David Daniels consents to extradition

David Daniels consents to extradition

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norman lebrecht

February 02, 2019

The countertenor, accused with Scott Walters of a 2010 rape in Houston, has agreed to be extradited from Mighigan to face trial in Texas. The are being held in jail meanwhile without bail.

The couple’s attorney said: ‘Mr. Daniels and Mr. Walters have waived their rights to contest extradition and look forward to defending the charges in Houston, in a courtroom where facts matter… Neither of our clients are flight risks and, more importantly, they are innocent … Holding them without bond makes no sense.’

The baritone Samuel Schultz has claimed he was drugged and raped by the couple after a Houston performance of Handel’s Xerxes.

Comments

  • boringfileclerk says:

    And yet never asked for consent to the victims!

    • Tiredofitall says:

      And you’re a witness in the case???

      • Face the Music says:

        Do you think the victim “consented” to being drugged into unconsciousness?

        • Karl says:

          Lots of people drink and drug themselves unconscious.

          • Bruce says:

            “Lots of people drink and drug themselves unconscious.”

            True. In which case they are unable to give consent, which makes sex with them while they are in that state non-consensual. (BTW the person doesn’t have to be actually unconscious for this to apply, simply impaired enough that they can’t understand what’s going on. Of course, that requires the presence of witnesses who can testify that the person was functioning significantly below baseline, which usually makes it a “He/she said, she/he said” situation. In a courtroom situation, burden of proof is on the accuser, I assume.)

      • Antonia says:

        The allegation is true. My friend is a dear friend of Sam’s, and the story was shared privately to him long before the accusation was ever brought officially.

    • Viola da Bracchio says:

      What time does the next bandwagon leave?

  • Esther Cavett says:

    This is a disturbing case. I’ve long been a fan of David D

  • Bill says:

    Mighigan?

  • ThrownOutOfTheKremlinForSinging says:

    Getting out on bail is a very mixed bag. It carries onerous conditions and substantial risks. It’s quite easy to violate the terms of bail, even without meaning to violate. Restrictions while out on bail often include a curfew, and/or special restrictions based on the charge– a defendant charged with a computer-crime, for instance, can be forbidden to use a computer while out on bail. Or, a defendant whose crime involved liquor can be forbidden to drink and subject to random tests. The risk is: judges tend to HATE defendants who violate bail, even through carelessness. Violating bail, even unintentionally, can increase the ultimate sentence substantially, and, can motivate a judge to deny the defense-lawyer’s motions and thwart his efforts to help the defendant.

    And there isn’t much down-side to being held without bail. The defendant will get credit for the time– the time he spends held without bail awaiting trial/resolution, will be deducted from the final sentence. So being held without bail is only “extra time” for defendants who get acquitted (rare!) or get a sentence less than the time they are held without bail (unlikely in this case, a drug-rape case in Texas, likely to result in a sentence much longer than the time Daniels will spend awaiting trial/resolution). Additionally, holding-prisons– where defendants are held while awaiting trial/resolution– are often quite a bit safer and less unpleasant than prisons where convicted defendants go after being sentenced. This is mostly because in the waiting/holding prison, all the inmates are in the same boat, all awaiting resolution or trial, and they all know that if they fight or make trouble, their judge will hear about it and treat them more harshly when it comes to sentencing or to managing the case. So inmates in the holding-facility are mostly on their best behavior, unlikely to mess with each other. David Daniels would otherwise be at high risk for being messed with in all kinds of unpleasant ways, and WILL be at high risk, when he gets sentenced and sent to real prison (unless he gets lucky and gets sent to one of the few safe, cushy prisons–unlikely for someone convicted of rape!) Every day he spends in his holding/waiting-for-resolution prison with the inmates on their best behavior, rather than in real prison, is a much safer day for him.

    So, If I were close to either of these defendants–Daniels or his husband– I’d be grateful that they were denied bail. Getting bail is usually more trouble and risk than it’s worth.

    • Guest says:

      Another plus of not posting bail would be a rent free accommodation which includes 3 squares a day; by your logic. Whats not to like about jail?

    • Saxon Broken says:

      Er…I find this odd. If we believe in “innocent until proven guilty” then the default should be that the defendant is granted bail. Otherwise you are imprisoning someone who is innocent. And the judge should ensure a fair defence regardless of whether “his is pissed-off” with the defendant. IF he is found guilty, he should be held somewhere safe and secure.

      And Americans wonder why others find their legal system scary.

    • Ron Senser says:

      The notion that people being held in jail are on good behavior is naive.

  • Mark says:

    Contesting the extradition request would not be helpful to Daniels (he’d likely lose and it’d negatively affect his proceedings in TX)

  • anon says:

    Interestingly, Texas and Michigan were both among the last states in the US to have sodomy laws, overturned only because of the US Supreme Court and not because of any in-state action, and both voted for Trump (you can change the laws but you can’t change the people), so not sure where I’d rather have my trial regarding acts of sodomy.

    That is, would Texas jurors, given their inbred animosity towards gays in general, tend to punish the gay accused or the gay accuser?

    • Ann Arbor music lover says:

      Please don’t make the assumption that everyone in Michigan (or Texas) thinks the same way. As a Michigander, I can attest that many of us strongly support LGBTQ rights. And we absolutely despise and condemn Trump and all he stands for. Hopefully things will improve in Michigan now that we have a new governor and a new attorney general.

  • TUFFLOVE says:

    Having spent years with Gay singers, watching them feast on young insecure humans, always left the worst taste. At times even worse then macho jox praying on tiny sopranos …because the name of the game is to challenge a belief or ones sexuality and turn them, as the victims could not yet know what they are missing out on or need help discoverring .” if I had a dollar for how many times I heard …” he is so gay…. he just dosn’t know it yet ”

    The victim here may very well be gay but it is the Bill Cosby like ritual which heats the thirst for the game. Sick, sad and relavent. Only wish it was relavent for many all those years ago …when so many had no idea what they were getting themselves into. So easy, the gin and the tonic softens ones inhibitions. Then and now.

    • Paul Brownsey says:

      “praying on tiny sopranos”

      Makes a change from hand-embroidered kneelers, I suppose.

      “when so many had no idea what they were getting themselves into. ”

      What were they getting themselves into?

    • Timothy says:

      Do you always paint with such a wide brush?

      “Having spent years with Gay singers, watching them feast on young insecure humans”

      And you sat there and did nothing?!?!?!!

    • Mick the Knife says:

      Tiny soprano? You don’t see much opera, do you.

      • We privatize your value says:

        The great Maria Stader was definitely tiny (1,44m or 4 ft 9 inches): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Stader

      • Bruce says:

        Lyric and coloratura sopranos are often tiny. Singers who sing the big repertoire — Wagner, the heavier Strauss & Puccini roles — are usually, shall we say, not tiny. Look at any “Ariadne auf Naxos” cast and compare the Ariadne with the Zerbinetta. I promise you, you will notice a trend.

        As someone said in an interview I read once (I think it was a costume designer, around the time of the “little black dress” scandal): to have a voice that can handle that kind of repertoire, you basically need a 17-inch neck. People with 17-inch necks are generally not petite.

    • Isabella Rodziewicz says:

      Sexual assault, or any other , for that matter is extremely serious and very damaging. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with it. To imply that a man is damaged more than a woman is mysogynistic and a load of claptrap! Consent is all that matters. If we go back to this nonsense that gay men prey on unsuspecting and innocent young men, while straight men only assault women because they are willing, whether they consent or not is offensive to all, except the perpetrators!

  • Crypt-Keeper says:

    They’ll get more of what they want and love when they’re behind bars !

    • Timothy says:

      STFU. Honestly, the comments section of this blog is disgusting. Please moderate Norman!

      • norman lebrecht says:

        Then moderators found them acceptable. Which of them do you find disgusting?

        • Alex Davies says:

          Come on, you can hardly pretend not to have noticed that a surprisingly large proportion of comments on Slipped Disc are misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic. Just look at the recent David Daniels stories and you’ll see a number of comments that discuss his sexual orientation in very offensive and tasteless ways.

          • norman lebrecht says:

            We pay people to ensure that all comments are moderated to ensure they are lawful and not excessively distasteful.

          • Robert von Bahr says:

            Hmmm. I know that your comments above were written before the verbal dump-taking of “Selfie Defence”, but, if that isn’t “excessively distasteful”, then what is? Or was it a put-up job just to provoke?

      • Bruce says:

        TBH I find more daylight is better. As unpleasant as it is to read those kinds of comments, I think it’s good to be reminded that such people exist. Better to know about them than to have a falsely rosy picture of humanity.

    • Paul Brownsey says:

      And we can all hear you getting off on imagining it. What sort of soap do you imagine being used? Find a moment to tell us.

  • Guest says:

    The prosecution and police in Texas must think they have a very strong case if they have to be extradited. This can’t be over soon enough; for the victim(s). The legal system will run its course and hopefully they get the right guy(s).

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