Graphic photos of the dying dictator were sold to the media. In this case, no money is being paid directly to show the havoc the killer wreaked.
It remains to be seen whether after a couple of months of testimony about the violence and death in the theater whether Saturday Night Live will do a skit.
Given that the judge, a former prosecutor, appears likely to allow the prosecutor to introduce essentially the same evidence over and over, justice won’t be the only loser. Ratings of the live streaming will fall.
It already pales when compared to the Oscar Pistorius live streaming.
The killer, James Holmes, is a schizophrenic and his defense has offered to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. Viewers cannot clearly see him, wearing glasses, because the court room has fixed camera that cannot be adjusted, let alone zoomed.
Any time the defense objects, the sound is blurred out as the judge talks with the two sides who come to the bench. No one knows why the decisions, almost without exception made in favor of the prosecution, are being made.
Time after time the defense has claimed, even in the first day of testimony, that the testimony is repetitive and prejudicial, violating rule 403. Imagine how it will seem after two or more months.
Critics say prosecutor George Brauchler wants a death penalty to boost him to election to a statewide post.
Ten people, including nine survivors of the attack that left 12 dead and 70 wounded, testified Tuesday about the horror in the theater. One was severely wounded and could only answer by indicating letters on a board.
Defense lawyers said as the trial opened this week that 20 psychiatrists had deemed their client insane. Even a hardened crew from Denver General Hospital, or Denver Medical Center as it is now known.
The prosecution claims that two psychiatrists who examined the killer found him sane. Until they testify it will not be known exactly what they found, and how much it may have been influenced by the heavy dose of medication the crazed killer has been on. It is known that the judge rejected the testimony of one of the two psychiatrists.
One side effect of the defense insistence on showing that the killer was insane is that it will make the issue of why police didn’t act to stop him after being warned by a psychiatrist.
Before many massacres, including Columbine, police have had warnings but did not act.
In the end the trial is vengeance against science, much like global warming or climate change. Dragging the trial out benefits neither the victims or their families.
The public will pay millions.
Ten years of appeals could easily follow a death sentence. And by the time Holmes faces execution the death penalty could have been declared unconstitutional.
On Tuesday the blood lust was visible like sharks circling meat in a pond. Some called for a "botched execution," perhaps fitting for a botched trial
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