aftermath2

There should never have been but one trial, and it was Judge Glenn
Thompson's duty to do it right the first time. He mangled the case so badly
that it took five years and a minor miracle to undo it. By that time, it was
impossible to get an impartial jury in Morgan County. Alabama law does not
allow the prosecution or victims to request a change in venue--only the
defense can do so. In other words, only the accused has a right to an
impartial jury--not the prosecution, and surely not the victims. Judge Glenn
Thompson opened Pandora's box, and the tabloid press fed on it. They
created a monster. Or more accurately, they embraced one, and helped to
free him. The evidence was inconsequential in the context of ten years of
slanderous attacks against the investigators, the prosecutors, and the
victims.

The jury's verdicts were approved by locals at a rate of three to one. But it
was public opinion that determined the jury's actions, and not the other way
around. Otherwise, how could three out of four locals bet against seven and a
half million to one odds? The pool of jurors from Morgan County, Alabama,
was hopelessly biased by ten years of sensationalism, exploitation, and
downright lies in the local and national press. After ten years of battles,
everybody finally did their job except the jury. And they simply weren't able.
Three in ten Americans still believe what they hear on TV news shows. Only
five in ten adult Americans are capable of abstract thought--a skill required to
understand circumstantial evidence. That twelve jurors from Morgan County
failed their test should be no surprise. I have said before that I thought Moore
had not received good representation, and that he had not been given a speedy
trial. But in the end, he got a jury of his peers, and that's all it took.

The outcome does not diminish my appreciation for those who worked and
sacrificed to bring justice to Karen. Mike Pettey, Barry Hamilton, Don
Valeska, William Dill, Corey Maze, Pamela Casey, and Beth Slate Poe--you
have a place forever in the Tipton family. You take with you the satisfaction of
duty faithfully performed. Because of you, I am able to share in that
satisfaction. You could not have done more. You could not have done a better
job.

With five minutes to go in the four weeks of trial, the very last thing before
it went to the jury, the defense moved for mistrial--to throw out the month of
work and start over with a fourth trial. A defense lawyer doesn't ask for
mistrial at the end of a trial unless he knows he's beaten. The jury didn't get
the message.

I was married to Karen for ten years, and surely knew her better than I
have ever known anyone. I've known Mike Pettey and Barry Hamilton for
over ten years--long enough to know them as investigators and as men. I've
known Don Valeska for over seven years--long enough to know him as a
prosecutor, as a man, and as a friend. When people of such character and
dignity are maliciously misrepresented on TV and on the Internet, I take great
solace in being in such good company.