I am currently unsatisfied with my job. Apparently, there is a support group for that. It’s called everybody and they meet at the bar. Upon searching for a new career, perhaps I should open it up to jobs outside the business world. Studying law could be an option. Sure, my knowledge in this field is relegated to “My Cousin Vinny”, “Law & Order”, and Charlie Kelly’s expertise in Bird Law, but given the performance of the prosecution in two recent notable trials, I might actually be overqualified in becoming a lawyer.
Casey Anthony. Some call her hot, most call her a baby killer, but not the Florida jury in her case. I won’t go into detail too much as Pat already covered this subject earlier in the month (http://handjobsforhamsammies.blogspot.com/2011/07/anything-you-can-do-i-can-do-better.html). Listening to a juror speak out immediately after the case, she admitted a not guilty verdict did not mean Anthony was innocent. However, without a body or an established cause of death, it would be hard to deem Anthony guilty, especially when the prosecution was seeking the death penalty. There was a concern that the prosecution might be better off seeking a life sentence in this trial. If they did, the jury may have been convinced to convict Anthony to life in prison, where the truth may actually be determined down the road. Instead, the 12 person jury felt it did not have enough evidence to sentence a potentially innocent woman to her death. While most of America believes Casey pulled an OJ, the prosecution may have overplayed their hand by seeking the stronger penalty.
Roger Clemens. One of the greatest pitchers of our generation has always been rumored to use steroids after his transformation from an overweight washout of the Boston Red Sox to the best pitcher in baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays in the mid 1990s. After being named in the Mitchell Report and sworn affidavits from former teammates as a steroid user, Clemens denied this under oath before Congress. His statements were passed along to the Justice Department, hinting Roger may have committed perjury. In August 2010, he was indicted on six counts relating to perjury, with his case being tried in July 2011. The prosecution had almost a full year to build their case against the pitcher. After spending a lot of time and money on their case, the prosecution made it to Day 2 in the trial before it fucked up so royally, the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. The prosecution had mentioned during the opening statements about testimony from a witness’ wife. The judge reprimanded the prosecution, citing this hearsay had been ruled inadmissible prior to the trial. On the second day, the prosecution ignored this and proceeded to air the inadmissible testimony on a television monitor. The judge, for lack of a better judiciary term, lost his shit and ended the trail 48 hours after it started. Due to the double jeopardy rule, Clemens might not face these perjury charges again. Clemens is currently a free man and can resume living his normal lifestyle (http://deadspin.com/5142053/roger-clemens-will-be-ready-to-pitchright-after-his-sadomasochistic-rubdown).
It might seem unfair to compare the lawyers in each case. The Anthony prosecution presented a strong case. Until the ruling, no one would have argued this. Unfortunately, they lost a case that most would feel was pretty winnable. The Clemens prosecution made “first-year law mistakes” from the get-go. These might be the worst lawyers in America and/or the biggest Clemens fans. I don’t even think they are qualified to defend themselves in Judge Judy’s courtroom, much less practice law in a federal courtroom.
At the end of the day, Casey Anthony and Roger Clemens got to walk off into the sunset as free people. It is possible neither of them has killed their two-year-old child or took performance enhancing drugs. However, both had strong cases against them. Fortunately for them, one prosecution couldn’t prove Casey should be sentenced to death while the other prosecution couldn’t get their head out of their asses to present the admissible evidence it had against Roger. I would weep for our future, but I don’t want to piss off any law firms that are looking for overzealous, incompetent attorneys. I still need a job.
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