I've been reading some of the Twitter comments over the last few days so I'm going to post this here and on the 20/20 thread just for clarity...
There are a couple of points that keep reverberating around the Twitter-sphere regarding this case so just incase anyone has decided to pop on here I thought I should point out -
1. The prosecution did not 'pick' the jurors, there was a full voir dire process pre-trial where both the prosecution and the defense had an opportunity to assess and dismiss jurors as they saw fit. The jury 'of the defendants peers' was chosen by BOTH the defense and the prosecution. This was not a set up.
2. On the point of the jury, TM & MM were tried in an American court, by American jurors. The investigation was carried out by American detectives and prosecuted by American attorney's, if anyone faced potential bias in this case it was JC who was the immigrant Irishman already stereotyped as a rowdy drunk. (in Bible belt America, where alcohol is prohibited in many States)
3. It was the prosecutions job to put together a case which constituted second degree murder. They succeeded in doing so. The jury believed that the prosecution were able to portray beyond a reasonable doubt that the scenario presented to them in court, and backed up by over 300 pieces of evidence, was plausible and warranted a conviction.
4. It was up to the jury to cast reasonable doubt on the theory presented by the prosecution. It was the defenses job to bring up self defense as a plausible reason the jury should not believe the prosecution. They presented...no defense. Why? Why could they show no evidence of JC being anything other than a 'peaceful' man. Why did a 30 min clip on a television channel show more of a defense than they provided in court?
5. The sole argument the defense did provide, was not self defense, it was to cast doubt on the integrity of every other professional involved in the case. Detectives, judges, experts, paramedics, prosecutors BUT they expected TM's integrity as a former member of the FBI to be sacrosanct....WHY? Why should the jury not believe the catalogue of people lined up to testify for the prosecution on the word of one man? Why could they not provide other professionals who agreed with their assessment of a botched investigation?
6. MFC died of an asthma attack.
I don't understand how people can be so blind, but the answers are there for those interested enough to find them.