Press Guilty

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11742476/
I am embarrassed to admit I know the name Littlejohn. I have never been to New York. Even if I had been, with my aversion to alcohol it is highly unlikely I would visit a bar while there. Therefore, there is little to no reason our paths would ever cross.
With huge, history-changin events taking place in the world today, such as the rise to power of Hamas, the redrawing of borders by Israel, the events in Iraq, and yes, even the grandstanding of Hugo Chavez, many important things are taking place. I do not know the names of all the key players nor do I know their motivation.
Millions of innocents are dying in various countries in Africa, for further example. News on that is hard to find even though it is probably the most brutal place in terms of human rights violations going today...and yes, I know about China. How many of us can drop the key names of the conflict there? A few people who were inspired by Hotel Rwanda might know a couple of place names...
The Muslim world, a significant and historically violent people, is still in arms over some drawings. This could easily see the rise of more wars, believe it or not. All these important, conceivably globe-changing events are going on and I know the names Littlejohn and St. Guillen.
It is indeed sad that she got drunk, raped, tortured and killed. There is no excuse, justification, rationalization or way that can be anything but horrifying and horrible. I am sorry for her, her friends, and her family.
But the way the case is being handled is so wrong. Littlejohn has been tried and found guilty in the press for several weeks now. I have read off and on how he was tied to the scene through so many different clues it was inevitable he was the murderer. Then I read how some pieces did not fit...such as the DNA did not match him in some key pieces of evidence. Today he is convicted again as a trail of evidence putting him all over the place has been found.
This is despicable for many reasons. First, evidence in high profile cases (see Simpson, O.J., for example) has a way of mysteriously appearing right when the police need it. Strange how his DNA was nowhere to be found, then suddenly "Oh, guess what? We found this blood in an unexpected place. And it just happens to match his, so we have a case again." Convenient.
Second, the constant news coverage...why do I, in Oregon, know about an individual murder case in New York? How many murders occur every day much closer to me? Well, according to at least one FBI report, there were 4080 murders in the U.S. last year http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/12/19/national/main1135414.shtml
and something tells me St. Guillen is probably neither the first nor the closest one. So how is it that this case has caught the attention of so many and already been tried in the press?
Guilty or innocent, how on earth is Littlejohn going to get a fair trial? Irrelevant. He will go to court, he will lose, and receive a stiff, stiff punishment. I have spoken before on the quality of most, not all but most public defenders.
Now, from what I have seen, he LOOKS guilty, and if he really did it, I can think of no punishment too severe. IF he did it. I do not know. There is often evidence that surprisingly exonerates people. We could all get a surprise. But much like Ober who is guilty of being racist because he was accused of it in the media, Littlejohn MUST be found guilty to retain the credibility of too many people...the investigators, the papers, the op-ed people...
I remember the movie 15 Minutes. Please note I do not recommend it as it is bloody and brutal, in my opinion needlessly so. But it did peg an interesting phenomenon...people videotaping their own crimes. For the sake of Littlejohn, I hope a tape of that crime turns up...whether he did it or someone else. Because regardless of the outcome, some of us will find it to have been predetermined because of all the extra coverage. And that is not right.