Amy's Robot

Victims and Priorities

Amy's Robot hasn't discussed the Scott Peterson trial, largely because we found the whole circus exploitative and sad. But we felt it necessary to comment on this touching article [Legal Superstar Stung By Peterson Defeat] pointed out by ADM, on the real victim of the whole tragedy. We are speaking, of course, about defense lawyer to the stars Mark Geragos.

It's been a rough year for Geragos, once the go-to guy for high-profile characters who got busted shoplifting or misplaced their interns. But that was before a cold-hearted jury found his star client guilty and sentenced him to death - with total disregard for Geragos' career!

To paraphrase ADM, give me a fucking break. This article, which suggests that the jury did something wrong by finding a murderer guilty, outlines just about everything that's wrong with the media sensationalism around these cases.

"I don't think it gets any worse than this, losing a death penalty case in such a public way," said trial watcher and Loyola Law School Professor Laurie Levenson.

You know what, Laurie? I bet Laci Peterson's family thinks it gets a lot worse. In fact, I bet they think that having your daughter's death become a public spectacle, and then seeing her murderer featured on an E! True Hollywood Story and in People magazine, is much, much, worse.

The truly stupid part of this piece is that it almost accidentally points out that Geragos isn't such a hotshot after all. He wasn't able to get Winona Ryder off on her shoplifting charges, and he was fired by Michael Jackson. And when Michael Jackson fires you, it's probably time to take a good hard look at your career.

Geragos claims that he wanted to represent Scott Peterson out of a sense of moral obligation, because he felt the situation was becoming a "witch hunt". After all, his firm claims that "the law offices of Geragos & Geragos have always stood for one thing above all else: honesty and integrity in representation." Yes, enough honesty and integrity to post a piece yesterday written by a representative of a right-wing Christian organization* suggesting that a Satanist cult was somehow responsible for Laci Peterson's death. Witch hunt, indeed.

[tx ADM]

* The organization is Blessed Cause, which is opposed to teaching "Sex Ed Porn" in public schools, the ACLU, and "forcing children to pray to Allah". I'm not linking to it directly, but the web address is on the article link.

categories: Celebrities, Crime, Media
posted by Emily at 12:36 PM | #