Brushes with Madness

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Planet,

Today I was reminded of how often I live in a cocoon. I overheard some coworkers talking about a recent murder that happened in town, they then mentioned a past incident regarding a student and suspicious circumstances.

It turns out that a student committed suicide eight months ago by jumping off of a parking garage in town. Some months after his death, multiple witnesses came forward implicating him in the death of a professor, including bludgeoning and immolation, in a parking garage no less, eight years earlier. These witnesses claimed they were afraid to come forward for fear of reprisal.

It turns out that the now deceased student was a student of mine a few summers ago. He came off as a bit irascible, but it's difficult to conceptualize occupying a shared space with an alleged murderer for six hours a week.

Needless to say, spooky.

Any similar events from you all?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Numerous interesting things about that verdict. One is that the prosecution made in error in jury selection by having so many black women, as they were the demographic least empathetic towards him abusing a white woman.

The concept of DNA was so novel to the uninitiated that I'm sure it seemed like pseudoscience to them. Bill Simmons of all people wrote an excellent recap of the OJ verdict wherein he talked at great length about the prosecution's ineptitude, especially WRT to properly explaining DNA to the jury.

Exactly. I've not been around enough juries to speak authoritatively to them, but I've been around enough to see that glazed over look they get in their eyes. Jurors get bored easily. And frankly, jurors are - as often as not - just not very intelligent people.

I've never been terribly impressed by the jury as a true indicator of guilt or innocence. I'd honestly rather see a panel of 9 trained, educated attorneys establish my guilt or innocence in any of these things. But hell, what do you do?

The prosecutors didn't do a good job of 'dumbing down' DNA evidence, but it takes a degree of understanding and sophistication as it relates to the field in order to do a decent job of distilling it into something that a jury can easily digest. The LA prosecutors office simply didn't have that understanding and to be fair, very few people in the world did. I find it difficult to really barbecue them for that.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I disagree and the reason is that the O.J. verdict was a slam to the LAPD, Daryl Gates and the sham trials that occurred in the wake of the Rodney King beating.

It was payback and everyone in the city knew it.

Furthermore, those jurors weren't his "peers". His peers lived in Malibu, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, not downtown or South Central L.A.

The whole glove thing made me crazy. You can take any glove that fits your hand, expand your fingers and act like it doesn't fit. Seriously, people fell for that? Holy shit. Clearly most of the jurors were window-licking reeruns, but if just one of the prosecutors had stood up, grabbed the glove (or any other glove) and did the same thing, then just slipped it on, I think the prick gets convicted. Instead, that single act of complete horseshit paralyzed them.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Douchemaster General

The whole glove thing made me crazy. You can take any glove that fits your hand, expand your fingers and act like it doesn't fit. Seriously, people fell for that? Holy shit. Clearly most of the jurors were window-licking reeruns, but if just one of the prosecutors had stood up, grabbed the glove (or any other glove) and did the same thing, then just slipped it on, I think the prick gets convicted. Instead, that single act of complete horseshit paralyzed them.

You know why Darden had him do that? Because F. Lee Bailey told him he had, "the balls of a field mouse."

Excellent DNA quote:

"I didn't understand the DNA stuff at all. To me, it was just a waste of time. It was way out there and carried no weight with me."

sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/040611

[jettio]

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

Hollywood makes it look easy, as simple as point and click on a computer game, but pulling the trigger on someone in front of you pleading for their life takes a level of callousness most don’t possess.
The guy most likely wasn’t a killer, just thought he could be because he thought he needed the money more than a clear conscience.

So, are you saying that this mope was not board certified?

Did the ex-wife get prosecuted for pushing the button?

[Radar Chief]

Originally Posted by jettio

So, are you saying that this mope was not board certified?

Did the ex-wife get prosecuted for pushing the button?

I assume he pressed charges but not sure. I don’t have much contact with that branch of the family. Most of us are in the Midwest but they’re in Oregon.

[gblowfish]

Todd Haley gave me the finger once....

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Todd Haley gave me the finger once....

Did it feel good?

[gblowfish]

He allegedly gave me the finger.
He said "He might have waved...."

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

He allegedly gave me the finger.
He said "He might have waved...."

So, he didn't fingerbang you?

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Ponderception

So, he didn't fingerbang you?

No, but on Dec 20, 2009, he made me witness Jerome Harrison set the all time single game rushing record -286 yards- smashing Jim Brown's record. And he gave up two kick returns for TDs to Josh Cribbs...all on Fan Appreciation day.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...rushing-record

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

No, but on Dec 20, 2009, he made me witness Jerome Harrison set the all time single game rushing record -286 yards- smashing Jim Brown's record. And he gave up two kick returns for TDs to Josh Cribbs...all on Fan Appreciation day.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d...rushing-record

And let promising TE, Brad Cottam, break his neck.

[FishingRod]

There was a murder suicide in my house. It wasn’t me

[Trench]

I worked for several months as a security guard with Steve Rios. Rios went on to become a cop in Columbia then slit his boyfriend's throat. Kind of a creepy guy, but not someone you'd automatically peg as a murderer.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Exactly. I've not been around enough juries to speak authoritatively to them, but I've been around enough to see that glazed over look they get in their eyes. Jurors get bored easily. And frankly, jurors are - as often as not - just not very intelligent people.

That's because a damn good majority of jury members AREN'T intelligent. I got called for jury duty for a murder case involving a 21 year old city council member here. Youngest CC member in the history here and the guy was shot in the back of the head one night by a stray bullet. The guy who shot the gun was trying to get revenge for a drug deal gone bad. I sat in the jury for the accomplice who was the guy who got ****ed in the drug deal. It took me HOURS to explain to the rest of the jury that being ****ed on a drug deal does not give you a right to go back and demand your money and threaten someone. They were willing to let the guy walk because....and I quote "it was his money". I swear to god....HOURS of me trying to explain that this was an illegal transaction to these ****s.

Finally got that worthless **** committed too.

[Titty Meat]

Didn't Frazod smoke up with Dale Carter the night he shot up Westport?