May 15, 2007

Michael Vick Dogfight Saga Worsens

ESPN.com is reporting that witnesses can place Michael Vick AT dogfights on his property.

You may remember that I wrote on this site that the dogfight scandal would sink Vick's career.

The story is even more interesting. Surry County, Virginia, Commonwealth's Attorney Gerald Poindexter is being pressed to file charges in the case. Mr. Poindexter's son was my teammate on the case I worked on in my last job.

So far, Mr. Poindexter is showing that he has learned from past high-profile prosecutions, most notably the Duke rape fiasco. Mr. Poindexter was quoted by ESPN.com to say, "I don't try cases in the press...Lawyers who do that are despicable." On the other hand, Kathy Strouse, the animal control coordinator for Chesapeake, Virginia, is defaming Mr. Poindexter for not bringing charges prematurely.

Ms. Strouse, apparently, has learned nothing about the judicial process from the missteps in Durham and other places. Rather than allowing Mr. Poindexter to properly develop the case and serve the interests of the people of Surry County and the Commonwealth of Virginia, she wants a public spectacle and a premature indictment. I applaud Mr. Poindexter for the poise and diligence which he has displayed in this investigation.

There's a reason attorneys handle prosecutions rather than dog catchers. I hope the national media respects Mr. Poindexter's investigation rather than latching on to Ms. Strouse's inflammatory comments. Justice will be served in the end through his patience. If Vick has committed a crime today, he will still have committed that crime tomorrow, and a week from now, and a month from now. I certainly hope we would all like Surry County to bring the strongest case possible, rather than react to knee-jerk pressures.

4 Responses:

Jeremy said...

You realize that this is the closest thing we have to a living, breathing Aristocrats joke:

The proud Vick family walks into a talent agent's office, and Mama Vick announces she's got an act for the talent agent. Suddenly, the younger brother pulls out a bottle of whiskey, grabs two underage interns from the hall, forces whiskey down their throats, and starts railing away on them. Meanwhile, the older brother who had brought in three pit bulls, takes the choke chains off the pit bulls, grabs a steak off the talent agent's desk, throws it on the floor, and watches as the pit bulls fight each other to death, causing blood to splatter all over the office and pool in the middle of the floor. The younger brother is in the middle of the pool of pit bull blood, banging the hell out of the underage interns. The astonished talent scout asks, "What do you call this act?" Mama Vick very proudly ansers, "The Vick family Aristocrats!"

J-Red said...

Pretty good Jeremy. Probably funnier than the actual Aristocrats joke.

I could see you adapting that and changing the last line to "The Vikings!"

3rd&amile said...

Great blog. If only the media would show the same restraint. Right now, it is clear that this is a witchhunt, the objectivity went away long ago, but the most egregious had to be a few days ago when a local sports talk show invited a PETA rep to discuss Mike Vick. Now there's some fair and balanced reporting....the way the public is allowing itself to be manipulated is mind boggling. The ACJ is the equivalent of Entertainment Tonight. Its just sad.

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