Update: James Van Iveren and Bret Stieghorst

When I first commented on The Sword and the Porn case, I wrote:

I'm sure more details will emerge. At this point, I hope the charges against Van Iveren are dropped.

What's very clear right now is that Stieghorst likes his porn loud and he's proud.

Well, more details have emerged although the facts of the incident are still a bit muddy.

The latest:

The pornographic DVD that was being played in an Oconomowoc apartment doesn't square with a man's claim that he thought he heard a rape in progress before storming into the residence with a sword, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

"Does hearing the sounds of consensual sex under these kinds of circumstances indicate that a crime may have been occurring? Obviously, the Oconomowoc police thought not," Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Osborne said.

As for kicking in the door while armed with a sword, Osborne said, "Was that a reasonable response? It's reported that he pounded on the door and kicked it in before the man had a chance to open it. That doesn't appear to have been a reasonable reaction to me."

Osborne said the decision to file the charges against James W. Van Iveren over the Feb. 11 incident primarily boiled down to his reported beliefs and actions being unreasonable.

So--

STRIKE ONE

After careful analysis, the Oconomowoc police determined that the sounds from the porn DVD were those of consensual sex.

Because of the consensual nature of the sounds, Van Iveren acted unreasonably.

STRIKE TWO

Van Iveren broke down the door before Stieghorst had a chance to get to it. Because he didn't follow proper door knocking and answering protocal, Van Iveren acted unreasonably.

STRIKE THREE

Being armed with that sword compounds Van Iveren's unreasonable reaction.

In addition, Van Iveren has had brushes with the law. That most likely is being factored in here.

...Van Iveren's neighbor, Bret Stieghorst, said Wednesday that he believed Van Iveren was doing what he thought was the right thing in kicking in the door to his apartment and didn't care about the charges that were filed, except damage to property.

"He did kick in my door, so he should get charged with that," said Stieghorst, 33, who works full time and is a student at Waukesha County Technical College. "But he really didn't do anything except what he thought was right. I don't know what I would have done in that situation."

I think this is important.

Stieghorst, 33-year-old student at Waukesha County Technical College and employed full time (model citizen), thought Van Iveren's response was appropriate.

During a TV interview on Tuesday night, Stieghorst said that Van Iveren would be a hero and would deserve a medal if a woman actually was being raped and he intervened.

Other than the matter of paying for the damaged door, Stieghorst believed that Van Iveren did the right thing.

But if Van Iveren was attempting to rescue what he thought was a woman in danger he was "obnoxiously late," said Stieghorst, who said he watched the movie between 1 and 2:30 a.m., but Van Iveren did not burst into his apartment until about 11:30 a.m.

This timeline was not part of the initial reports of the story.

Why didn't Stieghorst mention that right away?

Would an "obnoxiously late" rescue attempt of a woman in danger be worthy of a medal?

Stieghorst is not being consistent.

...Stieghorst, who said he has lived in his small downtown apartment for five years, said he was watching an adult DVD in Spanish called "Casa de Culo." He said the movie has no screaming that would suggest to someone a woman was in danger.

"It's all in Spanish, and I don't understand a word of it," he said. "I only bought it for the hot chicks."

This guy is a real piece of work.

He flaunts his love of porn and openly discusses his private behavior for the media.

Stieghorst said on camera, "I came back from the bar and decided to take care of business."

Good grief.

I stated in my other post that I don't care what Stieghorst does, but I do find it creepy that he doesn't hesitate to tell the world about his viewing and "other" habits.

Tuesday night (technically early Wednesday morning), I said that I hoped charges against Van Iveren would be dropped.

Now, I think that they are in order, but I hope he gets off relatively easy.

Although he's clearly a bit unstable, I have a little sympathy for Van Iveren because he at least feels "stupid" for what he did.

Stieghorst, on the other cramped hand, is loving his fifteen minutes.