Will The Anthony's Lie to Dr. Phil?

by Dr. Lillian Glass

On September 12 we will hear more from Cindy and George Anthony as they appear on the Dr. Phil Show to reveal "the truth” about Casey Anthony and her daughter Caylee’s death. My question is why these two liars didn’t reveal the truth when they were on the stand in a court of law? Yes, I said liars! Cindy’s body language and communication showed she lied repeatedly on the stand. The same is true for George. After seeing them on the stand, one can understand why Casey turned out the way she did. At least Dr. Phil, whom I know and respect, will demand they tell the truth and will not put up with any of their nonsense.

It is despicable to me that these two liars are now making a reported half-a-million dollars be appear on television to be grilled by Dr. Phil. It has been reported that the money will go into the Caylee Anthony Charity Fund for Missing Children. And who are executives in charge of this “charity?” Are they George and Cindy? How are the monies from this charity being spent? So they go into George and Cindy’s pockets? Also, Caylee was not a missing child. She was a murdered or drowned child. Take your pick. We were all duped and lead on a wild goose chase by Casey and then by Cindy and George.

In looking at the body language of the promo, Cindy looks like a deer in the headlights when Dr. Phil appears to put her on the spot. She looks wide-eyed and physically turns to George with her hunched over shoulders, indicating that most likely she has been busted by Dr. Phil. Also in the promo, Dr. Phil point-blank asks, "Do you think Casey was involved in Caylee’s death?" Cindy hunches over and turns to George who purses his lips together as you can see. This indicates that he doesn’t want to answer the question. No doubt this former policeman knows exactly what happened to Caylee and Casey’s involvement.

Dr. Phil appears to be very direct with Cindy, who is beautifully made up complete with fake lashes in an attempt to make her look attractive, her body language is anything but attractive. She has turtle posture, where she hides her neck and hunches her shoulders like a turtle. People who have something to hide usually demonstrate this posture. Then in the promo Dr. Phil asks George, “Why did you sit on this information?” George is in true wimp form where he continues to not man up, turns to Cindy as he looks over at her in hopes she can rescue him from Dr. Phil’s direct line of questioning.

It will be interesting to see if they lie to Dr. Phil or they tell the truth. Look for tell-tale signs such as lip licking, excessive eye blinking, stammering, lip pursing, hemming and hawing, looking away, and scratching, to name a few.

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Junk Science Defined

by Andrea Campbell

I often talk to readers about their frustration over conflicting information which is thrust at them under the guise of being “scientific.” For example, a few years ago there were published studies about eggs as related to a healthy diet—were they a cholesterol risk? and should they should be restricted? Today, we read articles touting eggs as an excellent source of protein and are told the benefits outweigh any supposed cholesterol risk assessment or trial. This same type of controversy has been applied to many foodstuffs, vitamin supplements, drugs and even forensic science. Aspirin in, aspirin out; dairy in, dairy out, evidence in, evidence out. What is a reader to believe?

I remember an article published in Imprimis by Lee Ann Fisher Baron, who was at that time, Savona Professor for Natural Sciences at Hillsdale College. Her writing zeroed in on some of that frustration and provides suggestions. Baron believes there has been much political abuse of scientific research. She says, “From persistent doomsday scenarios like global warming to the latest ergonomic arguments for near-total regulation of the American workplace, this abuse of science represents not only an economic threat, but a threat to freedom as well.” To further define what she means by “threat,” Baron sites Americans inability to distinguish solid science from “junk science.”

Further, Baron argues that science has the ability to change history. As fruit of this, she points to the discovery of antibiotics, polymers, and the importance of the Human Genome Project as key discoveries in both the past and future of our lives. In addition to the benefits though, we must also look at apparent drawbacks: that is, in order to come up with these revolutionary discoveries, science is also prone to error, and publishes findings that are just plain wrong or wrong-headed in their thinking. The proper scientific approach to projects should involve the “scientific method.” This type of methodology is based on a precise set of steps or experiments that can be repeated with the same results by anyone.

One of the best arbiters of testing success then is the use of “the control.” We’ll explain control using a hypothetical—let’s say that there is a vaccine that can lengthen the interval between blood sugar levels for a diabetic, in order to prevent severe highs or lows. Two or more groups should be formed to assure the accuracy of the tests. The larger group should be divided into a group of subjects who take the actual vaccine, and a second group is given a placebo.

