Acquit Blagojevich, Drier, Maddoff

I've stated before that "justice" is defined as a conviction. After an acquittal, the media reports that "the (family, victim) still don't have justice."

It's disgraceful.

"Justice" is a system, made up of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, witnesses, evidence, and that pesky "burden of proof" that requires "proof beyond a reasonable doubt."

Sometimes a conviction is an injustice.

We don't care. There is no outrage over the droves of innocent convicted defendants released from prisons after decades of serving time. We hear the story, say "wow," and move on to the next trial or plea.

So we turn to our current slew of high profile defendants, and we wait. We wait for their convictions, justice.

I want them acquitted. I want a jury to find them not guilty. I want the flurry of media attention to be meaningless.

Just like OJ 1.

OJ was guilty, he killed his ex-wife and her friend. The jury found there was reasonable doubt. It reminded us of the high burden to convict even an obviously guilty defendant.

People hate this burden, I embrace it.

And I would love to see Blagojevich, Drier and Maddoff be an example of the burden.

Brian Tannebaum is a criminal defense lawyer in Miami, Florida practicing in state and federal court. Read his free ebook The Truth About Hiring A Criminal Defense Lawyer. To learn more about Brian and his firm, Tannebaum Weiss, please visit www.tannebaumweiss.com



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