Food for Thought Prt 23-26
Food For thought Part 23
Thousands of people on death row, doing life sentences or a bunch of years In prisons across the country,continue to cry out against the injustices received at our trials and are told by trial judges, prosecutors, appellant justices, reporters and so called legal commentators on court t.v. Headline news and other legal news agencies that we were convicted by a jury of our peers, but most of these so called legal experts are still trying to second guess the jury in the “Casey Anthony” case, even going as far as calling the jurors morons, idiots and other not so desirable names. They question if a little over ten hours was enough time to reach a decision, but never seem to have a problem when jurors come back with the guilty verdict, often after only an hour or so of deliberation. These legal commentators are cold blooded hypocrites and to be more specific the main ones appear on court tv and headline news regularly: Nancy Grace, Jane Velez Mitchell (a recovering wino, going to A.A meetings for the last 6 or 7 years and should understand people’s problems but has the nerve to pass judgement on others when she should look at her own faults and weaknesses) Beth Karas, Vinnie Politan, Jean Casarez, the bald headed ex cop Mike Brooks, Mike Galanos, Mike Eiglarsh, Stacey honowitz, Christi Paul, Judge Alex and Dr. Drew Pinsky who had a lot of people’s respect for his work on celebrity rehab, but now chooses to be an extension of the prosecution, daily spitting out bias judgement against the defendant way before she was convicted and still tries to justify it by re-litigating the trial and evidence afterwards.
The only legal commentator that at times appeared to be fair, natural and even handed was a black former prosecutor, Sonny Hotins. She got plenty of hate emails during the process from listeners, plus got jumped on verbally by most of her colleagues. It’s crazy how all those so called legal commentators were speaking out with bitter hatred and venom towards an unconvinced defendant, these suppose to be officers of the court, at least many of them, but also chose to be an extension of the prosecution. They still are trying to re litigate their points and views well after Casey was found not guilty of all the major charges.
It’s crazy how these same people that claim to believe in our judicial system, so much, want to question the process when a verdict doesn’t go their way. The jury did not feel the prosecutors proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Several of the jurors spoke out saying they couldn’t convict her when the prosecution couldn’t even determine the cause of death. A few of them said George Anthony lied at will and was very combative, avoiding answering questions by the defense lawyers.
The defense lawyers, especially Jose Baez formed a good relationship with the jury which many in the legal community feel is important where the prosecutor, especially Jeff Ashton came off as a bully towards the defense experts, often disrespecting renowned legal experts. The prosecution also made a major mistake from the get go when they went for the death penalty in a case where they didn’t even know the cause of death and could not directly connect Casey to the killing. I’ve previously mentioned in an earlier (Food for thought) article how it gives the prosecution an edge when they “death quality” a jury which is what happens in all capital cases. All the jurors are excluded that are anti death penalty or saying they have a problem voting to put somebody to death, so the jurors that are left are normally in favor of the prosecution. Study after study has revealed that a death qualified jury is prone to convict. That’s why the prosecution in that case chose to make it a capital case, to have an edge, but it back fired and made the jury to be more careful, wanting to make sure the case was proved beyond a reasonable doubt!!!
Some reporters made a big deal out of defense lawyers Cheney Mason giving a reporter the finger after the verdict, but failed to explain that the reporter hounded the defense team for 3 years leading up to the trial and during the trial, called female members of the defense team derogatory names, asking if they were on their periods and many more demeaning comments, so he deserved to be saluted in that manner with the finger.
There have been a lot of people out there protesting the verdict, many of them blacks and other minorities, but where are they when little black kids are killed daily in the inner city. There are no protest for them. No charges are filed, a year later, for a 7 year old girl (Aiyane Stanley-Jones), shot to death in Detroit by a police assault team that went to the wrong house on a drug raid. There isn’t any respect for black life or community. The little girl was sleeping with her grandmother on the couch, when police tossed a tear gas, smoke grenade through a window and a cop shot the little girl. Why aren’t there any protest for that child or why isn’t there any outrage by those same legal commentators????
To be continued… Intensify the Struggle!!
Food for Thought Part 24
Personally, I have a gut feeling that Casey Anthony has more to do with the death of her daughter Caylee than the prosecutors were able to prove and before the case started didn’t feel there was anyway she would be acquitted. I firmly believe she could never get around not reporting anything to the authorities about the death of her daughter being missing for 31 days however after the defense lawyer Jose Baez gave his opening statement, I figured it wasn’t an open and shut case. Then low and behold, the prosecutors begun to go into it’s bag of tricks, as always, using every available low down dirty tactic in order to get a conviction. De Ja vu. From the get go the prosecutors paraded dozens of witnesses before the jury, under the gaze of “time line evidence” but one of their common dirty tricks to destroy and attack the character of the defendant, “Slut evidence” The real purpose of that testimony was to show all the different dudes Casey was sleeping with at the time and how she liked to party, however those same witnesses also told the jury how she was a good mother and had a wonderful relationship with her daughter, so that tactic backfired.