To further validate the test, neither group should be told which medication they are taking. And to complete the facilitation of true scientific testing, the researchers who administer the vaccine should not know which group is which, thereby creating a “double-blind.” By working under these secret test arrangements, the researchers can measure the “placebo effect”—a phenomenon whereby patients improve because they falsely believe they are receiving medicine. Also, with the researchers in the dark as to who is getting what, it completes the exam by precluding any prejudice they may unknowingly present in their reports.

In an ideal world, a scientist will publish his results, present his paper, and allow the research community to evaluate his findings, sometimes called “peer review.” Others will review the articles, repeat any relevant tests, and question the various conclusions. Junk science, Baron claims, bypasses this process and is often presented to the public under the aegis of “expert” status and whole cloth truth.

So what is a reader to do to protect themselves against the onslaught of guesstimation? Baron suggests that schools up their curricula and imbue students with a love of research. Teach them to become pit-bulls for accuracy. Stimulate their minds with valuable, educational experiments—not like a Seattle middle school, which taught children the eating habits of birds by trying to pick up Cheerios with tongue depressors, toothpicks, spoons and clothespins between their teeth!

In general, Baron suggests: we should be careful to only accept evidence after it has been subjected to the scientific method; that we read everything with a healthy skepticism, and ask questions instead of blindly believing what we hear or read.

Photos and graphics: Clipart.com

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The Poison Oak Defense

by Deborah Blum

Let’s start this story on the last day of May, on a sunny afternoon when 32-year-old James Robinson was arrested in Ogden, Utah for exposing himself in front of an elementary school classroom.

The police report, claimed that he was standing in front of a window, “with genitalia fulling exposed, performing a sexual act.” As he was apparently standing there unaccompanied, I think we can take a guess at what the, um, act involved.

But according to Mr. Robinson, we would be wrong in that speculation. Instead, he insisted, he was merely suffering from a nasty poison oak rash on his private parts. He thought, perhaps, that he’d brushed into some bushes and then perhaps failed to wash his hands before engaging in the, um, act suggested earlier. In private, of course. In front of the school, his defense was that he was stricken by an uncontrollable poison-oak itching frenzy.

I have to admit that this is my favorite such story of the summer. My second favorite was far better publicized but less, I’d have to say, entertaining: High School Musical actor Zac Efron’s encounter with poison oak while cliff-diving in May. This apparently affected the, um, same region of his body as that claimed by Mr. Robinson. 

In other words, “Zac Efron Reveals Poison Oak on Penis”, according to a headline on The Count. In the story, Efron compares his appearance to a zombie from the movie Dawn of the Dead. The journalist telling the story uses a more everyday description, comparing Efron’s skin to a crust made of swollen cornflakes.

I have to say – ick. And also ick – although in a different way – to Mr. Robinson. But if you’re wondering why I’m following this summer’s bizarre poison oak theatricals it’s mostly because I’ve been rather fascinated by the bigger itchy plant story of the season. It turns out that poison oak – and its evil ilk – poison ivy (photo right) are causing a record number of problems this summer for some very interesting reasons. In the last few weeks alone, I’ve tracked story after story after story to that effect.

Why? Well, the simple answer is that the recent cold winter and wet spring, at least on the east coast, made for an ideal growing season for these tough and invasive members of the Toxicodendron genus. For most of us that would mean T. diversilobum (Poison Oak), T. radicans (Poison Ivy) and T. Vernix (Poison Sumac).

Let’s agree that putting “toxic” at the start of a plant’s name, even in Latin, is pretty much a giveaway that this will be troubling vegetation. But the other more complicated explanation for this summer’s uptick in Toxicodedron rash stories is that new evidence suggests that our changing climate is making these plants more poisonous, stimulating their growth in a way that concentrates their uniquely painful chemistry.

The problem substance in poison oak and ivy is an oily resinous substance called urushiol, which oozes between the plants’ cells. Urushiol (the name comes from a tree in Japan whose resin has long been used in lacquers) has a consistency which causes it to stubbornly cling to skin, clothes, picnic blankets, backpacks, just about anything. People can be exposed to it by merely brushing through a patch of poison ivy or oak but the greater the damage to the plant, obviously, the more urushiol is released.

