[Peace-discuss] Patrick trial

[Morton K. Brussel]

In view of the incompleteness and ineptness of what I witnessed by  
the defense counsel at the trial, I am disheartened, but not amazed  
by the guilty verdict . I would never have agreed to such a verdict.  
However, the jury was left with the impression of a tearful poor  
white woman saying she was assaulted by Patrick Thompson; why would  
she claim such a thing if it were not true? No other possible  
motivations for her accusations were presented by the defense,  
although I understand that some could well have been given.  The list  
of defense witnesses was incomplete. Patrick was not called in his  
own defense (although I can possibly understand the reasons; he does  
not talk well.). Inconsistencies in the accuser's story were not  
followed up. It was a lousy performance by the defense counsel, who  
seemed unprepared for his task.

If Patrick is innocent, as he well could be, then this is a tragic  
event. One can only imagine that the defense counsel could not  
imagine that a guilty verdict could be rendered "without a scintilla  
of doubt", and he relied too heavily on this notion.

As for racism playing a role, what Bob says may be true, but one  
would have to hear what the jury members were saying and thought in  
order to come to this conclusion. It does smell of it. There was one  
African American on the jury, but I' don't know if he was active.

I did not hear the final summations, and would like to know what  
Defense Counsel said.

--mkb

On Jul 7, 2006, at 4:21 PM, Bob Illyes wrote:

> Patrick Thompson was found guilty today. This is an astonishing
> result, and can only be explained by a degree of racism in the
> jury that I did not believe existed in this county. There was no
> evidence- it was her word against his. Apparently a tearful white
> woman can have her way in court with a black man in Champaign County.
> This does not bode well for business as usual in the court house.
> Court Watch will be going into high gear.
>
> Bob
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss