MAN SKIPS OUT OF COURT JUST BEFORE JURY FINDS HIM NOT GUILTY

A Georgia man sneaked out of a courtroom and vanished for days right before a jury found him not guilty of fraud. “I felt kind of stupid. I really did,” Saladin Ghani, 50, now says. Ghani was facing 20 years in prison on charges of identity fraud and theft after his neighbor accused him of stealing $7,000. He was nearing the end of his two-day trial in DeKalb County Courthouse last Thursday when fear took over and caused him to flee. Ghani told his attorney that he needed to go to the bathroom during a recess break. He never came back and a search came up empty-handed. But the trial continued without Ghani in the defendant’s chair. Moments later, he was found not guilty of both charges. He couldn’t be reached for days with the good news of his innocence because he had ditched his phone on the run. He was staying at a friend’s house when he saw the story on the news and came forward. Despite running away pre-verdict, there are no warrants out for Ghani’s arrest.
* Kind of makes you wonder if he was really guilty after all.
* So in DeKalb County they handle prisoners on the honor system?
* “I gotta stretch my legs.” “That’s fine, mosey on back whenever it suits you.”
* They have better security at Walmart.
* He wasn’t “staying at a friend’s house.” He was hiding out at a friend’s house.
* I also wouldn’t say “the good news of his innocence.” Make that “the good news of his acquittal.”
* Innocence and acquittal are two very different things.
* Just ask O.J. about that.