This defense strategy need not succeed. The good people of Eagle
County have the power to resist this effort to paint them as racists.
To do this, folks must remain vigilant in their commitment to judge
Bryant fairly and they must make this clear to Mackey's pollsters when
they call.
The people of Eagle County have a presumptive right to sit in judgment
of Kobe Bryant because the (alleged) crime happened in, and to a
member of, their community.
The defense does not want a fair trial in Eagle. They want the state
to have an unfair trial in Denver. But this result is not inevitable
and is not controlled by Pamela Mackey. The people of Eagle County are
in charge of their destiny in this case. They can let themselves get
whipped into a frenzy about race and hand the defense a change of
venue victory - or they can stand tall and refuse to let the ugliness
of prejudice undermine their commitment to fairness for both sides.
Wendy J. Murphy
Boston

To the contrary. False accusations of rape are rare and are no more
common than false accusations of other types of crime. Some 80 to 90
percent of rapes occur between people of the same race, and white men
commit more rapes than black men.

http://www.vaildaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?SearchID=73161217927648&Avis=VD&Dato=20040131&Kategori=LETTER&Lopenr=401310501&Ref=AR
I am a former prosecutor and I teach "Perspectives in sexual violence"
as a law professor in Boston.
Pamela Mackey dropped what has been described as another bombshell in
the courtroom during the last hearing. In response to an argument from
a crisis center lawyer that the victim's records should remain
confidential to encourage victims to report rape, Mackey urged the
judge to disregard the center's position as "political." Mackey then
added, without apparent reason, that there is a "political" history in
this country of "white women falsely accusing black men of rape."
If cultural mythology is the guide, this incendiary comment may strike
a familiar chord. But the truth is, there is absolutely no data or
study that suggests white women disproportionately falsely accuse
black men (or for that matter, men of any race) of rape.
To the contrary. False accusations of rape are rare and are no more
common than false accusations of other types of crime. Some 80 to 90
percent of rapes occur between people of the same race, and white men
commit more rapes than black men.
There isn't even anecdotal evidence to support Mackey's claim. Which
is not to say a white woman could never make a false accusation
against a black man. The "Scottsboro boys" case is evidence that it
can happen, but that was fifty years ago. More recent stories of false
accusations against black men either do not involve rape (Susan Smith
falsely accused an unknown black man of kidnapping her children) or
were made by men (Charles Stuart falsely accused an innocent black man
of killing his pregnant wife).
It is also true that mistaken identity cases can lead to the wrongful
prosecution of an innocent man (a black man was released from prison
last week in Boston after new DNA tests established his innocence).
But mistaken identity cases are not uniquely caused by "white women."
Indeed, the Boston case was prosecuted on the mistaken identification
of the male victim, a police officer.
Mackey's comment nevertheless resonates with the public because it is
rooted in real issues of racism and rape. When slave owners and racist
Southerners were lynching black men, they needed an excuse for their
barbarism so they falsely accused black men of lots of things -
including rape. But these false allegations came from white men, not
white women. The women rarely even made statements or had to testify
because victims of lynching were not allowed trials or any form of due
process.
Perpetuating the myth that black men were running around raping white
women served the interests of Southern racists because it made black
men afraid to walk around free for fear they'd be falsely accused -
and it kept white women from walking around free for fear they'd be
attacked by scary black men.
It also served to keep women and blacks from bonding around social
justice issues and served instead to divide them - a problem that
persists to this day and especially hurts the plight of black women
who are doubly marginalized.
It was incendiary, racist and sexist for Mackey to exploit and
misstate this ugly history. That she did so while representing a black
man charged with an act of gender-based violence is not only ironic
but should be insulting to anyone who cares about racial and gender
equality. No single person's liberty is worth the harm we all suffer
when serious social prejudice is encouraged. Defense attorneys should
face ethical sanctions for engaging in gratuitous exploitation of
bigotry.
Obviously, Mackey is playing the race card in an attempt to infect the
Eagle County jury pool by making the local population not only angry
at her (and thus angry at her client), but also angry in a
racially-specific way.
This could prove strategically advantageous to the defense. If folks
in Eagle County react in the manner intended by Mackey, race prejudice
and a strong dislike for the defense will be reflected in the results
of Mackey's jury-polling surveys when she gathers data to support her
change of venue motion. Nothing works better to compel a judge to
change the venue than evidence that the local population shows
race-based hatred toward a particular defendant.
This defense strategy need not succeed. The good people of Eagle
County have the power to resist this effort to paint them as racists.
To do this, folks must remain vigilant in their commitment to judge
Bryant fairly and they must make this clear to Mackey's pollsters when
they call.
The people of Eagle County have a presumptive right to sit in judgment
of Kobe Bryant because the (alleged) crime happened in, and to a
member of, their community.
The defense does not want a fair trial in Eagle. They want the state
to have an unfair trial in Denver. But this result is not inevitable
and is not controlled by Pamela Mackey. The people of Eagle County are
in charge of their destiny in this case. They can let themselves get
whipped into a frenzy about race and hand the defense a change of
venue victory - or they can stand tall and refuse to let the ugliness
of prejudice undermine their commitment to fairness for both sides.
Wendy J. Murphy
Boston