About 85 percent of people tested have an allergic reaction to urushiol and this set obviously includes Mr. Efron. What’s the reason? This yellowish ooze is packed with catechols – benzene rings that trail woven tails embedded with oxygen and hydrogen atoms – which are neatly designed to induce an immune response. Essentially, they stick to cell proteins in a way that makes them so mishapen, that the body mistakes them for alien substances. The result is such a potent auto-immune response that in most people it creates a havoc of swelling, blisters, and painfully reddened skin. 

It hardly seems possible, but research suggests that scenario is likely to get worse. In recent years, scientists have found that the Toxicodenrons happily adapt to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – a major industrial gases associated with global climate change. And among the adapations appear to be an even more virulent form of urushiol forming in the plant structures. At the same time, these particular species thrive in a carbon dioxide rich atmosphere; scientists say their growth rate has increased by some 50 percent or more.

Is this summer’s boom in plant-induced rashes directly related to the increasingly vigorous Toxicodendrons? Certainly, even researchers are speculating about that. Can we blame Zac Efron’s discomfort on global climate change? Let’s call that a stretch (yes, I know, a spectacular stretch). Could our Utah indecent exposure suspect have based his poison oak defense on the well-publicized Efron case? The actor did, apparently, “air” himself out in front of a journalist, explaining that he had to because of the itching.

Still, another stretch. And if so, it didn’t work for Utah prosecutors, who dismissed the idea as “an unusual way to respond to poison oak. They did offer to reduce the charges from a felony to a misdemeanor if he would plead guilty. But that wasn’t because of the poison oak argument. That was because – as it turned out – school had let out for the day when Robinson positioned himself in front of the window and so no children were there to see.

Which raises another possibility – maybe all of these problems could be avoided if we just paid a little more attention to the world in which we stand.

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MISSING: College Student Lauren Spierer Still Missing As Classmates Begin School

by Michelle Sigona

As summer turns into fall, the search to find missing college student Lauren Spierer continues.  Investigators say Lauren Spierer was last seen at 4:30 a.m. in the Bloomington, Indiana on June 4.   The last place Lauren was seen near the corner of 11^th Street and College Avenue.  Since then, hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement officials have donated their time to help find the missing student. 

LETTER TO THE STUDENTS

Lauren’s parents sent a letter to every student this week urging them to be safe and encouraging them to call ICE if there is an emergency.  They also said that Lauren’s last call was made at 12:16 a.m. from her cell phone on June 3 from her apartment complex.

SEARCHING THE LANDFILL

Along with ground searches in Bloomington, authorities also searched the Sycamore Ridge Landfill.  The site is 55 miles from where Lauren was last seen, but investigators did not find any clues at the site.  According to a press release from authorities, " Several hundred tons of waste per day was removed from the area that was identified as coming from Bloomington in the days surrounding Lauren’s disappearance. That area remained sequestered at the landfill and that action was taken within the first few days of the investigation. The waste removed was examined by officers from the Bloomington Police Department, the Indiana University Police Department and agents from the FBI. Additional support was provided by the operators of the heavy machinery at the Sycamore Ridge Landfill which is owned by Republic Services. The total amount of waste removed and examined for the nine day period was in excess of 4,100 tons according to landfill officials.  The operation was terminated at noon today (Friday, August 26, 2011). Waste from Bloomington, and waste that was specifically identified as being from the area of Lauren’s last reported location near 11^th and College, had previously been removed and examined over the course of several days during the operation. As the operation continued, less waste from Bloomington was being extracted from the designated area. Also, waste that was being extracted was outside of the date range of Lauren’s disappearance and these circumstances factored into the decision to conclude the operation. “The fact that no evidence related to this case was discovered is unfortunate, but we are confident that the proper area at the landfill was identified and thoroughly checked by the officers working there,” said Chief Michael Diekhoff. “We very much appreciate the efforts of everyone involved and the cooperation of those affiliated with Sycamore Ridge Landfill and Republic Services has been outstanding.” 

Peg Mulloy, Republic Services spokesperson , said out of the 200 landfills they oversee, this would not have been the first time they’ve corporate with law enforcement on the recovery of a body or evidence. Republic Services also opened up another site to find a missing child known as Baby Gabrielle.

Mulloy said the landfill is extremely organized and detailed records are kept including how much the trucks weigh when they come to each site, whether the debris is coming from residential or commercial businesses and which area the trash is dumped. Once the debris is released to the landfill, land soil or a covers are placed over top of the trash to contain the odor. Mulloy added that their facilities can determine which routes trucks travel on specific days. It is also standard procedure to provide landfill facilities search warrants if the property may be a target for an investigation.