A lot of the prosecutions scientific evidence was cold blooded junk science. They had a dude that invented a machine to detect smell and odour of decomposing dead bodies. This has never been used in any court of law in the history of the U.S. And is not common in the scientific community but that didn’t stop them from trying to spring it on this jury. This same quack takes a write clothes hanger, bends it pointing to the ground to find dead bodies, what kind of crap is that. What kind of voodoo scence are they working with and they want that jury to convict her of 1st degree murder, and give her a death sentence on mere speculation like that. That’s crazy.
Many people claim to be so outraged about this case because it was a 2 year old child. Yes, it was a tragedy, but all life is sacred and it’s spiritually and morally wrong to kill period. A grown woman or man victim is just as valued as a child. No life has any more value then another. That’s where prosecutors are given a chance to discriminate, as they often do, asking for the death penalty for white victims where there is a black or other minority defendant. That’ where this notion that one life is more important than others leads to… All murder is wrong, even state sanctioned killing, so don’t feed into this created outrage that everyone is suppose to be more upset because the victim was a child. That only leads to other areas the state likes to discriminate in. This case is bigger than Casey Anthony the prosecutors, commentators and others involved continue to believe jurors are suppose to go along with the process of railroading defendants, sending them to death row or prison for life on any evidence or lack of. They are shocked, stunned and can’t accept a jury actually deciding a case saying there was plenty of reasonable doubt and you didn’t prove your case.
Nancy Grace, Jane Velez Mitchell and the other commentators are leading the charge of inciting protesters with lynch mob mentality, instead of encouraging them to move on with their lives and channel their anger in a positive direction. Ratings for their shows appear to be more important than human life, which could be in jeopardy if some of those not too stable people swing into action after listening to all the rhetoric.
When I mentioned some of the legal commentators response for being extensions of the prosecution in the Last (food for thought) article I forgot to mention Ryan Smith and Casey Jorden, Casey Jorden an ex prosecutor and now a so called criminologist that is suppose to be abe to get into a defendants mind, gave a daily sermon on what the jurors would be thinking about the evidence. It was good to hear her “eat crow” after the verdict, but she spent more time trying to justify her wrong predictions!!
Judge Belvin Perry Jr. rulled 99% for the prosecution, during the trial. That chump went out of his way to aid the prosecution, as most of them do in courtrooms across the country.
The prosecution used Cindy and George to help them execute their daughter and were almost successful. Cindy did show some mother instinct and lie about internet searches, trying to help her daughter some. Lee Anthony, Casey’s brother was evasive answering questions, trying to help his sister, even after being accused of “feeling her up” as a teenager, but George, Casey’s father did everything he could to help the prosecution convict and execute his own daughter. Even if he felt she did it, it would appear as her father, he would allow God to deal with her, instead of helping the prosecutors kill her. That’s crazy.
Roy Krump, the meterman that was suppose to find the skull and bones of Caylee was impeached by his own son about critical evidence of when he found the skull, etc. Jeff Ashton and Linda Drane Burdick were called brilliant for some of their presentation by those commentators. Yeah, it was so brilliant the jury didn’t buy any of it. The bottom line is, you can’t expect a jury to convict anyone on mere speculation and junk science. It’s about time a jury didn’t go for the O-key-doke.
TO BE CONTINUED… The struggle continues..
FOOD FOR THOUGHT PART 25
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT!
I saw news reports recently of a guy convicted of assaulting and shooting a cop. During the proceeding he became disruptive, in the courtroom, shouting all kinds of obscentities, threats etc. So the judge ordered he be restrained physically. He was handcuffed and shackled to a security chair used for this type of situation and they put a helmet on him to keep him from biting and spitting. Anyway, the news reporters covering the event mentioned that the guy was convicted beyond a reasonable doubt, bu a jury of his peers, so they don’t know why he’s acting like that. Now that’s interesting because that term is only used selectively and ony when it’s convenient for those that support the decisions. When the verdict goes contrary to how the news reporters, letal commentators, prosecutors, judges etc, like in the O.J Simpson, Casey Anthony and others, then the same jury of their peers that acquitted them, because the evidence wasn;t proven beyond a reasonable doubt, become morons, idiots and all kinds of others undesirable names and often their lives are in danger because of their decision.
Now let’s talk about this legal concept of reasonable doubt. In the American judicial system that is tarnished with too many fatel flaws and injustices. A system that is dead set on continuing to use the death penalty although it’s well established that it is arbitrary, unfairly applied and costly. The Innocent are not only sentenced to death, as has been proven by so many DNA exonerations, but there isn’t any doubt, what so ever that innocent people have been executed already. Lets get back to this legal concept of beyond a reasonable doubt . All persons are presumed to be innocent and no person maybe convicted of an offense unless each element of the offense you are charged with is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. This is well established in the 14th amendment of the constitution and it violates the due process clause, if not followed!!!
