Zimmerman has seen Fina's act up close. In 2009, he was indicted and subsequently cleared by the state attorney general's office in the so-called Computergate scandal in Harrisburg.
Zimmerman believes the indictment was issued to keep him from appearing as a witness in the case, and giving testimony that did not jibe with the attorney general's story line. When Fina got a chance to interview Zimmerman, his first question concerned the location of a so-called "sex room" in the state Capitol building.
"It seems like he was obsessed with sex," Zimmerman said. Zimmerman also sees some interesting parallels between Computergate and the so-called Penn State sex abuse scandal. The episode of the cop-hosted podcast can be heard here.
The Frank Fina, Tom Corbit playbook is the same one used by federal prosecutors. The media gives legitimacy to their accusations, finding a defendant innocent after the media has condemned them is almost impossible. I agree with Mr. Zimmerman, the public still believes in their government to get it right, they still believe strongly that if a media outlet proclaims that indeed there was a crime, the public without reservation takes that info as truthful. For me, the hardest part was questioning why would the government lie? Why would a prosecutor who is tasked with upholding the laws of the country above all else lie and invent a crime? Self-promotion and self-gratification is the answer, and besides, it's easy to do, no one is questioning their motives, no one believes they lie, no one except the defendant and the defense team. The majority of journalists have no reason to believe that a prosecutor would alter the truth or hide exculpatory evidence that could have exonerated a defendant. Most believe that the defendant is guilty, the media is being used by the prosecution to disseminate faulty misleading facts. Once the media has condemned a defendant, they are compromised and become part of the prosecution team which can never be walked back, the media would never admit to being duped into conveying lies to the public.
ReplyDeleteControlling the narrative is key, which is why federal prosecutors are so adept at what they do, their words have real-world consequences for a defendant. A journalist is only as good as its source, considering the DOJ as a credible source is a mistake. Over-reliance on a press release is damaging. Most journalists do not even have the slightest interest in hearing a defendant's truth once the prosecution has spoken. Is it possible that the public believes that all prosecutors tell the truth and nothing a defendant has to say is credible, it seems that way to me?
As a profession, the media has to stop allowing the DOJ to hijack our freedoms, our civil rights, and rob us of our liberty. If the police are accused of escalating a situation instead of deescalating, the same can be said for federal prosecutors who obviously are able to turn ethical issues or non-crimes into criminal charges. The police are accused of being used improperly such as for an ambulance or mental health issues, the same can be said for prosecutors, how many cases should have never seen the inside of a courtroom, police are accused of being weaponized but we can say the same about prosecutors being given absolute immunity and using the media to sway a jury. Hiding behind "fighting corruption" is a lame excuse as the media seems to decide who is corrupt and who gets a pass on corruption.
Maybe a database of prosecutors who lie is in order, if the DA is keeping such a list of police officers that are not allowed to testify, a list will give a jury an indication of the character of the prosecutor who has been caught lying on other trials.
ReplyDeleteDefense attorneys can stop saying the government got it wrong and say that a prosecutor is lying. Again.
Prosecutors need to be part of the national conversation America is having right now.