ABOUT LAUREN SPIERER

Lauren is a fashion student at Indiana University and was scheduled to start an internship this summer at a Manhattan Anthropologie. She is small, only 4 feet 11 inches tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Lauren was last seen wearing a white v-neck shirt, scooped at the bottom in the back and front, the sleeves fell to her elbow and are described as "bell" or "butterfly." The shirt may have a "distressed" look. Lauren had black leggins with possible zippers at the bottom.

If you scan the barcode on Lauren's missing person poster, the code will take you to her website that is updated frequently. If you download a barcode scanning application on your phone, you can scan this poster anywhere and it will lead to the FindLauren.com website.

You can follow updates on this case on Facebook and Twitter, @NewsOnLaurenS and at this website: http://www.iuhillel.org/

photo credit: Marufish

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Natural Disasters and Crime

by Gina Simmons, Ph.D.

While the east coast recovers from the deluge of hurricane Irene, many communities in the U.S. and the world still struggle to rebuild after suffering tsunamies, fires, earthquakes and floods. Disasters bring out both the best and the worst in human nature. After hurricane Katrina, stories of criminal violence, looting and the slaughter of animals flooded the news cycle. Many feel infuriated by images of frenzied looters hauling luxury televisions down the street. Most of us feel compassion and a need to help victims of these disasters. We know someday we might need the help of our neighbors, volunteers and government workers.

Surprisingly, crime rates often go down in the aftermath of a disaster. A recent study looked at the rate of index crimes, property crimes, violent crimes and domestic violence crimes after natural disasters in Florida. They found that natural disasters significantly reduced index, property and violent crimes, but significantly increased the rate of domestic violence. 

When families struggle for basic survival needs, stress can cultivate the worst behavior. In fact a study showed that the terror of an event, like the terror one might feel watching strong winds crumble your house, causes less psychological distress than the loss of resources, like possessions and social support. When entire neighborhoods and communities disintegrate, psychological breakdowns, and domestic violence increase. When people become desperate and hopeless, psychological deterioration results.

Natural disasters have increased in intensity and frequency over the last 100 years, as predicted by climate change models. Now the Republican Congress suggests legislation to offset any disaster relief expenditures with budget cuts elsewhere. While we do need to find better ways to fund disaster relief, cutting essential services in a depressed economy seems a bit "penny wise and pound foolish." While insurers were hit hard in the last two years from the "unprecedented" increase of natural disasters, most of these companies still remain profitable. Small business losses and the loss of personal income and property cause psychological and economic damage that impact the entire country.

Some good things can arise out of the ashes of disaster. Economic activity can increase, and unemployment can drop for a couple of years, as insurance dollars and rebuilding efforts follow. Many enjoy humanitarian efforts to help strangers. They report a feeling of connection, purpose and gratitude for the opportunity to work with other caring individuals. Studies show volunteering can improve chronic pain, depression and overall well-being. Victims of disasters often report benefits such as improved relationships, closer ties, and improved coping skills.

When we help others we stimulate the pleasure centers of our brain. Those who help others tend to have better relationships and enjoy higher levels of happiness. So in this season of disasters, put on the work gloves and help your neighbor. You'll be glad you did.

Photos courtesy of NASA Goddard Photo and Video, USACE public affairs, and Noticelj.

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Detroit Breakdown, Motor City Shakedown

by Donna Pendergast

Last week Detroit Mayor Dave Bing issued a "call to action." Joining other local, state and federal officials Bing urged Detroit residents to take a place on the front lines of crime fighting efforts by acting as the eyes and ears of police to combat murder and gun crimes. "We've had enough," Bing said. "We as a community have to be upset. Everyone is tired of what has been happening in the city and it's time for it to stop."

In recent weeks Detroit's murder and gun rate have spiraled out of control with a sharp spike in homicides and several 24-hour spans that saw multiple persons wounded and killed by violence in the city. As of last Friday Detroit has recorded 230 homicides compared with 190 homicides at the same time last year. "We have to be upset. We have to be outraged at some of the things going on," Bing said.

