🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <CnG0qo.527@reptiles.org> jim@reptiles.org (Jim Mercer) writes:
>In article <1994Mar29.120143.1375@iglou.com>,
>Chris Hagen <crisco@iglou.iglou.com> wrote:
>>	Just a thought that ran through my head--- in Jury selection, are you
>>sure you would WANT someone like this? I always thought it would be a better
>>representation if you had somethng other than hermits who don't read/watch
>>news....
>
>i think that a juror who has been exposed to the current media circus will have
>a pre-determined verdict, regardless of the facts presented at the trial.
>
>if the media hypes some supposedly hideous aspect of the case, and in court
>it is proven false, the juror is still going to remember the media's portrait.

This, of course, should have made the Nelles trial
impossible and Sinclair Stevens should have walked.  The
Canadian judicial system requires adults  that can
carefully weigh the evidence presented.  One can read a
newspaper and still be an adult.

>the media has the responsibility to be accurate, and in my opinion, the media
>has not demonstrated the ability to practice that responsibility.

This I do agree with but, as an adult, this is simply one
qualification on my information.  I would not do a lot with
the information in the newspaper that was important --
except try to get corroberation elsewhere.

>hermits who don't read/watch news are the best jurors, as their judgements
>will be based strictly on what is presented in court.  not what has been
>hyped by A Current Affair.

Hmmm...you figure that such people reflect "community
standards" or have  a "balanced outlook".  There have been
institutions which lock people away from current events in
the past (e.g. prisons and mental hospitals) which would
suggest to me that ignorance may not be the best
qualification for a juror.  I doubt that hermits would be
your peers, Jim (an opinion just based on your messages
over the years, so I may be wrong).

Frankly, I think that the publication ban has done more in
this case to  muck up the opinion of the public that the
release of the information. I would think that Mr. Teale's
chances for a fair trial have been distorted from rumour
and innuendo, and the public outrage at the perceived
"leniency" of Homolka's sentence.

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from the basement of
Brian K. Jenkins                                       brian@bkj386.UUCP
Mississagua, Ontario Canada