The glowing quotes that were posted under the heading "Review" as part of the original listing for JB's book at Amazon.com really didn't pass the smell test for me. Here they are, from the book listing at Amazon.com:
What was
really said by these sources, and in what context? Did PG/JB get permission from each of them to use the altered quotes and/or those taken out of context, to make it appear as if they had endorsed his book? How very ... smarmy ... if they did not. So here are some of the possible sources for these quotes IMO, accompanied by my comments (blue), and quoted material from some of the sources (purple).
"An incredible read. Presumed Guilty and Helter Skelter are the two best true crime books of all time."
Geraldo Rivera, Fox News
[No comment, considering the source.]
"This is a very smart lawyer."
Barbara Walters
[No comment, considering the source.]
"Jose Baez is the most sought-after criminal defense attorney in the country."
Los Angeles Times
See blog post by Assistant Food Editor and news blogger at the LA Times, Rene Lynch, on JB's resignation as FCA's attorney:
http://iwantherjob.com/rene-lynch/
Anthony's acquittal outraged many and led one online poll to dub her the most hated person in America. But it also turned Baez into a household name -- and one of the most sought-after criminal defense attorneys in the country.
Now, Baez said in his statement that it's time to move on: "My work as Ms. Anthony's defense attorney is finished. It's not my job to answer questions regarding non-legal matters relating to Ms. Anthony and I must attend to my other clients' needs."
ABC News
Very disingenuous, this quote. Here is what the ABC news story actually said -- note "was stunning," not "is, and the fact that ABC was reporting on JB's shocking opening statement, not praising him, and not commenting on his strategy in general as an attorney:"
Baez's courtroom strategy was stunning right from the start. In his opening statement, he said his client had lied for the past three years about her daughter being kidnapped by a mysterious nanny. Instead, he said, 2-year-old Caylee had actually drowned in the family swimming pool in June 2008. Casey Anthony hid her daughter's death because she had been "trained to lie" by surviving years of sexual abuse by her father, Baez claimed.
Sunny Hostin, In Session
Notice the [.... ] after "Johnnie Cochran? How could JB have left this part of Sunny's words out of his lifted book endorsement? --
At this point and time, Jose Baez is really the new Johnnie Cochran, Hostin said. If youre guilty and you want to go home, you hire Jose Baez. If youre in trouble, you want the best go-to person in the criminal-justice system. Right now, that person is Jose Baez.
John Grisham, bestselling author
This was when Piers Morgan asked Grisham for an off-the-cuff response to the bombshell verdict:
(transcript and video)
Didn't really follow it that closely, uh.. I-I'm really uh.. suspicious of trials where.. the cameras are in the courtroom.. because it creates this uh.. this circus around the courtroom that I think, uh really does not help us pursue.. uh justice...
As i understand the case, and you can't, y-you can't completely avoid the case if you're you know, a-awake and somewhat literate in this country --
The prosecution could not prove uh the place of, the place of death, cause of death, you know, y-uh.. none of the basic things you have to prove --
And I think the jury.. uh.. was faced with a very difficult task.. but probably uh made the right decision, uh.. because.. the prosecution has to walk into court and prove certain basic elements of the crime.. and if, if that's not done, then the the jury must acquit the accused.
Uh, so again I-I d-don't know a lot about it, just based on what I've picked up with everybody else and saw on television, that's kind of my uh shoot from the hip reaction to it.
Fox News Latino
Sourced from the article linked below?
Note that the quote is not exactly in context, and also note that the heavily negative coverage in that article was deftly avoided in the "book-review-quotes-fishing-expedition! The Fox Latino writer really does rake JB over the coals in the story, including his failure to pay child support, and the scathing quote from the Florida Bar, refusing him admission on the grounds that he was not fit to practice law.
IMO it is also notable that the article states:
A few years ago, José Baez was a little-known attorney in a small town in Florida called Kissimmee. That all changed when a woman named Casey Anthony needed a good lawyer to beat charges that she killed her daughter. Inmates mentioned Baez, and Anthony reached out to him.
"They throw enough against the wall and see what sticks," Baez said of prosecutors during closing arguments. "That is what they're doing ... right down to the cause of death."
Now Baez the Latino lawyer with just six years of experience under his belt is being called one of the best lawyers in America.
That's some pretty selective and liberal quoting IMO, and I do wonder whether they got permission from each source to use these quotes as Amazon book endorsements? Shall we close with another John Grisham quote, from the above TV appearance:
"It becomes entertainment, something other than the pursuit of truth and of justice."
JMO
kay:
