Click HERE to watch Jon Leiberman and I discuss the latest developments in the cases of Jerry Sandusky and George Zimmerman on Tuesday’s CrimeLine. Jury selection started Tuesday in Sandusky’s sexual abuse case, with news that three jurors have already been chosen. Interesting to note that much of Tuesday’s jury pool was made up of white middle-aged retired men, some even wearing Penn State t-shirts and jackets. While it seems at first that convincing a jury of these crimes wouldn’t be difficult with ten different accusers, keep in mind that in Centre County, Pennsylvania, where the trial is being held, people are enamored with Penn State and just a year ago Jerry Sandusky was a revered local figure. The prosecution will have to break that notion and convince jurors that Sandusky used his position of power at The Second Mile to take advantage of vulnerable at-risk youth.
We also discuss the latest in George Zimmerman’s case now that he is behind bars once again. While I believe a raised bond is appropriate given he had more funds from his website than he disclosed at his original hearing in April, I still feel to fully revoke the bond and keep him behind bars until the trial is too severe. What’s more important here is how is the fact that Zimmerman lied in court going to impact the murder trial? Jon says for many potential jurors, it may be difficult to separate in their minds his lies at this hearing and what else he could be lying about. If Zimmerman wasn’t truthful about his finances, is he being truthful about what happened the night Trayvon Martin died? For now, Zimmerman remains behind bars with even more donations pouring in and is expected to stay in jail until at least next week as Judge Lester is out of town this week.
And finally, we discuss the bizarre and sickening case of Luka Magnotta, the porn actor who posted a video of his vicious killing of a student in Canada before fleeing the country. Magnotta was caught in Berlin and is being extradited back to Canada. We also discuss whether registered sex offenders have the right to join Facebook or whether they should be banned from using the social networking site. Jon argues just as sex offenders cannot live close to schools, they should not be able to use Facebook, a virtual school where they can troll for victims. However, I argue a physical school and this virtual world are two different things and its not fair to ban them from using the site. In my mind, it falls to the parents to make sure their children are not doing anything dangerous online and also just because an offender is banned from Facebook doesn’t stop them from trying to commit these acts. Plus, look at the case of Brian Banks, a registered sex offender, who if it weren’t for Facebook would never have been vindicated of the crime an accuser made up. Banks served five years in prison after a classmate claimed he kidnapped and raped her, though he maintained his innocence. It wasn’t until she contacted him on FACEBOOK and admitted she lied that he was exonerated.
Let us know where you stand on these issues and be sure to tune into The CrimeLine each week on Spreecast.
