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Saturday, April 17, 2010

“I’m getting tired of it”

During the cross-examination of Tonya Craft's daughter, prosecutor Len Gregor complained that it was taking too long, and then declared: "I'm getting tired of it."

Well, Mr. Gregor, perhaps some other people are getting tired of the lies and the bullying that have characterized this case. Maybe other people are getting tired of watching you and Chris Arnt run the show in the courtroom. Maybe some of us are getting tired of prosecutors demonstrating to the world that they are not interested in justice, but just in winning at all costs.

11 comments:

Justine Valinotti said...

"I'm getting tired of it"= "If I Did It."

Alternate translation: "You're guilty even if you're proven innocent."

I'm glad that you're taking up this case with the same zeal, yet with the same objectivity, you pursued the Duke case.

As someone who was sexually molested by a family friend, I want to see justice for anyone who commits such a terrible act. However, knowing how terrible it is to be abused as a child, I also know how serious it is to accuse someone of having done it. So, I don't want to see anyone accused falsely or punished unjustly.

Jerri Lynn Ward, J.D. said...

As long as we have professional prosecutors coupled with immunity, we will never rid ourselves of the "win at all costs" mentality. Personally, I don't believe that there should be professional prosecutors AT ALL. Lawyers in the community should take turns prosecuting. That way, fewer untoward relationships between law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys will develop and we can stop funneling professional prosecutors into judgeships.

If a particular citizen-prosecutor lawyer acts unjustly, then, not only should there be no immunity to lawsuit, but his colleagues should treat him like dirt, ensure that he gets no more appointments as prosecutor and complain to the State Bar. They should be able to do all that without the fear that they will torpedo their own clients' cases in the future because of the vindictiveness of government prosecutors.

William L. Anderson said...

Thanks to both of you. As I dig into this case, I continue to find the same sickening patterns that characterized the fake child molestation cases of the 1980s and 90s.

kbp said...

Hi Jerri,

Hope all's well (enough!) for you in Texas.

OT: There's rumblings of something big that may make you smile down there. I'm hoping to see examples made of a few acting under the color of law in your state.

Anonymous said...

For those that don't believe children can be made to lie and make up abuse where there was none, read this:http://www.truthinjustice.org/ed-jagels.htm

Anonymous said...

A good many criminal defense attorneys are former prosecutors. A LOT of them. An attorney will spend time in a DA's office to get trial experience and leave in order to make more money as a defense attorney.

Even if the system became "citizen prosecutors" there would still be unethical people looking for publicity.

Jerri Lynn Ward, J.D. said...

"Even if the system became "citizen prosecutors" there would still be unethical people looking for publicity."

You are completely correct about this. We are fallen creatures and no human institution will ever bring forth perfection. The key is setting up institutions which provide appropriate checks and balances against human mendacity. The present system does not. It consciously removes checks and balances by providing immunity. It incentivizes the "win at all costs mentality". It allows human beings to have power with which no human being should be trusted.

I really don't care to support such a system just to give attorneys a training ground. Moreover, many of criminal defense lawyers who didn't go the route in a DA's office are pretty skeptical of those who did.

Anonymous said...

How can I get your blog out to the people of North Georgia? I am almost embarrassed to say that I live here. I stumbled onto your blog when looking for anything about the Tonya Craft case. I knew in my gut that what i was hearing on the news just didn't add up. I wish that your information could get out to more of my fellow citizens. Everyone I talk to knows this is a witch hunt and what we don't understand is how it got this far?

William L. Anderson said...

I think that WGOW linked it. Just send the url to as many friends as you can. I'm going to set up a Causes page on my Facebook page, thanks to the suggestion of a wonderful attorney from Texas!

Anonymous said...

me and some friends are posting a link on our fb page which is how i stumbled across your blog as well. i will be posting this link every few days to insure that all my fb friends are seeing it... the site that tonya's friend set up for her has tonya's story as well and it is truthfortonya.com. thanks for all your work in writing these posts, now if it can just make national news and the facts can get in the newspaper that would be even more exposure to this very evil travesty that is happening. MT

Anonymous said...

One girl is an actor. She played the role of an abused child inone of her movies. She already knows how to play the part in this role. I thought it was interesting that she was the first to testify against Ms. Craft.