob him.

One other person was convicted, of the three total who were implicated.

Kemp appealed his conviction and the Court of Appeals found there was abundant evidence of Kemp's guilt with no miscarriage of justice.

Basu also bitches about Kemp giving a statement to police without a lawyer and without having his Miranda rights read.

The Court of Appeals found the record simply does not support such a claim, the officers merely urged Kemp to tell the truth.

Kemp's story also was sent to the Parole Board for commutation, by The Pickle, and it was denied.

Stay tuned for the next time we have to say...BASU: WHAT A WASTE!