Not here!

25 Apr 08

Acquittal!

A courageous jury acquitted three NYPD Detectives this morning of all criminal charges stemming from the notorious "Bell Shooting" over a year ago.

The United States is the only nation left that still uses a jury system, a system that is available to everyone. Here, any accused can demand a "trial by jury." In nearly every other country, juries have been long-since eliminated, leaving the entire process exclusively in the hands of lawyers.

Our system surely worked this morning!

Of course, that's not the end of it. As we learned in the "Rodney King" incident in CA, the Constitutional prohibition against double-jeopardy doesn't seem to apply to police officers, particularly when a sleazy degenerate, then occupying the White House and lusting after minority votes, decides to re-charge already-acquitted officers, this time on thumped-up "Federal" charges, in which the same incident, same set of facts, and the same witnesses were rehashed all over again. Every chance we'll see an attempt to regurgitate that travesty here, particular in a election year!

The careers of the Officers involved are, of course, toast, and there will be civil actions that will probably last for the remainder of their lifetimes. So, the "happy ending" is tempered, to be sure.

The prosecution's case fell apart, almost from the beginning. Noneof its witnesses were credible. Under cross-examination, the believability of every prosecution witness was utterly demolished. Everyone in the courthouse, including the jury, came to the inescapable conclusion that the decedent (Bell), and all those with him on the night in question, were sleazy criminals, and that the police officers acted properly that night as they, while doing the job they're sworn to do, gallantly endeavored to prevent themselves from being murdered.

Read it carefully! The United States Constitution doesn't guarantee innocent people a fair trial. It guarantees EVERYONE a fair trial. Yes, even police officers! In most countries, politicians, judges, prosecutors, andlawyers in general have it all their way.

NOT HERE! Not even in New York. Thank God!

/John