I have always been loathe to criticize unduly the police or prosecutors - even before I became a prosecutor. Everyone in the criminal justice system sincerely is trying to do a hard job and end up with something that resembles justice at the end of the day. And all sides - police, prosecutors, defenders, judges, juries - do a pretty decent job of it.
But I don’t have a clue what in the hell the LA County Sheriff’s Department is up to in the Robert Wagner/Natalie Wood case.
In 1981, actress Natalie Wood was on a boat with her husband Robert Wagner. That’s 37 years ago. The LASD just have a news conference where they declared that “things don’t add up” and identified Wagner as a “person of interest” in Wood’s death.
What are we to conclude? Well, that Wagner murdered Wood. Mind you, they haven’t charged him in 37 years, but this idiotic press conference tries him in the Court of Public Opinion.
You wonder why most Police and Prosecutors are a closed-mouthed bunch. That’s because they - we - work up a case, make a charging decision and either charge a person or don’t charge a person. There’s nothing magical about that.
We may be convinced that there is not enough evidence to charge someone or even that s/he didn’t do the deed. In that case, you never hear of the case from us.
We may decide that the case needs further investigation, in which case we take our time to build a good case. And until we do and charge someone, you STILL never hear anything from us.
The rules of Court also require that when we do charge someone, we include in any press release the fact that this is only a charge and the defendant is presumed innocent until we prove that s/he did the deed. And then we shut up.
I wasn’t on the Pacific 37 years ago. Beats me if Wagner murdered Wood. He may be guilty as Haman, but I don’t know. Since they have yet to charge him, I pretty sure it beats the LASD and prosecutors, too.
Make a decision. And then move onto the next case.
Cuteness is not an endearing quality for prosecuting a criminal case.
Mizpah!
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Well said. My husband tells me that I have a prosecutor’s heart, and he’s probably right. But this is too much, even for me. How can guilt beyond a reasonable doubt ever be established in a court of law, given the changing stories of the boat captain over the years and the newly surfaced (after 37 years) claims by people on a nearby boat that they heard an argument? But this prosecutor CAN smear Wagner’s name. Shameful.
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