Court Sentencing and Victim Impact Statements are about Showmanship, Not Justice

Cleveland, OH—Prosecutors lobbied lawmakers everywhere to create sentencing extravaganzas.  This is where so-called Victim Impact Statements are made.  Prosecutors have really succeeded in the efforts to change court rules under the popular guise of giving victims a voice.  It sounds like such a admirable effort until you closely examine what its really about. 

Sentencing has changed into nothing more than a variation of the old time-honored Perpwalk for the defendants.  For the victims it’s little more than a perverted form of a Pity Party.

Today admitted kidnapper, rapist and fetus killer Ariel Castro got his turn for the spectacle.  Victim Michelle Knight dramatically told Castro, “You will Face Hell.”

They always begin by parading in the defendant into court in jail garb and chains.  Everyone is already aware of what sentence is coming to be handed out and nothing here ever changes the actual punishment.  In Castro's case it's 1,000 years.  

Normally the defendant is asked to make a statement.  They usually maintain their innocence, mitigate their conduct or transfer blame to others.  Sometimes they are remorseful.  Their words always fall on deaf ears.  I guess there is voyeuristic fun to watch chained up miscreants squirm, stutter or remain arrogant.  It’s all really so pointless.

The victims and or their families are also paraded through the courtrooms, but as pitiful creatures.  They are rarely good public speakers and read from writings they collected on paper.  They often sob, express anger and almost never express sympathy for the defendant.  They are often nervous and very uncomfortable while speaking.   I’ve yet to see a crime victim win fame or fortune as a result of their exposure in these Victim Impact Spectacles. The same is true for obtaining closure. 

Some so-called victims like the estranged father of Ron Goldman try to capitalize on their new fame.  Fred Goldman was a suit salesman who even got the opportunity to become a radio talk show host.  His continual whining about O.J. Simpson could only be tolerated so long and he was quickly and unceremoniously taken off the air.  Goldman never had a second act.  Goldman bitterly returned to his former occupation.  

The word closure is repeated ad nauseam.  Closure is a word picked by prosecutors to coax crime victims to participate in these Sentencing Spectacles.  It’s nothing more than a false promise.  For real victims there is never closure. Time is the only healer, certainly not some emotional post conviction courtroom confrontation.

The use of Victim Impact Statements by prosecutors is for pure political gain on the backs of victims and nothing more.  The Victim Impact statements are here to stay because of the insatiable and morbid curiosity of court watchers.

The three women kidnapped, raped and imprisoned for years have begun to explore the marketability with appearances at events and such.  I wish them well but I’m skeptical that they can break the mold of publicly displayed victimization to find rewarding careers. 

Trial By Television in Phoenix, The Jodi Arias Three Ring Judicial Circus.

Phoenix, AZ—Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens is presiding over a broadcast and Social Media lynching of the hapless accused guest of honor, murder suspect and defendant, young, Jodi Arias.  Arias is facing the death penalty in connection with the stabbing and shooting death of her former lover.

Kinky and lurid sex tales have sensationalized the case with the ever-present help of a gaggle of celebrity court pundits.  The Court’s Public Information Officer Karen Arra is doing her best to make sure the media wont miss a second of every salacious aspect of this sad case.  She can be seen everyday outside in the street socializing with the media stars set up in satellite trucks and the improvised field TV sets.

Of course there’s the highly graphic and detailed Mormon anal sex angle of this csse where religion and sex converge on each other like speeding freight trains in the night.  Visions of little boy’s Spiderman underwear dance in the heads of the jurors and spectators along with those watching at home on their iPads, iPhones and every conceivable new technology device. 

Then there is that prosecutor, Juan Martinez who’s become a lynch mob’s favorite Rock Star.  Apparently Martinez loves mugging for pictures and signing autographs for the bloodthirsty and sex crazed spectators during court breaks.

Judge Stephens lost control of her courtroom in the very beginning and of course any likelihood of a fair trial has passed long ago. 

The evidence seems to be quite damning but I just can’t imagine this as a death penalty case.  There’s no question that Arias has redundantly and desperately lied to authorities while giving various conflicting accounts of this death.  There is however no eyewitnesses and we along the jury must guess what really happened.

The state apparently refused to offer Arias less than death in exchange for a guilty plea leaving her no choice but to face this poor excuse for a trial. 

I don’t mind cameras in the court because the public should see what goes on in our government. However the time to post, broadcast or publish the video should be only after a verdict is rendered.

As for jurors and their admonition not to read, watch or listen to media reports about the trial?  That’s nothing less than a cruel joke.  My own research suggests that no less than 95% of jurors violate those rules.

