Redemption of Jury System?
Several legal pundits remarked that the verdicts in the Peterson case redeemed the jury system. The basis for the statement was the O.J. Simpson trial. I’m not sure what they forgot about that trial. The key statement is “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Not to mention the trial dragged on so long that the jury was worn out. Not to mention, the prosecution was inept and allowed their own witnesses to be sandbagged.
I don’t know who really committed the very brutal murders since I wasn’t there. The murderer and a dog were there and so far neither is talking.
Perhaps Simpson did get away with murder. In the 1964 killings of three young civil-rights workers in Missouri (and the 1967 Federal trials), people did get away with murder due to jury nullification, judicial prejudice, and prosecutorial inaction. But, the Simpson acquittal was not a result of community values. The Missouri acquittals, light sentences, and non-prosecutions were.
Juries are too often easily dissuaded from their duty. The issues of guilt or innocence should not be based on whether the jury owes something to victim or family of the victim. Nor should a verdict be based upon feeling sorry for accused. But, this is how the system too often operates. Attorneys do not seek truth but play on community stereotypes. And we all do love our stereotypes.
In one case involving a claim of sexual molestation, a juror voted guilty because the defendant could have done it rather that evidence that a crime took place. That kind of reasoning would convict almost anyone.
When the pundits babble on about the jury system, they are not being honest. But, people are paid to give opinions. They are not paid to give honest and reasoned opinions.
by Brian McCorkle
in category Criminal Justice,Rants,Scott Peterson
