Tag Archives: law

Was the Media Powerful Enough to Convict An Innocent Girl?

I tried to avoid writing this post because it scares me; however after one week of reading magazines and watching the news I simply have to comment on the PR that occurred during the Amanda Knox trial. For those who are unfamiliar, Amanda Knox was studying abroad in Italy in 2007 when she was charged with the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

After being convicted, Knox’s charges were overturned last Monday, Oct. 3 because the evidence was proven to be too weak. Now this scares me for more than just the obvious “murder is scary” or “being innocent and put in jail is terrifying.” No, this story scares me because Amanda Knox and I not only share the same name, the same age, and the same college major, but we look chillingly alike and I was very close to studying abroad in Italy myself. Needless to say I have been following this trial very closely, but I digress. Continue reading

Balloon Family Attorney: Dizzy or Well-spun?

HandcuffsRecent news stories, most notably those in The New York Times and on NBC’s Today Show, have taken particular note of the comments of David Lane, the attorney representing Richard Heene (Balloon Dad) regarding the upcoming, perhaps inevitable, arrest of Mr. Heene and potentially his wife (who is being represented by a different attorney).

Mr. Lane’s comments are best summarized by one of his talking points (because that’s what it is, let’s not kid ourselves) in his interview with the Today Show — “Do not do the perp walk for media consumption and arrest these people in full view of their children. That’s child abuse.” Continue reading