MissMalowe
Thank you very much for your very thoughtful response.
I understand your interest and realize I reached past the immediate topic and down the rabbit hole a bit.
Let me please answer to this and put it into proper context for you.
I see this looks to you like I went against my own statement but it’s not that simple.
My friend was murdered in her very early 20s. It was horrific and traumatic and there were no answers for decades so many prayers went into this and then I petitioned to police to check into the case and the most incredible and competent detectives in a well-funded department were able to run well preserved DNA from the crime scene through CODIS and there was a hit.
It was a miracle and an answer to prayer and the result of the most amazing work by true professionals.
But I will tell you that I honestly and thoroughly advocated for my friend. I told the detective about how many years so many of us had suffered without answers.
I asked the detective what needed to be done and I listened and then I asked the detective to please prioritize this case and I followed up.
This was all quite a few years ago when it was much more expensive and less commonplace so it was all very miraculous to put a face on our monster with a DNA “hit”.
Detectives assured me that upon arrest the perp was not remorseful, not cooperative and he pleaded non guilty despite all the evidence against him. He had no empathy toward the victim, and was only self-consumed.
After many more months there was a trial.
One day, after many days (weeks even) of uninterruptedly attending the criminal trial and with no prior warning, I was told by either my friend’s family or someone from the DAs office that I may want to leave the courtroom for a few hours as I may find some pictorial evidence disturbing. I was surprised to see all of my friend’s family members were leaving but I made an immediate decision to stay because I felt extremely vested in the case and I felt that if all my friend’s family members were leaving then who would be there that was an advocate for my friend among a roomful of strangers.
I had no earthly idea that full nude photos of my deceased friend would be shown on a big screen.
I didn’t get that memo!
I will reiterate my humble opinion that THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHATSOEVER THAT ANYONE OTHER THAN POLICE DETECTIVES, FBI AGENTS, THE DA AND STAFF, THE JUDGE, THE JURY, THE DEFENDANT AND HIS COUNSEL should be privy to photos like this.
You or I wouldn’t want our naked body on full display of strangers who happen to show up in a courtroom someday. A victim should be protected from private photos being shown in the public confines of an open courtroom with a larger than life BIG SCREEN hanging from the wall.
It is simply wrong, indecent and unnecessary. It is a gross invasion of privacy and being a victim should not mean that you are re-victimized by being put on public display.
It is quite literally being stripped of your dignity.
Imho there should be a line firmly drawn.
There was absolutely no reason that I needed to see that or that the members of the press that were present needed to see that or that the voyeurs who made their way into the courtroom that day needed to see that.
It is a matter of decency, decorum, tastefulness and ethics.
THE SYSTEM LET ME DOWN AND IT LET MY FRIEND DOWN and it was shameful.
I was told that often these images are kept private in trials.
I don’t know if this is the judge making this decision or the DA- I’m not trained in the law- but KUDOS to the powers that be that choose to protect our victims in this way.
It is something that has grated on me for years and there must be a way to change the laws to better preserve the dignity of a victim and of course those living- the family and friends of a victim- should be protected from this violation of privacy as well.
It is an indescribable feeling of violation and ickiness that most of us (thankfully) will never have to suffer.
I bring this up because I feel it pertains directly to Abby & Libby’s case.
Praying that their dignity and their privacy will be conscientiously preserved.
Thanks for explaining further/giving more context. You're correct, maybe we are going a bit off the tracks or down another rabbit hole- despite that, I think our discussion still relates a great deal to this case, but if not & our posts are removed, my inbox is always open and I'm willing to continue the discussion
To be clear, once again, my original post was in reference to RA's probable cause affidavit, NOT photos. However, I thought your previous post regarding photos/privacy/dignity etc was really interesting and definitely worth discussing.
You or I wouldn’t want our naked body on full display of strangers who happen to show up in a courtroom someday.
I actually thought about our discussion quite a bit last night and what I would want if I were unfortunate enough to be a victim. It's unfortunate there is not a way to know this answer ahead of time for every single victim.
If I was a surviving victim, I couldn't come up with a definitive answer. I've gone back and forth a lot while pondering that one. I need to sit and think longer on this one before I can give you an answer, honestly.
If Im a deceased victim, I would want absolutely everything out there. I don't think it would shred me of my dignity, or lessen the respect others who knew me had for me or that it would be viewed as indecency on my part.
What I do think, is that it would shred my perpetrator of any human qualities, any respect those close to them had would be gone, and any feelings of indecency would certainly be directed towards them. I would want their mother & father, all family members, their friends, neighbors, coworkers, fellow residents of their town/city and anyone out there to see what evil, despicable things they had done that they thought "nice little Johnny/Jane" could never do. Pictures would drive that home more than any descriptions or summaries.
The perp would be stripped of everything more than I, the victim. My opinion.