CAN JAMES ALEX FIELDS JR. GET A FAIR TRIAL IN CHARLOTTESVILLE?
CHARLOTTESVILLE 11/26/18 JURY SELECTION STARTED
Jury selection got underway today in Charlottesville Virginia for James Alex Fields Jr. who is accused of murder, and other charges, stemming from the alleged car attack on August 12, 2017, during the fiasco that occurred due to the cities inept planning and its incompetence in handling the violent clashes instigated by both sides. The 360 prospective Jurors are being questioned in groups of 28. The defense has asked to move the trial to a different locality for obvious reasons, but the trial judge Richard Moore is currently of the belief that a proper jury can be impaneled. We will see. Giving a strong clue as to the defense strategy, defense Lawyer John Hill asked one pool of 28 if they believed that violence was NEVER necessary in self defense. All of those asked did not believe that it was “never” necessary to use violence to defend oneself. So far only one Juror has been dismissed, and that was because she no longer lives in Charlottesville.
The defense has an uphill battle, not only with the Jury pool, but apparently with the Commonwealth and Judge Moore. It is obvious from the malicious prosecutions for those on the right, and the lack of prosecutions and weakness of prosecutions of those on the left that have occurred thus far, that Charlottesville is seemingly more interested in retribution than respecting the 14th Amendments guarantee of equal protections under the law, which presumably guarantees equally fair prosecution.
The trial will have hours of videotape of the incident to view. The press reporting so far has been virtually 100% that Mr. Fields is simply a terrorist with a wanton desire to kill. The local reporting has not only been one sided, but has been so much so that the general consensus is that James Alex Fields Jr. had no Constitutional right to even be in Charlottesville on that day. Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy who arguably ignited the spark of the protests, first with his FAILED attempt to remove the statues of Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson, but also with his unprofessional rhetoric before, during, and after the August 12 debacle, has incredulously accepted no responsibility for the fiasco. So far the local press has given him a pass, just as they did when he was caught tweeting about hating whites and promoting tweets that said if you have sex with a passed out girl and she moans it isn’t rape. (the local press described them as simply “vulgar and sexist”) The local populace has been give over a year of nonstop news coverage condemning anyone who doesn’t condemn the right for the events despite the city ordered “Heaphy” report that laid blame squarely on the incompetence of the city, and it’s blatant disregard for the Constitutional Free speech rights of ALL citizens no matter how vile their views may be.
Presumably the defense will point out that up until the moment James Alex Fields accelerated into the other car and it’s resultant death and injuries, he was fully within his rights to be there and to have his opinions the same as every other individual present. There may be a strategy to divide the incident into two distinct parts. First, when Mr. Fields accelerated to cause the accident, was it in self defense after his car was physically attacked with a bat by a masked Antifa protester, or was it with premeditated hatred to cause injury? Second, was he within his rights to flee even if it caused injury to others when his vehicle was attacked en mass by counter protesters armed with baseball bats smashing in his windshield and rear glass. (these are presumably the people the local press insists were not there as they called the President a LIAR when he said there were bad people on both sides. ) If the defense can keep the jury focused on the fact the Mr. Fields had every right to be there, that he was in a challenged state of mind due to the cities obvious biased disrespect for the Constitution, and was attacked by an Antifa thug hitting the back of the car with a full swing from a baseball bat, his self defense may save his life.
Video of the back window being smashed by “unarmed” counter protesters.
It seems that had the city not gone for the jugular as if the conviction were cut and dry, they would have been able to extract a plea deal, James Alex Fields Jr. would already be serving time, and Charlottesville could move forward to healing its damaged reputation brought on by its own callous actions.
If Mr. Fields is convicted the appeal ground work has already been laid by the cities prosecutors and Judges by their aggressive actions taken against those with the permits who were denied their rights to spew nonsense.
Either way, it will be interesting if Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy is called to the stand to justify his actions, and perhaps reveal the truth under oath as to what really happened behind closed doors that fateful August day. It will be even more interesting if Mr. Fields uses Mr Bellamy’s rhetoric as one of his reasons to feel cheated of his Constitutional right to freedom of speech and protection from armed Antifa thugs taunting him for attempting to express himself.
Can James Alex Fields Jr. get a fair trial in Charlottesville? Doubtful, but that is why we have appeals courts. Stay tuned for further reporting as the trail gets underway.
