I have a theory that sometimes it's not so much conviction rates as they have so much time and trouble invested they don't want to look stupid -- they'd interviewed everyone, involved the DEA, travelled to New Jersey, and done months of surviellance -- I think after all that, they just feel it's impossible to drop the whole thing or they'd look like assholes, so they convince themselves more and more as it goes along, each action justifying all the previous ones. Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes
This case kind of reminds me of the Peter Reilly murder conviction. Reilly, a teenager convicted of killing his mother in the 70s, was basically brainwashed into making a false confession by the state police who were so convinced they had the right person that it caused a rift between the police and prosecutor's office for years when the conviction was overturned and the new prosecutor refused to retry the case. I happened to see the Reilly case profiled on one of the TV justice programs a day or so ago. I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
