Death Cases:
(1) Can't get the Defendant to talk to your reporter? Send in the young pretty intern to talk with him. Make sure that the talk is in no way recorded so that you can deny that she lied in order to get the story. Then use what she remembers for some nice, juicy quotes in your paper.
(2) More screwy evidence piled on in the NC Peterson murder trial. It's just not coming together and huge portions of evidence seem to be getting destroyed by the Defense. Unless the prosecutor has an ace which he hasn't played yet all I can see is that he is piling on suspicious items, hoping the jury will think something happened and not be willing to let a possible murderer go free. Will it work? I don't know. At least one prosecutor has sworn to me that it is gospel among those on the other side of the bar that jurors don't like to let people who might have committed murder go free and therefore, the burden of proof dips lower in murder cases. Not sure I believe that (I know I don't want to). I would hope that jurors would hold prosecutors to a higher standard in murder cases than anywhere else.
(3) The district court giveth, the 4th Circuit taketh away. Lentz ain't getting out of jail.
(4) In the Scott Peterson case the media has filed suit to try and make the court keep the preliminary hearing open to the public and especially the media:
"Because there is no jury present at a preliminary hearing . . . public scrutiny is a primary safeguard of the defendant's rights."It's touching to see the media so concerned with the rights of Scott Peterson; I'm sure the desire to be in the courtroom couldn't possibly be about anything as crass newspaper sales or ratings.
The only problem? The Defense doesn't want media in the courtroom.
(5) Well, I must correct myself. Witherspooning obviously did not work in that ridiculous death penalty case in Puerto Rico - the Justice Department was handed its head by a group of 12 citizens.
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