re: #151 palomino

When you say “none of it matters” I would disagree. It may not matter in the strictest legal sense, but this case has taken on a life of its own that transcends the vast majority of murders.

OJ, for example, was found not guilty but it’s hard to say that none of that mattered, given the impact it had on American society for an excruciatingly long 9 month trial (longest we’ve had here in CA history), as well as the racial soul-searching afterward. Same here: the case is now symbolic across American society, and has political significance to millions due to the racial, police, and firearm angles.

Court’s not allowed to consider the non-legal significance of the crime or how a verdict will be received, only the facts of the case before it. And I’d argue that this case, like the OJ case, is no landmark case, just the latest one to attract the media’s attention. Before this, it was the Anthony case, with people still convinced to this day that she murdered that little girl despite the prosecution’s total inability to convince a jury of that.