Jun. 15, 2004 - 19:01 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Trial By Ordeal ?

Paul Campos a professor of law at the University of Colorado who often writes a column that is quite interesting.

In his column of today in the Rocky Mountian News:

Trial by ordeal ca. 2004

He compares the old "trial by ordeal" of centuries ago to someone trying to explain a trial to someone who knew nothing about our laws.

Follows in part, "Trial by ordeal is the name given to various procedures used by Germanic tribes in medieval Europe, designed to determine criminal guilt or innocence. For example, the defendant would be forced to walk nine steps while carrying a hot iron; if the burns on his hand blistered, then he was declared guilty. Or the defendant would be bound and tossed into a pond . . . . . . ."

"The idea was that an all-seeing and wholly good God would not allow an innocent person to be punished, and would intervene, via a miracle if necessary, to keep that from happening."

"Imagine for a moment that one had to explain Kobe Bryant's trial to someone who knew nothing about our laws. An accurate description would sound something like this: "Bryant has been charged with rape. The only witnesses to the event are the accused and the accuser. Both agree sex took place. The accused claims it was consensual; the accuser claims it was coerced. Thus the case comes down to a judgment about which story is true. This judgment will be made by a group of 12 persons, who are chosen through a process designed to ensure that anyone who has any specialized knowledge about the case's subject will be barred from participating."

"Furthermore, the stories of the accuser and the accused will be presented to this group by people who are trained to manipulate the perceptions and emotions of the group so as to make each story credible."

"After several weeks or months of this, the group is expected to reach a consensus about whether the accused or the accuser is telling the truth. If they make a mistake, then either an innocent man will spend much of the rest of his life in prison, or a crime which is considered only slightly less serious than murder will go unpunished."

"From a rational bureaucratic perspective, this process doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Psychologists tell us that, even under the best of circumstances, the average person isn't very good at judging human credibility -- and a modern criminal trial is a long way from the best of circumstances."

"Indeed, there's a good case to be made for the claim that the medieval trail by ordeal was in its own way more rational than our own trials by ordeal. If you believe in God, then by definition putting your faith in God makes sense. The same cannot be said for a similar belief in the rule of law."

"Nevertheless, I've often heard it said, by lawyers and laity alike, that they have "faith in the jury system." Perhaps this is because, to paraphrase Voltaire, if faith in the jury did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Earlier in his column he said, "Recently, I heard a Denver district attorney claim that she had never seen her office convict an innocent person."

Could she possibly be a victim of selective blindness ? ? ? ?

Another telling thing in his column, "Thus the case comes down to a judgment about which story is true. This judgment will be made by a group of 12 persons, who are chosen through a process designed to ensure that anyone who has any specialized knowledge about the case's subject matter will be barred from participating. Furthermore, the stories of the accuser and the accused will be presented to this group by people who are trained to manipulate the perceptions and emotions of the group so as to make each story seem credible."

Professor Campos makes some very good points, one must admit. On the basis of being a Mr. Average Joe I learned from observation that us Average Joes need to stay out of court by any legal means . . . . . we couldn't afford the cost of a high priced lawyer. Sounds cynical I know, but who can afford a case spread out over the years, trial after trial only to lose in the end ?

Perhaps some of these high priced lawyers should be public defenders for half of each year ? ? ? ? I think they certainly could afford to do so.

Seems to me that any effort to modify the situation other than by a ridiculous means I just came up with will probably fail and maybe make the whole thing worse.

So, are Washington Park Lake, City Park Lake and some of the Front Range lakes in Colorado available for Trial By Ordeal ? . . . . . . . . . . .

Blog