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I'll Have the Roasted Crow, with a Side Order of My Hat!

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 3/16/2005 5:01:18 PM

Robert Blake wass just acquitted of murdering his wife.  He was also acquitted of a count of solicitation to commit murder.  The second count of solicitation to commit murder resulted in a hung jury, voting 11-1 to acquit.  Considering the vote on that final count, expect the rposecutor to drop the charge -- it’s too unlikely to get a conviction and too expensive to retry unless it’s a slam dunk.

"Frankly, after Scott Peterson, who is now on death row on lesser evidence, I expected Mr. Blake to go down."

Frankly, after Scott Peterson, who is now on death row on lesser evidence, I expected Mr. Blake to go down.  The circumstantial case was rather strong, in my opinion.  However, I was not in the courtroom for the trial, and there is no way for me to know how the witnesses impressed the jurors.

I also expected Mr. Blake to have a hard time getting a fair trial, citing my theory that O.J. spoiled California juries for all other high profile cases.  While I am now sitting down and eating crow and my hat, I must take a few minutes to laud these jurors for deciding this matter in a fair and neutral manner.  These people worked hard for eight days deliberating.  There is no reasonable way to suggest that Mr. Blake’s acquittal was anything like that in the O.J. case, where the jury barely closed the door to the deliberation room before bouncing out with an acquittal.  I am actually somewhat happy to eat my words on this occasion.

What does this bode for my personal poster child for unjust prosecution, Michael Jackson?  Well, considering the supremely weak case that D.A. Sneddon is putting on in Santa Barbara, I think that Mr. Jackson has little to worry about.  Legal experts are now starting to chime in that the defense may be wasting its time to even put on a defense!  Jay Leno is about to testify that the boy and his mother both spoke to him, and tried to shake him down for money for peddling their story on The Tonight Show.  Mr. Leno, as savvy a people-reader as he is a car collector, contacted the police and made a statement that will, for all intents and purposes, kill the case against Mr. Jackson.

To Mr. Blake, good luck, sir.  It may be that you are actually innocent of the crime of which you are now acquitted.

To Mr. Jackson, a paraphrase of Mr. Blake’s TV show theme song: "You didn’t do the crime, and you won’t do the time, oh yeah!"