This is a subject that has irked me for many years. So now, thanks to my blog, I can get it out. They say Justice is blind. Blind maybe. In most pictures you see, if you look real close you’ll notice the scale seems slightly tipped. Sometimes it is barely noticeable. But look real close it is generally tilted. To me the tilt is in the direction of government. The burden of proof in court is supposed to be on the States Side. But they do have a number of advantages. 1. The State has a fully manned force for gathering evidence. They also have, at there disposal all of the latest forensic equipment. The defendant usually has only their family and friends to investigate, none of the police powers to gather the evidence. They do not have access to the forensic equipment. Score 2 marbles in the scale for the State. 2. The State has a full time prosecutor office. Many with a huge staff to research. The Judges and Prosecutors often run in the same circles and are friends. Or somehow socially connected. The defendant is often appointed by this same judge. In small areas like ours you don’t have a Full time Public Defender. The lawyer appointed attorney may or may not have experience in the type of case he is to defend. He usually gets a small fee (If any) to defend his appointed client. He gets the same WIN or LOSE. He rarely has time or the staff to research the case, and limited time to actually correspond with his client. Part of this could be corrected by giving the option of WIN you get paid Lose it is free, I can cite one case I personally watched. (NO I was not involved, merely an observer). The Court appointed attorney’s SECRETARY was the wife of the lead prosecutor. The family told me that many of the information given to the secretary, they believed was not seen by the lawyer but passed on to the prosecutors office. The Defense Attorney admitted he had not seen some of this information. Put 7 marbles in that scale for the STATE. 3. Now this is the real Kicker. The STATE has the ability to “BRIBE’ witnesses. I use the word “BRIBE” because I am incapable of arriving at a better word to describe this. The State can offer a witness a reduction in sentencing, dropping charges. or any other thing to get the witness to say what ever they want to hear. I talked to one potential witness who told me she was threatened to have her children taken away if she testified for the defendant. The Defense is not allowed to make this deal. They could not threaten to take children away for testimony. They would be prosecuted. The prosecutor asked potential jurors if they could put aside the fact that STATE witnesses had made a deal for their testimony. If the answer was no, They were stricken from the jury pool. I could go on about this particular case but won’t. But lets add another 5 or 6 marbles to the scale for the STATE. Justice may be blind. But I think she should be able to feel the imbalance of her scale. Right or Wrong. That is the way I see it. Post Views: 97