Hearsay Rule Vexed Jurors in Illinois Murder Case

[rockouthippie]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/us...rder-case.html

I don't know if you guys have been following the Drew Peterson case. He's gotten a trial in the press and a special law by the Illinois legislature to allow hearsay in his trial.

Now we got the last juror saying:

Mr. Supalo said he had some doubts about the credibility of Stacy Peterson’s statements to the pastor, the Rev. Neil Schori.

Yeah... I think that's a big problem. This guy got railroaded by a bunch of politicians, even if he was guilty.

Stacy Peterson basically admitted to her pastor that she was an accessory to murder. She either lied to the cops and covered up a murder or lied to the pastor and her friends. She even asked her divorce attorney if she could squeeze Drew Peterson for more money if she threatened to recant the alibi she gave him.

The 5 year old recollections of Kathleens friends and family about the abuse she said she was suffering because of divorce. That's not evidence.

This wasn't a fair trial. There is a reason hearsay isn't allowed. It's because it's unreliable. Courts have regarded hearsay as unreliable for hundreds of years because they observed it was unreliable. If Drew Peterson isn't a victim of this law, someone will be.

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/48932323#48932323

[thinktink]

"Ex post facto laws are expressly forbidden by the United States Constitution." - wikipedia.com

[rockouthippie]

I'm not sure that applies to the admission of trial evidence. What is really scary is that a district attorney and a legislature will go so far to convict someone they have no evidence against.

I saw the DA say he thought the investigation was ineffective. That means he couldn't figure out a way to convict a guy he has no evidence against. This DA doesn't even have any good evidence that a murder has been committed.

But he's a MAN! He's a WHITE MAN! He must be guilty. PMSNBC says so! They just know it somehow.

This is the same as George Zimmerman. What political gyrations are we gonna see to get him convicted of self defense?

I've lived in a mostly black neighborhood. It had a neighborhood watch. Black people "profile" little teen wannabe's they see wandering around the neighborhood and they were armed. They would have kept an eye on someone they thought was cheesy until the cops showed up too. Somehow that's different? No neighborhood watch I ever saw would "wait for the cops". It's the reason you have a neighborhood watch. People try to protect themselves because the cops are too damn slow to count on.

In my old hood, Trayvon wouldn't have made it ten yards down the street without someone saying "Who are you? Do you belong here?". An oasis in an "uzi only" part of town. Armed? Well enough that the local Bloods backed up from a neighborhood watch sign.

But he's a MAN! He's a WHITE MAN! Obviously a skin head. He must be guilty. Oprah says so! She just knows it somehow.