I am a former prosecutor and I teach "Perspectives in sexual violence"
as a law professor in Boston.
Pamela Mackey dropped what has been described as another bombshell in
the courtroom during the last hearing. In response to an argument from
a crisis center lawyer that the victim's records should remain
confidential to encourage victims to report rape, Mackey urged the
judge to disregard the center's position as "political." Mackey then
added, without apparent reason, that there is a "political" history in
this country of "white women falsely accusing black men of rape."

The defense does not want a fair trial in Eagle. They want the state
to have an unfair trial in Denver. But this result is not inevitable
and is not controlled by Pamela Mackey. The people of Eagle County are
in charge of their destiny in this case. They can let themselves get
whipped into a frenzy about race and hand the defense a change of
venue victory - or they can stand tall and refuse to let the ugliness
of prejudice undermine their commitment to fairness for both sides.
Wendy J. Murphy

Pray tell, miss Murphy, why would a trial in Eagle be fair, but
a trial in Denver be unfair?

Why would a change of venue be
a victory for the defense and a defeat for the prosecution?

Is she insinuating that a less wholly white jury in Denver
would be "unfair"?

As she so clearly ties the venue of the jury with it's fairness,
isn't she tacitly admitting that race _is_ an issue in this case?

Or perhaps she believes that a black/hispanic jury will root
for Kobe no matter what, but that a white jury will "look at
the facts"? Like, she would probably argue, in the OJ case?

"Alex" <avdeelen.REMOF@wanadoo.nl> wrote
The Colorado Constitution directs that trials are held where the offense
happened, and the burden of proof re shifting to another venue is on the
Defense.
Because the Prosecution doesn't ask for such moves.
Well, the Jewish community is far more powerful in Denver than in Eagle.
There is a far greater chance of demonstrations by the local ADL over
perceived Jew-Bashing in Denver than in Eagle.
Well of course it's an issue.
Do you think the Jewish community is unaware of the regard in which it is
held by the African-American community?
OJ killed a couple of Jewish people

juries turn Jew-killers loose on the basis of racial/religious positions?
Chas

Wow...in ALL published reports I've seen...the reports have pretty much

like this:
"When, at 10 a.m. PST on October 3, Judge Ito's clerk read the jury's
verdict of "Not Guilty," 91% of all persons viewing television were glued

the unfolding scene in the Los Angeles courtroom".

"Raqui" <WestCoast@TV.com> wrote
OJ killed a couple of Jewish people
been
to
You must have missed the civil trial- all OJ got was an adjudication that
his murders were unprovable to a criminal standard, not that he was

of them.

"Raqui" <WestCoast@TV.com> wrote
OJ killed a couple of Jewish people
been
to
You must have missed the civil trial- all OJ got was an adjudication that
his murders were unprovable to a criminal standard, not that he was

of them.

Chas