Air(ias) Heads

Welcome to Kennedy Cases - the new blog about criminal law authored by, well, me.  Over time you will find a wealth of opinions, links and articles about criminal cases of note, changes in law that are interesting and my opinion of media coverage of criminal cases.  While I practice in Minnesota, I will include plenty of national and high profile cases for your perusal. 

Speaking of high profile cases, I suppose it is almost incumbent upon any good blogger to comment on the rage of the day - the murder trial of Jodi Arias in Maricopa County, Arizona.  Call it what you will - feeding frenzy, sensationalist's dream, or ratings darling.  Whatever you call it, what seems to have been lost is unusual.  The first thing to get lost in the media coverage of a high profile homicide is the victim.  Not so here. After all, there are thousands of people on twitter and elsewhere on the internet that identify themselves as members of "Team Travis."  I can't remember a case since O.J. Simpson where the victim actually receives somewhere near the same amount of media coverage as the defendant, thanks in no small part to the efforts of said victim's family and friends.  God knows the media barely gives them a wink otherwise.

What has been lost in all this coverage is that THIS CASE IS JUST LIKE the thousands of other homicide cases tried in this country every year.  With one exception.  The media noticed that the defendant was messed up in the head.  And because the media noticed her - we noticed her.  Her behavior has, indeed, been bizarre.  But there is one element of the phenomenon after that "noticing" that disturbs me.

Enter defense attorney. Why does the media always use the term "justice" as a term synonymous with "conviction?"  Last time I checked, justice meant following the constitution and making sure the TRUTH comes out.  While I have followed the trial closely and believe that her conviction is warranted, the media's pounding of the term "justice" helps fuel the often misguided public distrust of our justice system.  People in this country are very patriotic, and quick to proclaim it - until a defendant they don't like is put on trial. 

Then people want to kill the defense attorneys for doing their jobs and harass expert witnesses for giving an opinion.  "Justice" is defined by the constitution in this country.  And it's a great constitution.  If a case is lost it is the Prosecutor's fault - NOT the Defense's.  And don't go telling me you want the burden of proof to be on the Defendant.  Unless, that is, you're sure you will never be arrested for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.  If you are on the "side" of the prosecution, then quit your bitching and trust them to do their job. Of course, if they don't do their job (i.e., Jeff Ashton in State of FL vs. Casey Anthony), you can always elect them as your top District Attorney.

Just keeping it real,
HKB