Perhaps the most telling moment in Ken Burns’ new documentary on the Central Park Five case is when a juror explains why he voted guilty.
The kids confessed to the brutal rape of a jogger in Central Park in 1989. Why, he wondered, would innocent kids confess to something they did not do?
The five young men were convicted despite the absence of physical evidence corroborating their involvement. Their confessions, the product of long and secret custodial interrogations, were the centerpiece of the prosecution.
The convictions were ultimately set aside many years after the fact...
May 2, 2013
Update: The Bethany Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously to reject Green Haven's proposed zone change last night, with Patricia Winer abstaining. Ms. Winer observed she was unhappy with public comments directed toward her. My, my, Ms. Winer. The kitchen wasn't that hot, was it?
We generally vote for the Democratic Party in local elections in my household. But this year, there is only one thing that will stop both my wife and me from voting for the Republican Party ticket in the May 6 election this year in Bethany, and that is simple: The town’s Planning and Zoning...
April 27, 2013
Trial is an imperfect vehicle for finding the truth. We all know that. Juries and judges make mistakes. We permit clients to seek a new trial when a judge commits legal error. Why don’t we permit defendants to ask for a new trial when they believe juries make factual mistakes?
In the United States, a jury’s decision about guilt or innocence is almost impossible to challenge. We assume that jurors get it right, even when we know better.
The Italians seem to be more sensible about human frailty and failings. In the land of opera, a defendant can appeal, and, in effect, be...
April 25, 2013
Before leaping to the conclusion that lawmen in Boston worked a miracle last week by locking the city down as they searched for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, consider the following: It was only after folks were told they could leave their homes that a private citizen spotted a trail of blood that led to the young man’s hiding place and capture.
This is important because Boston will now stand as a textbook case of what municipal police officers should do in an emergency. Close down businesses. Order people to stay in their homes. Keep folks off the streets. Search homes one by one at...
April 25, 2013
April 22, 2013
I fail to see why the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit went out of its way to tomahawk Attorney John R. Williams. But there it...
April 21, 2013
If it takes a village to raise a child, then what kind of society spawns a 19-year-old terrorist? We can explore "foreign" influences on Dzhokhar...
April 20, 2013
It appears as though the manhunt is over. Law enforcement officers report they were looking for two suspects. Two brothers are now either dead or in...
April 19, 2013
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April 18, 2013
“Cowardly. “Evil.” “Beneath contempt.” I heard these words over and over and over again in the days following...
April 18, 2013
I just don’t get it. A man is presumed innocent. He is put on trial. When the state fails to persuade all members of the jury that the man is...