I remember as a youngster the infamous 1954 Show Trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard in Cleveland, Ohio. This story became the basis of that wildly popular TV show of the 1960’s, The Fugitive, starring the late David Jansen. 

It took many years but Sheppard was freed after a re-trial but as a totally shattered and only a shell of the popular young physician he once was.  He became a third rate professional wrestler because he was unable to reintegrate to the medical community.  He died as a battered and broken man at the age of 46.

One important note about the Sheppard Media Lynching, is that back then they did not have the technology to broadcast live from courtrooms.  They relied on after the fact TV, radio and print reports.   I also think that details like the Mormon inspired anal sex information was off limits back then to broadcaster’s reports.

 Declaring a mistrial in the Arias case is long overdue.  The retrial should be done sans the TV cameras and Rock Star prosecutor.  Rather than a re-trial perhaps an offer of less than lethal injection in exchange for a guilty plea can save taxpayer a huge bundle of cash.  Perhaps even dignity could return to our sacred hall of justice. 

Victim’s Rights, Show Trials and American Courts

Former Congresswoman Gabby Gifforrds leaving the Tucson federal courthouse.

Tucson, AZ—Our American founding fathers never considered the need for what we call Victim’s Rights.  Anyone accused of a crime has real rights that must be protected.  This is obviously to prevent wrongful convictions.  It’s also to prevent government officials from targeting people for persecution for any number of nefarious reasons.

When we become victimized by a criminal act it is expected that we have a desire to exact revenge and show hatred against the offender.   The more serious the offense the more hate and anger is expressed by the victim and of course their family and friends.

We hold the accused to account in our criminal trials.  In a criminal trial a victim was never intended to be anything more than a witness.  Witnesses really don’t need any special rights of any kind.  Their job is to simply testify truthfully.

The victim is never allowed to apply any punishment.  I think is only natural that many victims want to experience throwing the switch on the electric chair and such.   There has never been justice for victims or any person.

Victims can only attempt to gain the power to punish the offender in a civil court.  If the offender has any assets they can be awarded to the victimized.  The problem here is most criminals have nothing and a victory in a civil court rings hollow.

Prosecutors seem to universally hate fair trials and the protections that guarantee them, because some of those accused are acquitted.   They want total control over the evidence and the punishment.  Prosecutors already have the ability to manipulate witness testimony through giving witnesses who are criminals, immunity from prosecution.  That lets them escape any responsibility for their own crimes. 

Prosecutors are now free to use the fragile emotional state of the victims as tools in court sentencing proceedings.  They have done this by obtaining court rule changes such as allowing for victim impact statements. 

Prosecutors love to mislead anyone and everyone that a successful prosecution and application of punishment bring closure to victims.  There is no closure but for the healing effects of time. 

Still prosecutors want to parade frightened, crying victims before the court to exact maximum penalties against the accused.  This charade has no real effect except to provide a garish public spectacle.  Judges are not supposed to be swayed by these actions.

Prosecutors are politicians and love this garbage to use in their future political campaigns.  Justice is perverted and twisted to aid political propaganda.

Yesterday in a Tucson Federal courthouse, prosecutors put on such a show.  A deranged mass killer was due to receive a maximum prison sentence that insured he’d never be released.  There was no trial because the accused pled guilty to his crimes.   That plea saved taxpayers untold millions in legal fees and court costs had this remained a death penalty case.

The plea and penalty was negotiated and the case closed for all practical purposes.  Still prosecutors summoned every victim to come into court to stare down the killer and to address him with their angry statements.   Then they watched him get sentenced  and taken away to Club Fed.

Victim impact statements are rarely delivered by accomplished public speakers.  Instead the victims nervously read writings from scraps of paper that were prepared in advance.  There are no happy endings in any criminal court for anyone, even an acquitted defendant. 

Victims will never get justice in any court.  The criminal acts that brought on the prosecution cannot be undone.  The victims can’t be made whole by any court ruling.  It that’s ever going to happen it will be in the hereafter if there is one.

We have turned most of our courts into entertainment arenas complete with live television and now streaming Internet video.  Our trial are show trials appealing to the lowest common denominator of humanity.    Our trials are not about justice anymore but rather showmanship and prosecutor’s political campaigns.

Adolph Hitler and his PR genius, Josef Goebbels was among the first to put their show trials before motion picture cameras.  The Nazis then brought their idea of justice to the masses that watched those trial highlights at their local movie theaters.  I ask, have we progressed beyond that? 

Trials should be public but cameras just don’t belong in our courtrooms.  If you want to see a trial all you need to do is visit your local courthouse.