Word: hinckley
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Last April before the trial began, the federal prosecutor warned that the jurors in the case would "become celebrities of a sort." And after they decided that John Hinckley was not guilty by reason of insanity,* the twelve Washington men and women were indeed pinioned in the spotlight of press attention. Reporters and TV crews were waiting when they arrived home. Several found the coverage so noisome that they temporarily moved out. Two others took the opportunity to complain publicly that they had been pressured into agreeing to the verdict. Eager journalists flew one of them to New York City...
...editorial, opposing violence in movies, and had it shown eleven times (plus ten airings on the Superstation). He attacked The Deer Hunter, a Viet Nam War drama, The Warriors, a fictional portrayal of New York City youth gangs, and especially Taxi Driver, the film that allegedly inspired John Hinckley's attempted assassination of President Reagan. Said Turner: "The people responsible for this movie should be just as much on trial as John Hinckley himself ... Write your Congressman and your Senator right away, and tell him that you want something done." Despite the fervor of that Citizen Kane outburst, which...
DERSHOWITZ DOES a much better job defending his profession than his style. It can be a hard case to make. Especially in the wake of the Hinckley verdict, defense lawyers increasingly seem like hired guns, masters at choosing exculpatory techniques for their clients. Many seem oblivious to the reality that, as Dershowitz himself acknowledges, "Almost all criminal defendants are, in fact, guilty." A good number care more about their professional "won-lost records" than about insuring equal justice...
...Hinckley trial illustrates a major flaw in the U.S. criminal justice system. His guilt was obvious, but it became irrelevant to the outcome of the trial. Why not establish guilt first and then settle the question of the mental state prior to sentencing? Defendants proved insane could receive the treatment they require and serve the remainder of their sentence in prison. The insanity defense would thus become more than just a legal way to let guilty criminals go free...
Most people who have served at trials can sympathize with the perplexities of the Hinckley jury. After delivering a verdict, many jurors leave the courtroom feeling that a travesty of justice has taken place. In reality they have followed precisely the judge's instructions regarding the law, and yet somehow the outcome is skewed, if not all wrong...