A few questions for Nancy Grace

I take no delight in pointing out the affectedness of CNN / Court TV's Nancy Grace. When news broke Monday that John Mark Carr's DNA did not match foreign DNA found on the clothing of JonBenet Ramsey, she asserted that we are "back at square one."

Well, okay. There's universal agreement among reasonable persons that if the DNA on the victim's underwear doesn't match the suspect's DNA, then he didn't do it.

But where was this logic when Father Gerald Robinson was on trial for murder in Toledo earlier this year? DNA found on the victim's underwear did not match the suspect, and yet he was convicted on circumstantial and subjective evidence.

So why did Nancy Grace embrace the guilty verdict for Father Robinson?

And if DNA is so reliable -- scientific, testable, objective -- that it excludes Carr -- then why doesn't it simultaneously exclude the Ramsey family?

Unfortunately, Nancy Grace, insinuating that Patsy Ramsey killed her daughter, also repeated on Monday an assertion made by Mark Klass a few days before -- namely that sex killers never leave ransom notes. This, as I've pointed out before, is factually incorrect and reveals that Nancy Grace and her guests are not as learned in true crime as they want us to believe, assert guesswork as fact, fail to prepare with research, are not trustworthy sources, and mislead the audience.

A recent guest on Court TV -- I did not catch his name -- labeled our crime media "a conviction industrial complex." It was a gutsy thing for the fellow to assert in that forum and a point worth pondering. Not that it will sate the media's lust for convictions, evidence be damned. I anticipate a backlash from the bench: if Court TV does not alter the nature of some of its coverage, then more courthouse doors may be closed to the cameras of the "conviction industrial complex."

For more:

Nancy Grace's latest ethics violation

Court TV's ethics challenge

Comments

[silverside]

Re the ransom note. I don't have any particular axe to grind one way or another. Sure, never say never. There's always the possibility of the total outlyer case in anything. But this quote from Crime Magazine has me wondering:
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As part of the Boulder police's investigation, they accepted an invitation from the FBI to put on a full presentation of the case to the FBI's Child Abduction and Serial Killer Unit based at Quantico, Va. As Thomas recounts in his book, over 20 CASKU team members, including hair and fiber experts, attended the August 1997 briefing. Police investigators reviewed the autopsy results, and crime scene photos. In turn, CASKU agents reported that of the more than 1,700 murdered children they had studied since the 1960s, there was only one case in which the victim was a female under the age of 12, who had been murdered in her home by strangulation, with sexual assault and a ransom note present: JonBenet Ramsey. The agents told the Boulder investigators that while it might be possible that someone broke into the house that day, it was not very probable. The staging of the crime, the evidence presented to them by the Boulder police, and the totality of the case pointed in one direction: This was not the act of an intruder.
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If the ransome note were genuine, it would be highly unusual. Sure, the unusual happens, but not often. That's what makes it unusual.

[jdchandler]

i always taught my daughter as she was growing up that everything we see on TV is a lie. It sounds like that might especially be true in this case.

[Thel]

Nancy Grace has done it again!! She came really hard when interviewing Melinda Duckett. She commetted suscide. Did Nancy push her over the edge?

[Chris]

To all you insensitive jerks that think Nancy has no responsibility in this, I hope one day you find yourself in the sights of our unsympathetic media where your guilt or innocence is determined by self-appointed media-judges. Wait till you can’t show your face without everyone pointing a finger at you. Try going to a job interview after your face has been displayed on everyone’s TV and PC. Our media has the power to destroy people’s lives permanently. Even if a court finds you innocent, you will still be guilty in the public’s eye. Can you imagine the despair that this young girl felt when she realized that Nancy Grace was going to paint her as guilty in the eyes of the viewing public?

Nancy Grace should be fired. She is arrogant, haughty, and exemplifies all that is wrong in American media. I believe that she is directly responsible for this young girl’s suicide. Many Americans fear the media more than the authorities because the media has no checks and balances and no controlling authority.

Nancy Grace once compared all defense lawyers to Nazi guards at a concentration camp. When questioned about her comment at a later date, Nancy said, “Under no condition is a defense attorney equal to a Nazi guard. That’s just an extreme example of someone refusing to take responsibility.” So by her own logic, Nancy Grace is now comparable to a Nazi guard.

11th Circuit: Nancy Grace 'Played Fast and Loose' With Ethics
http://www.law.com/article.jsp.htm

"We conclude that the conduct of the prosecuting attorney in this case demonstrated her disregard of the notions of due process and fairness, and was inexcusable," wrote then Chief Justice Robert Benham. Carr v. State, 267 Ga. 701 (1997).

"The prosecutor clearly played fast and loose with her disclosure obligations in this case." Stephens v. Hall, No. 1:99-CV-1317 (N.D.Ga. April 2, 2003).

[Angela H.]

Hello Nancy, if Anna Nicole was taking drugs during her pregnancy like Larry claims why didn't it show up on the baby's blood test? Because they do blood tests when baby's are born. And the baby would have drug withdraws. Thank you for listening and we love your show!

Angela from Indiana

[Michelle from Madison]

Utah mine has medics dispatched to retrieve more victims Thursday late evening. A simple solution to this dilemma. Have CNN mandate Nancy Grace out of her in-patient psych-hospital right now, and place Nancy down in the Utah mine with a lengthy written-script to read. Direct her mouth towards the areas where they need removal of coal and timbers, and by having Nancy speak, it will generate enough hot air to help cause the coal to incinerate and disappear, and will then allow passage by some rescue-miners to help finally locate some of the missing miners. Get a court-order if necessary to get Nancy back out of her psych-hospital in an effort to have Nancy released from her Houston psych-hospital and get her mouth finally working for victims for a change. While it would truly be the first time Nancy Grace has ever affected a positive change for any victim, but at least it is a start.

[Stranger Randy]

I’ve been a HUGE fan of Nancy Grace for as long as I can remember. If I am ever suspected of committing a felonious offense, I hope Nancy personal gives me the business. I wish I had a show so I could wear lots of mascara and make people that I don’t like feel bad about themselves and commit suicide! Nancy Grace is awesome!

[Michelle from Madison]

Late on Saturday night, December 8th, a Fox show named “The Soup” had a segment where they really bashed Nancy for just being Nancy. The worst jab was when the news broadcaster laughed at Nancy for “naturally getting pregnant at age 60.” In all due respect to that show, Nancy is way too old to have kids at this late-stage in her life. Those kids will still be in high-school when Nancy is at the age-of-retirement. That, alone, is child-abuse in and of itself. What a stupid reason for Nancy to have kids just to get a tax-credit. Plus, her name is not legally Nancy Grace anyways. That must be her planned-defense in some of her upcoming lawsuits against her for her for crimes including the documented unprofessional and illegal conduct against a mother of a missing young child. Nancy must plan to say on the stand “You can’t sue me, I am not Nancy Grace, I got married and changed my name. You have the wrong person here.”

[Michelle from Madison]

While the hospital staff still takes care of the twins 24/7, Nancy does get to visit them and she likely does not stop drinking when or while she visits with them. When those pictures were taken the other day of the twins where they were puking, I hope the authorities analysed their puke to get an alcohol-content-level on those kids. Nancy is documented as too much of an admitted-alcoholic. So, for the protection of the twins, people need to monitor their safe-keeping. Alcohol comes first first for Nancy, then her prescription drugs, then her bank account, and lower, near the bottom of her list is the twins. They are true victims of Nancy. She will be of retirement=age when those kids are still in grade school. That, is a crime, in and of itself.

[Anita Coker]

I just came across this website and I have to say I'am so tired of people blaming Nancy Grace for Melinda Duckett's suicide,she killed herself over the guilt of what she had done to her own child,and she couldn't handle someone confronting her.Nancy Grace is a wonderful person who stand's up for victim's.