Thermal
August Member
Occam's Razor. You do you, but Occam's Razor.
If Robby O is weighing in, the simplest explanagion is that Pujols is a violent criminal. That's demonstrable. What the old man said packs little weight, unless he said that he was about to shoot Pujols or something.
Pujols story has been out now for a week, there were plenty of employees in the store, and not a single one has refuted Pujols claim.
Nor confirmed. All these witnesses, and not one backing up the story? No one actually heard anything? Hm.
I see no reason why he would lie about just that considering it doesn't really help his case much, does it? He isn't getting a different\lower charge because of it. He didn't get lower bail because of it. In fact, you could change that "racist" word out with any other word and it doesn't change the charges at all. So, as you say, if it's to score sympathy it certainly doesn't seem to be working. Unless you think that Pujols gives a **** what a bunch of random people he doesn't know think about what he did.
A judge can consider provocation in sentencing. A jury can be sympathetic, perhaps to the point of swinging a verdict. Also, he was certainly winging it when giving his statement to police. I doubt he would thoughtfully weigh out relevant legal precedent.