When
Richard Speck, facing criminal charges for the brutal slayings of eight student
nurses on the South Side, went to trial nearly a half-century ago, it was a
legal gathering of Speck’s “peers” in Peoria who ultimately presided over his
trial.
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| VAN DYKE: Where, and when, will he get a trial? |
Just
as I recall the trial of Rolando Cruz, a man accused in the 1983 slaying of a nine-year-old
girl in DuPage County ultimately had to be conducted in Rockford for the same
reason – all the pre-trial publicity had stirred up such hostility amongst the
locals there was no way a jury pool could be picked that wouldn’t be tainted
against a defendant.
WE
OUGHT TO keep this in mind with regards to Jason Van Dyke. He’s the Chicago
Police patrolman who currently faces multiple counts of murder for the way in which
he handled a case involving a teenager in Chicago who was a criminal suspect.
His
handling involved use of his service revolver in firing many multiple gunshots
into Laquan McDonald’s body. Which we know because a police video camera
managed to capture the moment of death on film.
And
that video has been seen over and over in news reports, along with by people
who enjoy going to the Internet to find ghoulish stuff to look at.
There’s
a chance that the overwhelming majority of us have seen that video of McDonald’s
body twitching over and over as each bullet enters his body.
EVEN
THOUGH THE police officer firing the shots is just out of the range of the
camera, the overwhelming impression was of the agony that must have been felt,
particularly when one notices the smoke emanating from McDonald’s body following
each shot.
There’s
no way an impartial jury of Chicagoans is going to be picked to preside over a
trial in the Cook County Criminal Courts building. Too many people are either
convinced this was brutal murder with a racial motivation, or are determined to
perceive the incident as just a thug who got what he deserved.
This
is going to have to be a case that will be decided elsewhere. Although I wonder
where that elsewhere could be – Bloomington? Champaign? Springfield? Perhaps
Peoria, where supposedly everything plays if it has appeal to everyone.
But
I can’t help but remember seeing this video broadcast by the BBC to places
around the world on the day it was released by prosecutors in Cook County. This
thing has been exposed so much I wonder if there’s any place that can be
unbiased.
UNLESS
WE ACCEPT the old legal joke about picking a jury of morons who are oblivious
to what happens in the world. In which case, we may have real problems when it
comes to the eventual Van Dyke trial.
Personally,
I don’t have a sense yet of how that trial will turn out. I wouldn’t be
surprised if there is an eventual acquittal for Van Dyke – which is a concept
that I’m sure some activist types will absolutely want to deny is even a
possibility.
Open-and-shut
guilt is all they want to hear. Which makes me wonder if when they hear
historic stories of people being lynched in the name of “justice,” their
objection isn’t the lack judicial process, but that it wasn’t more white people
suffering at the hands of the vigilante mob?
I’m
not trying to express sympathy with Van Dyke’s plight. Personally, I think he’s
going to go through an ordeal in the next few years while awaiting his eventual
day in court.
THAT
DAY WILL wind up involving a lot of outsiders, and not just because of the
eventual trial relocation. Seeing soon-to-be former State’s Attorney Anita
Alvarez say this week a special prosecutor should be appointed to oversee the case
is just one of the many non-natives to Chicago who will have to be dragged in
to ensure that a sense of justice is observed.
That
“justice” handed down elsewhere may even produce a result that will offend
Chicagoans of differing ideological persuasions.
The
only thing I’m sure of now at this early date is that no one will be totally
satisfied with the case’s outcome.
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