Message to the Prosecution: Cut Your Losses and Drop the Charges Now!

[Update, Tuesday 4:50 PM]: Dennis Norwood of The Chattanoogan has an excellent account of the morning's testimony by Dr. Dr. William "Bill" Bernet, who told the court that Tim Deal's "investigation" was "shoddy." That Arnt, Gregor, and House still are trying to get Tonya Craft convicted after the parade of witnesses shooting down their arguments is a disgrace. If you want to know why I am intent on pursuing disbarment for the prosecutors, look no further than their refusal even to pay attention to these distinguished witnesses.
[End Update]

The most effective way that African hunters go after monkeys is to lay out a hollowed gourd with a narrow neck and fasten it to something solid. Inside the gourd, they put nuts that will attract a monkey to a point where it will put its hand into the gourd and grab the nuts.

Unfortunately for the monkey, the neck of the gourd is too narrow for the monkey's fist, which means that unless the animal lets go of the nuts, it cannot move. At that point, the hunters approach and still the monkey will not let go, even to the bitter end.

I use this analogy because that is what I see Chris Arnt, Len Gregor, and Brian House doing. Even as the expert witnesses -- and these experts literally ARE the people that WROTE THE BOOK on child molestation accusations -- chew up and spit out the false charges against Tonya Craft, they soldier on as though they had a duty to carry out the trial no matter how many times the charges are debunked. Like the proverbial monkey, they hold even more tightly to this case, even as it threatens to doom their careers.

Let us assume that at the BEGINNING of this investigation, Arnt, Gregor and Tim Deal took the three children to be examined by Dr. Fajman, Dr. Hazzard, Dr. Aldridge, and Dr. Bernet. Let us further assume that the three people gave the same answers to the investigators and prosecutors that they have given on the stand: they find NO EVIDENCE of sexual abuse.

What would have Deal, Arnt and Gregor have done? Would they have pursued this investigation further, or would have they told the parents that there was no evidence by which they could -- or should -- gain a conviction? I'll go further. How many investigators in the State of Georgia, if they are told by these four people or at least some of them that there was no sign of sexual or other abuse, would still pursue charges?

That these men continue to push forward despite being told from literally the gold standard of therapists and scholars like this is absolutely telling. They cannot be saying that these witnesses are stupid or are unable to properly diagnose anything.

No, what Arnt and Gregor and House are doing is what no prosecutor or judge EVER should let happen: pursue an innocent person because someone wants to "win." That is not just bad prosecution, it is immoral. It is an offense so terrible that anyone who engages in it should not be permitted to work in that field again.

Michael Nifong's "investigator" Linwood Wilson, seeing that all the wheels were coming off the Duke Lacrosse Case, begged Nifong to get rid of the whole thing, to drop the charges, cut his losses, and move on. Unfortunately, Nifong simply refashioned the charges in a way that was so contrived that law professor James Coleman of Duke University Law School declared that Nifong was "mooning the system."

Indeed, "mooning" was and is a good term for both the Duke and the Tonya Craft cases, as the prosecutors and House proudly are showing their backsides to everything their professions are supposed to be. As I have followed the testimonies of Dr. Fajman, Dr. Aldridge, and now Dr. Bernet, I realize something quite terrible: the prosecution did not WANT people like this to testify because the prosecutors KNEW what they would say, and they would undermine the very testimonies that prosecutors already know are untrue.

In other words, I am saying that Chris Arnt and Len Gregor at VERY BEST were reckless in pursuing these charges and at the worst, knew they were false. This goes against everything for which the courts supposedly stand, and what our forefathers knew about justice.

Furthermore, by attacking these witnesses and trying to tell the jury that ALL FOUR OF THEM are not telling the truth, Arnt and Gregor have set themselves up for real problems in the future. People talk, and especially witnesses like this, who don't take this kind of treatment sitting down.

I realize that these witnesses not only believe the prosecution is wrong, but they firmly believe that the prosecutors are trying to railroad an innocent person into prison, and they are taking that personally. Don't think for a second that they are not going to make sure that prosecutors and judges know about what Arnt and Gregor and House are doing.

While it might be a short-term loss, the very best thing for the careers of these three men is to drop the charges now. Unfortunately, like the poor monkey, they are holding onto the bait with everything they have and refusing to let go. Like Nifong, they "moon" the system and like Nifong, they will find their careers in jeopardy.