One had better hope that none of the Dancing Grannies who were killed by Darrell Brooks in the senseless slaughter in Waukesha had poorly kept toenails.
Lest Brooks have a tenable self-defense claim.
Yeah. This one (the statement by defense counsel) was pretty much nauseating. One has to hope that the jurors fear that the statement went too far, and that an acquittal would paint them as putative racists.
While I’m depressing myself here, this would be a good time to wonder whether any of the anti-vax covidiots who have been shrugging off COVID deaths on the grounds that “most of those people were old and going to die soon anyway” have attempted to apply that dismissal to the deaths of Dancing Grannies mowed down by a homicidal driver.
I’m not sure whether it would be more depressing if they have or if they haven’t, come to think of it.
Most of them probably did.
But it only takes one to prevent a guilty verdict.
I am inclined to agree that this might have actually hurt the defendants more than it helped them. After all, the perception of being racist doesn’t help them, it actually would be suggestive of guilt in this circumstance.
Don’t be silly. The alleged killer is Black.
I’m getting the impression that none of these three defendants had particularly good lawyers. Bryan, in particular, seems to have hired himself one of the proverbial good ol’ boys, the one now associated with the “black pastors” remark. But the “dirty long toenails” lawyer for the McMichaels went way over the top, too.
I have to agree that the outcome of this case is really important in many different ways.
You hire what you can afford, based on recommendations (I guess the ex-cop had some idea of who the good defense lawyers were in his area). These three yahoos weren’t getting the right-wing love that Rittenhouse did, so it came out of their own pockets.
I agree that the defense attorneys have to put forth the best case they can: That’s the way our system is set up. And when there are no actual good cases, that means that they have to put forth whatever bad case they think will be most effective. And hoping that there’s at least one juror racist enough to hold out for at least a hung jury is, sadly, probably the best option available to the defense. So no, I can’t really be upset at the defense attorneys: They’re doing their job.
But it’s still telling, if that is in fact the best argument they have available to them.
The fact that there’s a serious risk they just offended the jury in the same breath is not exactly a bad sign though. Fifty years ago, the case might not have come to trial, and there would have been people lining up to demand an acquittal. That’s a pretty significant revolution in public opinion by historical standards.
Also, if board members haven’t seen the prosecution’s closing arguments, they’re pretty good at laying out the whole thing, as well as bring a pretty matter-of-fact, but methodical, destruction of the Defence. I do wonder if a plea deal was offered to the defendants in this case, and/or if they rejected one. Although I can 100% understand if you don’t as some of these videos run to over 8 hours long. I certainly haven’t been able to watch all of it myself as it would (obviously) take as long as the trial to completely see everything.
The toenail thing crossed the line.
50 years ago? It almost didn’t come to trial last year, and likely never would have if the family had not maintained pressure, and if the defendants hadn’t released a video, thinking it exonerated them.
Right now I am sure there are people watching this trial because it’s exactly what happened to their loved one, but there was no video, so “self defense” stopped the whole case cold without even an investigation.
There was a report that Bryan asked for one but was turned down by the prosecution:
So they specifically asked someone about Arbery’s body in the hopes of finding out about something like the state of his toenails for use as “ammunition?” Ugh.
I don’t remember dad’s toenails being mentioned in his autopsy report (which the defense had a copy of), but possibly reports for a murder victim are more detailed then a cancer victim.
Greg McMichael convicted of murder.
William Bryan convicted of murder.
Travis McMichael convicted of murder.
GUILTY VERDICTS:
McMichael - Son: 9/9 counts
McMichael - Father: 8/9
William “Roddie” Bryan: 6/9
Good. Pardon my lateness to the thread. Is the jury deliberating about all three defendants?
Not anymore.
Thank you, jurors, for getting this one right.
As mentioned in the other thread, all three also face federal hate crime charges. Trial in February. So there may yet be more to come.