AlabasterShakes

I've been told this is the best show that I'm not watching more times than I care to remember. So, I finally took the plunge the past couple of weeks and caught up on the latest episode earlier today. That said. Toby. I... I think I'm supposed to like him. But, I find him to be annoying as hell. Boundaries, which Toby seems to lack, are big with me, and habitual line-steppers get no love. I legit cannot stand him. Between the football game and the food, I wish Kate would cut bait and move on. Beth, though. Love. "When are you leaving?" "...put they asses to bed and make us some brownies." "Oh hell nah Old Man!" Seriously. I love her. Mandy Jameka Moore. Ugh! Just had to shack up with Miguel's plotting ass. He may be a lovely man, and I could be completely wrong, but I kinda hate him and his gout. I'm all in now and totally ready to have my heart ripped out when the inevitable happens.

I don't know the specifics of the case that you sat on as a jury member, but I do know the specifics of this one. These jurors, collectively, may very well be idiots. However, I don't think their choosing not to convict is indicative of their idiocy. There was plenty of evidence and testimony to consider that would give credence to reasonably doubting the prosecution's argument. Not saying that you, in your account of your time as a jury member on a separate case, or anyone specifically, feels as though this particular jury was full of idiots based upon the verdict. But, many people do. And, I am saying that I'm not one of them. Or similarly, what whiporee said: The murders were brutal though. And, to think that someone could kill two people in such a cold-blooded manner and remain free is understandably infuriating, whether you're directly affected by the circumstances or not. So, the strong reactions regarding this case, even 20+ years later, are not unwarranted. It's just funny to me that this one case, in particular, brings about such prevailing outrage while similar miscarriages of justice do not generate even a fraction of the sentiment. So, it can't just be that a likely guilty man walked free because this sort of thing happens far too often without an equally immense outpouring of justifiable anger and frustration from the public at large. So, yeah. The varying perceptions and optics that exist are not lost on me. Speaking of optics, someone mentioned that Garcetti was able to get suits loaned to Marcia, so that she wouldn't have to wear and be seen in off-the-rack clothing compared to the expensive tailored suits of the defense team. And, I realize it was the early 90s, so colors were a thing, but those suits looked awful on those men. I especially love seeing all of the busy patterns on the ties. It's like Brooks Brothers took one look at a Cosby sweater and thought, "Yes! That's it. Our Spring collection will be a game changer."

I was being generous of their performance, especially in light of the added behind the scenes things going on both personal and professional, but the sentiment of what I said remains the same, and I could see why the jury had reasonable doubt without questioning their collective intelligence. Again, I find it to be pretty interesting. Still looking forward to the introduction of Marcia's straight hair and the way they handle the gloves. Have a feeling Cuba is going to channel Radio for the facial expressions.

The way this ordeal played out in the courtroom, I can see why the jury voted the way it did. Perhaps, location, race, among several other factors did help influence the outcome, but to wholly attribute the jury's deliberation and subsequent vote to it being comprised of mostly black people, with a vendetta and lacking the intelligence to adequately review the material and produce a reasonably-informed verdict, is quite telling. You'd be hard-pressed to ever find someone that would describe me as an idiot. Yet, given the way this case was presented, I seriously doubt I'd have voted to convict. The LAPD and DAs office made blunder after blunder. And, while Marcia and Chris did their best with the hand that they were dealt, the defense poked holes in most, if not all, of their arguments, providing a ton of reasonable doubt. The prosecutors framing of the argument, their conclusion of the events, and overall narrative was a non-linear, haphazard, mess that relied heavily on the physical evidence. Physical evidence (including DNA) that would appear, under most circumstances, to be a slam dunk, but wound up being highly questionable in a case where chain of custody procedures were routinely broken and detectives perjured themselves under oath and/or were deliberately deceptive, playing fast and loose with their testimonies. Not to mention many of us now have the luxury of hindsight but also had the ability to see things play out in real time in the media back then, providing us with lots of info the jury wasn't privy to at the time. I've never watched a Ryan Murphy show, but ACS has been great. The show continues to get better with each episode, and I'm looking at the rest of the season kind of dreading that it will be ending fairly soon. Throughout the series so far, I've lurked the forums because I enjoy reading the commentary and differing perspectives -- people who lived through it and are now revisiting the case, people who lived through it but were either too young or disinterested to care, and those who weren't around at all and are coming to it for the first time through the show. After these last 2 episodes, I've noticed that the commentary around here has grown increasingly more intense, teetering eerily close to inappropriate with lots of generalizations being stated as fact. It's clear that this case still resonates with people for many reasons, and the responses are understandably passionate and emotional, but some of what I'm reading is becoming personal and flat out offensive, at best. The coded language being thrown about along with the contemptuously terse words for Cochran and the jury is pretty interesting. And, by interesting, I mean transparent and extremely problematic. That said, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" was a fantastic episode. I have always been indifferent to Clark. Never hated her or thought she was a bitch, but never really cared for her either. She was just kind of 'meh' for me. But, this episode? Man. My heart goes out to her. Clearly, she's bounced back, doing well for herself now, and looks good too. But, that pressure and the stress she was under, no way just cigarettes and tequila would have done it for me. I can't say that I wouldn't have flipped out on everyone in that courtroom. Unpolished too? Regarding media scrutiny? Oh yeah, they would have felt my wrath. Ito. Cochran. Bailey. OJ. Garcetti. The court reporter. The bailiff. Fred's mustache. Everything! Everyone! Marcia is better than me. I'd have been held in contempt and disbarred. We all have a breaking point, and after Gordon, the leaked pics, and my perm/curl absolutely refusing to get in Formation (thanks, ridethemaverick!), I'd have swiftly tossed all professional etiquette and courtroom procedure to the wind. You all would later see me in a special "Where Are They Now?" episode of 20/20: Better NOT Call Marcia, where they chronicle my courtroom meltdown and adjustment to life behind bars while awaiting appeals. And, the best I could hope for is a Lifetime made-for-tv movie, so I could use that money to send my kids to college while I remained imprisoned. Because allegedly, I may or may not have flipped my shit and had my own attempt at murder live on television. So, yeah. Another great episode. Again, watching (and visibly/audibly reacting) as though I have NO idea how things turn out. Can't wait for next week. Back to lurking.