things that keep me from blogging

it’s been a long time! always seems that things like life, a murder trial and spotty internet access get in the way of blogging.

A MURDER TRIAL?

that’s right – the flipflop fed got herself seated on a first-degree premeditated murder trial. (far be it from me to keep you hanging until the end of this post – we found him “not guilty.”) remember that the jury pool in the district of columbia is more like a puddle, so it was inevitable that I would be seated (even though I was released from my six-week stint on the homicide grand jury exactly two years prior to this summons date). i’m not complaining though. as my partner is quick to point out, I actually enjoy serving as a juror and take no steps to be disqualified from service.

this trial had all the makings of a screen play – the victim shot in the head at point-blank range while he slept by a rival drug dealer, an attempted cover-up, a botched police investigation, a murdered witness, and courtroom theatrics. and given the drama, you’d think that this trial would be front page news. it wasn’t even mentioned. surely the crime would have been front page news when it occurred in the summer of 2005, right? nope, just a mention in a couple of papers and on one news channel – and that was only because the body was found in a burning car.

the sad truth is that the story of john malcolm wrenn is ubiquitous in the district of columbia. one of 169 murders in the district in 2005, wrenn, once accused of first degree murder himself, was a known drug dealer from a part of town where known drug dealers are often gunned down. like on like crime - so no harm, no foul?

not so quick. regardless of his chosen occupation, john wrenn was a human being, a son, and a father. the accused walked because of reasonable doubt due to lack of evidence (not because many of us didn't think that he probably did it, but probably doesn't cut it when you're looking at putting someone away for the rest of their natural life). granted, this case wasn't transferred to mpd until at least one year after the crime took place, but you have to wonder if the investigation would have taken a different turn if the victim had been murdered in upper northwest and dumped in montgomery county. the case left the idealistic me disillusioned.

the pragmatic me says that the street will yield its form of justice and there will be another trial brewing right when june 9, 2010 rolls around.