In 1892 there was a grizzly murder committed in Fall River, Massachusetts. 32 year old Lizzie Borden was accused of killing her father and stepmother. Each had been struck repeatedly with an axe. Borden, who had led a rather mundane existence to that point, found herself the defendant in what might have been the first media trial in American history. Defense attorneys managed to turn Lizzie into a sympathetic figure and won her acquittal. But popular opinion held that she did the deed and Borden lived the rest of her life hiding from her own notoriousness.
The crime lives in what used to be a popular jump rope rhyme.
Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
Gave her father 41.
Nice legacy.
Media trials have become more frequent. We witnessed controversial verdicts that freed both O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony of murder charges. Likewise we have seen Martha Stewart incarcerated for inside securities trading and Plaxico Burress put away for shooting himself in the leg. Celebrity cuts both ways sometimes.
The crime lives in what used to be a popular jump rope rhyme.
Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
Gave her father 41.
Nice legacy.
Media trials have become more frequent. We witnessed controversial verdicts that freed both O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony of murder charges. Likewise we have seen Martha Stewart incarcerated for inside securities trading and Plaxico Burress put away for shooting himself in the leg. Celebrity cuts both ways sometimes.
Which brings us to Roger Clemens, the amazing seven-time Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner, who on Monday was found not guilty of lying to congress about his alleged steroid use. The verdict was reached because the prosecution's star witness had even less credibility than Clemens, and because Roger's buddy Andy Petiitte, who after a year of soul searching, decided perhaps he really might have misremembered what once seemed so clear. So we all get to see Clemens' smug I-told-you-so smile exiting the court room. And he gets to continue living his alleged lie.
Clemens, like Anthony, Simpson and Borden before him, were all pre-convicted by the public and that's not going away. Clemens will always be perceived as a liar and a cheat. Proof of that will come in his Hall of Fame vote, when the greatest pitcher of our generation will find the door closed to him. Just like Barry Bonds, the greatest hitter of our generation, also perceived as a liar and a cheat, will struggle to even stay on the Hall of Fame ballot.
The court of public opinion is a tricky place. It doesn't weigh evidence and judge legal issues. It reacts on common sense. It knows when something smells bad, it's probably rotten. And it's generally correct.
All the Clemens acquittal accomplished was to forever attach the word alleged to his steroid use. Few think more of him today than before the verdict. Maybe that's fair. Maybe it isn't. Sometimes it's all we have.
In 1892 there was a grizzly murder committed in Fall River, Massachusetts. 32 year old Lizzie Borden was accused of killing her father and stepmother. Each had been struck repeatedly with an axe. Borden, who had led a rather mundane existence to that point, found herself the defendant in what might have been the first media trial in American history. Defense attorneys managed to turn Lizzie into a sympathetic figure and won her acquittal. But popular opinion held that she did the deed and Borden lived the rest of her life hiding from her own notoriousness.
The crime lives in what used to be a popular jump rope rhyme.
Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
Gave her father 41.
Nice legacy.
Media trials have become more frequent. We witnessed controversial verdicts that freed both O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony of murder charges. Likewise we have seen Martha Stewart incarcerated for inside securities trading and Plaxico Burress put away for shooting himself in the leg. Celebrity cuts both ways sometimes.
The crime lives in what used to be a popular jump rope rhyme.
Lizzie Borden took an axe.
Gave her mother 40 whacks.
When she saw what she had done.
Gave her father 41.
Nice legacy.
Media trials have become more frequent. We witnessed controversial verdicts that freed both O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony of murder charges. Likewise we have seen Martha Stewart incarcerated for inside securities trading and Plaxico Burress put away for shooting himself in the leg. Celebrity cuts both ways sometimes.
Which brings us to Roger Clemens, the amazing seven-time Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner, who on Monday was found not guilty of lying to congress about his alleged steroid use. The verdict was reached because the prosecution's star witness had even less credibility than Clemens, and because Roger's buddy Andy Petiitte, who after a year of soul searching, decided perhaps he really might have misremembered what once seemed so clear. So we all get to see Clemens' smug I-told-you-so smile exiting the court room. And he gets to continue living his alleged lie.
Clemens, like Anthony, Simpson and Borden before him, were all pre-convicted by the public and that's not going away. Clemens will always be perceived as a liar and a cheat. Proof of that will come in his Hall of Fame vote, when the greatest pitcher of our generation will find the door closed to him. Just like Barry Bonds, the greatest hitter of our generation, also perceived as a liar and a cheat, will struggle to even stay on the Hall of Fame ballot.
The court of public opinion is a tricky place. It doesn't weigh evidence and judge legal issues. It reacts on common sense. It knows when something smells bad, it's probably rotten. And it's generally correct.
All the Clemens acquittal accomplished was to forever attach the word alleged to his steroid use. Few think more of him today than before the verdict. Maybe that's fair. Maybe it isn't. Sometimes it's all we have.
