"Dinosaur 13"
I watched the documentary "Dinosaur 13" directed by Todd Douglas Miller. It was about the discovery of "Sue," the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton found to date.
1. The part that hit me the hardest was when Peter Larson was sentenced to TWO YEARS in prison with a $5,000 fine. All for not filling out US customs forms. Clearly he pissed off the wrong people, or the judge was just a jerk. It made me angry because his sentence was originally supposed to be 6 months since that's what the jury gave him. But the judge instead gave him 2 years. I don't think that was fair, especially considering the severity of the crime, which was pretty much nonexistent.
2. I was surprised by the fact that Sue sold for $7.6 million ($8.4 after auction fee). Even though the team from the institute tried to buy it back, the Field Museum in Chicago bought it. They were backed by McDonald's and Walt Disney Co. Sue is still on display at the Field Museum and should be like that for a while to come. Even though Chicago has this wonderful dinosaur, Hill City would've been a better place for it.
3. I was perplexed as to why the judge gave Peter Larson such a long sentence for such a relatively small crime. It really boggles my mind. Did he have a personal vendetta or was he just a mean guy? I don't know. He should've gotten the 6 months that the jury gave him initially. Peter Larson wasn't the same after prison, he became reclusive due to the change in lifestyle that prison forced on him.
Five problematic concepts that I can think of starting with #1 is the judge giving Peter Larson 2 years in prison. This was just plain wrong. #2 would be why didn't the jury just drop the case? They only found them guilty on 8 of the 149 counts. #3 is why would the government make it such a large publicity stunt? Why not do it in secret instead of making an entire town (and country) angry at you? #4, why would Maurice Williams change his story and say that they stole it off of his land when they paid him $5,000? Finally, #5, why would the Field Museum want such a specimen for reasons other than having it to show off to Chicagoan's and the rest of the world?
1. The part that hit me the hardest was when Peter Larson was sentenced to TWO YEARS in prison with a $5,000 fine. All for not filling out US customs forms. Clearly he pissed off the wrong people, or the judge was just a jerk. It made me angry because his sentence was originally supposed to be 6 months since that's what the jury gave him. But the judge instead gave him 2 years. I don't think that was fair, especially considering the severity of the crime, which was pretty much nonexistent.
2. I was surprised by the fact that Sue sold for $7.6 million ($8.4 after auction fee). Even though the team from the institute tried to buy it back, the Field Museum in Chicago bought it. They were backed by McDonald's and Walt Disney Co. Sue is still on display at the Field Museum and should be like that for a while to come. Even though Chicago has this wonderful dinosaur, Hill City would've been a better place for it.
3. I was perplexed as to why the judge gave Peter Larson such a long sentence for such a relatively small crime. It really boggles my mind. Did he have a personal vendetta or was he just a mean guy? I don't know. He should've gotten the 6 months that the jury gave him initially. Peter Larson wasn't the same after prison, he became reclusive due to the change in lifestyle that prison forced on him.
Five problematic concepts that I can think of starting with #1 is the judge giving Peter Larson 2 years in prison. This was just plain wrong. #2 would be why didn't the jury just drop the case? They only found them guilty on 8 of the 149 counts. #3 is why would the government make it such a large publicity stunt? Why not do it in secret instead of making an entire town (and country) angry at you? #4, why would Maurice Williams change his story and say that they stole it off of his land when they paid him $5,000? Finally, #5, why would the Field Museum want such a specimen for reasons other than having it to show off to Chicagoan's and the rest of the world?
Hey Louis,
ReplyDeleteSue's story seems really interesting. I find its fascinating that it's entire skeleton was even discovered. I also agree, from what you say in your post, that Peter Larson should have only received the sentence that the jury assigned to him initially of six months - seems absurd that the judge would amp it up to two years.