Beginning September 1st Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee has instituted Operation Inside Out: Night Angels which requires officers assigned to desk jobs to work eight hours each week in high crime areas of the city. This will put 40-50 additional officers on the street at any given time. But will these efforts to move officers from desk duty to patrol make a difference? Even Bing recognizes that police work alone cannot solve a problem as pervasive as violence in Detroit. "Another thousand officers are not going to stop the crimes that go on," said Bing. "I am appalled as I read every morning, on a 24-hour basis, the crimes that are perpetrated by so many of our young people and are gun related."

So what is the answer to curbing Detroit's downward spiral? As the former Homicide Principal Attorney in the prosecutors office covering the city of Detroit, time and time again I have witnessed the death and destruction that goes hand in hand with gun violence. Yet, taking guns off of the street will not address a problem that goes much deeper. Perhaps more important is addressing the culture of turning a blind eye and refusing to turn in those who perpetrate heinous crimes against family, friends, neighbors and the community.

Witnesses who refuse to cooperate are a big problem not only in Detroit, but in communities across the nation. The "Don't Snitch" street code is killing neighborhoods. It is extremely difficult for the police and prosecutors to make cases without cooperating witnesses. Plain and simple an "anti-snitch" culture lets killers walk the street because people are too intimidated, frightened or reluctant to disclose what they saw. This widespread refusal to cooperate further perpetuates the cycle of allowing violent predators to think that they are unstoppable and further empowering them to commit more violent acts without fear of reprisal.

The reasons behind the "Don't Snitch" ethos are varied. Witnesses keep silent for fear of their lives. Many of the neighborhoods where these crimes occur are inter-generational neighborhoods. People know each other, they know each others' families and they know where they live. The problem is complicated by a misplaced loyalty to community that fails to recognize the honor of opposing crime, and weak bonds between the police and the communities they serve.

The problem has become much worse in the aftermath of the 2004 homemade DVD Stop Fuc****Snitching created by Rodney Bethea. This DVD became a national sensation with it's anti-cooperation subversive message that threatens "rats," "bitches," and "snitches" with violent retribution. In the video men purporting to be drug dealers threaten violence against anyone who cooperates with authorities by telling what they know about criminal activities. A particular target singled out for contempt were individuals who informed on others to get a lighter sentence for their own crimes.

As the DVD gained a national audience tee shirts began to appear around the country carrying the Stop Snitchin message and further driving home the message that all forms of cooperation with the police should cease. Shirts, bumper stickers, CD's and DVD's perpetuating the Stop Snitchin message became commonplace across the country and rappers helped spread the message with lyrics that shunned the idea of ratting on your friend or local thug.

These shirts were once widely available in gas stations and stores in urban communities but after public backlash many retailers pulled them from their shelves. They can still be found online. The Internet carries a vast array of paraphernalia carrying the Stop Snitchin message. The most common version of the Stop Snitchin tee shirt carries a stop sign with the message Stop Snitchin and bullet holes implying deadly harm to those who violate this creed. Another version of the shirt carries the message "Snitches are a dying breed" Yet another version of the shirt carries a picture of a rat in a circle with a line through it.

Although police and Prosecutors have been coping with reluctant witnesses for decades the metastasis of this omerta sort of code of silence from organized crime to social norm has become epidemic and has had a serious impact on law enforcement efforts. As this urban phenomenon has taken root in the neighborhoods of cities like Detroit, police and prosecutors have had to deal with the dilemma of confronting witnesses who are witnesses to a crime, addressing their fears of retribution and now convincing them that there is no dishonor in helping to right a community wrong.

So how do police and prosecutors gain community trust and counteract the Stop Snitchin message in neighborhoods that are being torn apart by senseless violence? How do we change attitudes that equate cooperation with authorities with weakness and dishonor? What can community leaders do to change attitudes that have become social norms in many communities that can least afford to perpetuate this sort of non-cooperation with authorities?

Community mobilization is necessary to counteract the message that turning in violent perpetrators is wrong. Community leaders must place pressure on retailers to stop spreading the Stop Snitchin message through shirts and other paraphernalia. A positive message must be spread through churches and other community organizations that emphasizes community cooperation and empowerment through standing together and standing up against crime. And the police must develop and nurture community relations to build bonds that foster cooperation between neighborhoods and those entrusted to protect them.

Ralph Godbee has it right, we really do need the citizens to be the eyes and ears of the police. It's the only way that Detroit has a chance.