Much too often, as I’ve previously mentioned prosecutors are more concerned with filling up their score cards with victories, then seeking justice. Trial judges that are mostly ex-prosecutors and are still influenced with that prosecutor mentality are just mere extensions of the prosecution. At the end of the trial,after the prosecutor and defense lawyer gives their closing argument, summing up the case, the trial judge gives the jury instructions of the law to be followed, during their deliberations. This too, is often abused, by the judge when games are played telling the jury matters of law that are important and necessary to follow. Often they prefer to use confusing and tricky language to explain how beyond a reasonable doubt is applied or questions of I.D or other questions in regard to guilt or innocence. Juries have to continue to send notes to the judge, asking him or her to explain instructions because of the deceptive language, when it all could be avoided, if the instructions were given in plain everyday language, instead of legal mumbo-jumbo that is designed to mislead, mix up and confuse the average Joe Citizen that sits on these juries.
Keep in mind the law does not require a defendant to prove his innocence or produce any evidence what so ever, the jurors have to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt, of the defendants guilt after a careful and impartial consideration of all the evidence presented in court. If the prosecutors falls short and does not prove it’s case beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must acquit. A reasonable doubt is based on reason and common sense, The kind of doubt that would make a reasonable person hesitate to act in their most important affairs.
Much too often juries get caught up in the idea that the defendant must have done something or the state would’nt be trying to prosecute him/her and tend to forget about the reasonable doubt concept, but the beyond a reasonable doubt standard is a requirement of due process and the consititution demands the instructions regarding it, are correctly conveyed to the jury and the jury to follow them to the tee
TO BE CONTINUED ……Intensify the Struggle!!!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT PART 26
Just recently a well established and creidble Human Rights watch Group released a report that revealed the senior officials under former President G.W Bush, knowingly authorized the torture of terrorist suspects, in custody. The report titled “Getting away with Torture” (a 107 page report) says it warrants criminal investigation against then Vice President Dick Cheney, defense secretary Donald Rumsfield, C.I.A director George Tenet, Bush himself and others. All of those chumps authorized “waterboarding” and other forms of torture.
There’s a pattern of these abuses in this country. They try to justify it under the cloak of fighting terrorism in the above situation, under security in our prison situations and safety and justice in our courtrooms. The only problem with that is, our elected officials tend to be the real criminals.
Also just recently in July 2011, our fellow comrades at SHU in the Pelican Bay Camp in California were forced to stand strong in their struggle to correct the on going torturing, in human conditions at that spot, that is designed to punish and breai men’s spirits. Those Brothers went on a hunger strike, refusing food for 19 days, saying they would rather die than continue to suffere the inhuman conditions they are subjected to on a daily basis!! Some at the San Quentin death row and others in prisons elsewhere joined for a few days in solidarity. There needs to be more of this in prisons across the country instead of accepting and allowing these chumps to do anything they want to us, without any lawful protest!!! There are too many in these conditions and circumstances that don’t want to make any waves, often I wonder how some of these “no wave clowns” got on the row. Some of these crème puff jokers should not even have been a suspect in a murder investigation!!! Anyway their effort, on the Bay did in fact accomplish some dialog with the officials and promises were made, time will tell if they were sincere. Its just hard to trust those that have been jerking us around for so long, but its also shows how much can be accomplished if we stand together, ready to give up the ghost, rather than be treated with no respect and dignity!!!
These courtrooms have become a cold blooded joke, it’s crazy how the average joe citizen is so naïve about the shortcoming of our judicial system and continue to blindly believe the police, prosecutors and judges in the system, do the right thing. Only those of us living or connected to the ghetto, where police and many of the citizens are virtural combatants, know the real deal. Too often these chumps deliberately set out to railroad defendants, disguising the truth and arnt even concerned about seeing that justice is done. Defendants are much too often victimized by corrupt policemen, overly abitious prosecutors and prejudiced judges, so you shouldn’t be surprised by any instances of misbehavior or out right crookedness, by those sworn to uphold the law!!! It defies logic not to see and understand that a certain element of this society has become more concerned with punishment than justice!!
This so called best judicial system in the world isnt as good as they would like people to believe, even with all the DNA exonerations jumping off, so regularly, these chumps are still trying to continue with the death penalty. The black guy that was convicted of killing 11 women and burying them under his house. Well anybody with eyes and ears can tell that dude is “throwed off” I mean if you see the man is crazy, why try to execute him?? I’m trying to figure out who is the craziest, the guy convicted of killings or the people trying to execute him?? Anyone with any common sense at all can see the D.P is the ultimate irreversible denial of human rights, especially after the DNA revolution has exposed the magnitude of justice-system mistakes!!!
TO BE CONTINUED …Power to the Struggle!!!