Does The Law Work?

8. December 2009 by Rev Young.

I have been casually following the case of Amanda Knox.  I watched a special on her case on a network channel and then followed, watched and waited to see what the verdict would be concerning her fate.  I was very surprised to see that she was found guilty.

A couple of days after her sentencing, I watched a popular morning program as they discussed what Amanda’s future held.  The hosts of this morning show had a prominent attorney on the program that was to assist us in knowing the legal recourse that Amanda and her family would have.  This attorney was asked what Amanda’s appeals process would be.  This attorney stated that the appeals process for Amanda would be the same as in this country.  The job of her attorney’s would be to answer the question did the law work?  If not, then her appeal would be granted.  The next questions were directed at a correspondent who was asked what the obstacles were for Amanda?  What convicting evidence did Amanda have to counter in proving her innocence?  The list was put up on the screen.  As I read the list I realized that there was not one piece of physical evidence from the crime scene that was listed.  What WAS listed was her “strange behavior” at the time of her arrest.  Her conflicting stories that she gave at the time of her arrest and then in subsequent interrogations.  So the question is DID THE LAW WORK?

Amanda was convicted of a serious crime without any physical evidence presented that confirmed she was, indeed, present at the time of the crime.  This is outrageous to me.  YET IT HAPPENS EVERYDAY IN THIS COUNTRY!  Am I exaggerating?  Do I have hard evidence to back this up?  Yes!  Hard evidence, unlike the case built by prosecutors at the time of these peoples prosecutions.

I am going to give examples of a couple of individuals and then you decide. 

Erik Jensen was brought on charges of first degree murder, based on our felony murder law, solely on the statement of one young man who was offered a plea agreement if he would testify against Erik.  This young man told a story…made up a story actually, so that he would receive a lesser charge…..at the cost of Eric’s life.  This same young man could not pass a lie detector test.  The accounts that Erik and his co-defendant gave did not match this young man’s statement.  The evidence did not coo-berate the story that this young man gave, yet…..the prosecutor’s in this case built a story and presented it as fact.  The public bought it.  He was condemned to life in prison at 17.

Jonathan Matheny was charged with 3 counts of first degree murder and several other charges.  He was arrested and charged solely on a story that was told by a young man that was offered a plea agreement and told that “they would go easy on him” if he would implicate others.  This same young man gave three different accounts of the events and the crimes that were committed.  Not one of the stories he told matched the physical evidence at the crime scene.  Not one piece of DNA, not one fingerprint or any other evidence was ever found that indicated Jonathan was ever at the crime scene.  Jonathan was offered a plea agreement for 48-80 years and his attorney advised him to take it.  Because of the felony murder law, his attorney was afraid to go to court.  Why?  Because the district attorney had concocted a story, run that story in the media for months and they did not believe they could win the case in court.  Even though the evidence proved he was not there.  He received 68 years…..life……for a crime someone else claimed he had a part in.

So the question is……does the law work?  No it does not.  Even though I have only presented two examples, the truth is, I could present hundreds; which means that in this nation, there are probably thousands like them. 

The truth is, you do not have to have physical evidence to arrest and charge someone.  You do not have to have physical evidence to prove someone’s “Guilt Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt”.  You just have to have a good story, presented by a practiced story teller that has unlimited access to other story tellers…. that will tell it again and again and again……….until we believe it………and we condemn a man/woman to prison…….and take their life. 

Posted in Legal News, Prison Reform Advocates, Juvenile Reform Advocates | Print | No Comments »