*photo credit: brookewill

Statements in this post are my own and are not intended to reflect the views, opinion or position of the Michigan Attorney General or the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

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The Gay Panic Defense... Here We Go Again

by Holly Hughes

As jurors begin their deliberations in the case of Brandon McInerney (photo left), a fourteen year old boy charged with first degree murder, my mind returns to the first case that introduced us all to the term gay panic defense.” For those unfamiliar with this case, a little background.

On February 12, 2008, fifteen year old Larry King was working in the computer lab of his middle school. At approximately 8:15 a.m. the defendant, classmate Brandon McInerney pulled out a 22 caliber revolver from his backpack and casually shot King in the back of the head. With the entire class looking on, McInerney calmly fired a second shot into his victim’s head, dropped the gun on the floor and walked out. He was picked up less than ten minutes later and just a few blocks from the school.

After numerous interviews and a thorough investigation it was revealed that McInerney had told one of King’s friends the day before, “say good-bye to Larry, ‘cause you’re never gonna see him again.” He also told several other people he was going to “shank” King. McInereney even attempted to recruit other classmates to kill King. It makes you wonder what King (photo right) could have possibly done to inspire such hate from his classmate. Well, wonder no more. His defense team laid it all out in their opening statement using what has sadly, become known as the gay panic defense. 

This insidious defense first came to prominence in the horrific murder of Matthew Shepard back in 1998. There, Matthew’s murderers claimed that he had “put the moves on them”, made come-ons and was flirting with them. This allegedly put them in such fear that they felt that they had to murder him. They asked a jury, through their attorneys, to excuse the brutal, fierce, inhumane beating they gave him before they tied him to a barbed wire fence and left him to die alone in a field. Why? All because Matthew supposedly made some unwanted sexual advances towards them. I find this offensive on so many levels, not the least of which is the obvious lack of correlation to the rest of the population. If an unwanted sexual advance or come-on was justification for murder, than the straight male population of this world would be cut by about two thirds. 

In the King case I take another exception. Gay Panic Defense? Doesn’t the very word panic infer that someone is out of control? That they are in immediate fear, they are experiencing an overwhelming terror? That’s not even close to what we have here. By all witness accounts there was no exchange, verbal or otherwise, between the two students that morning. There were threats indicative of planning and premeditation on the part of the defendant the day before. There were no allegations of physical touching by King. So what did cause this extreme reaction? This cold-blooded, calculating crime? 

Words. Yes, words. King had allegedly said to McInerney “I want you to be my valentine”. King was known to wear make-up and high heels to school, which is protected behavior under California’s anti-discrimination laws. There seems to be conflicting testimony as to whether King was sexually harassing other students by speaking to them like he did McInerney. The prosecution presented several witnesses that testified they never observed such behavior from King. The defense presented a teacher who said other students told her King “followed them into the bathroom.” Either way, there were no allegations of physical advances or touching. You can’t just shoot someone in the head twice because you don’t like what they say. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do feel some measure of sympathy for McInereny. He is, after all, a fourteen year old boy being tried in adult court. He is a boy with a troubled past. His mother had a criminal history and was addicted to methamphetamine. His father was a batterer who choked his wife almost unconscious after she accused him of stealing her eldest son’s ADHD medicine. This kid didn’t exactly have any role models. The police found white supremacist literature in his room. There are a whole host of reasons this kid turned out the way he did, but lets place the blame squarely where it lies and not on the victim. 

One of the problems with the gay panic defense is that, besides being patently offensive and not a legal justification, it vilifies an entire segment of the our population making them out to be freakish or abnormal. This is simply not acceptable, any more than it would be to victimize the mentally challenged, or people of other races or religions and then blame them for their own victimization, inferring that they were asking for it or deserved it. Boiled down to it’s simplest and ugliest terms it is nothing more than the “they’re different from me and I’m better” attitude. 

I understand the need the vigorously represent defendants in a court of law. I do. I get it. And this boy certainly needs defending, but to propound a defense that has no basis in law and is nothing more than a thinly disguised prejudice is irresponsible. 

This case is a tragedy on so many different levels. Two young lives have been ruined. One taken forever, another irreparably altered. 

As the jury continues to deliberate the fate of this young killer I am hopeful that while they will consider all of his issues they will flat out reject this blatant attempt to legalize prejudice.

photo: Angelina Cupcake

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