Jesse James Hollywood suffered a serious blow in his death penalty defense. Read this coverage from the Los Angeles Times…
California Supreme Court rules for prosecutor who advised filmmakers
A Santa Barbara deputy district attorney may stay on a death penalty case even after consulting on ‘Alpha Dog,’ a movie about an accused killer. Other rulings address similar potential conflicts.
A Santa Barbara prosecutor who consulted in the making of the movie “Alpha Dog,” about an accused killer facing the death penalty, may stay on the case, the California Supreme Court decided unanimously today.Ruling against the capital defendant, the state high court said a prosecutor may be removed from a case only if it is determined that his or her actions created a conflict of interest that made it unlikely for the defendant to receive a fair trial.
Just because an appeals court erred in removing Zonen from the prosecution of Jesse James Hollywood, “this is not to say that Zonen can or should escape censure,” Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar wrote.
The court also ruled in favor of two other prosecutors who had been removed from trials because of perceived conflicts of interest.
“Only an actual likelihood of unfair treatment, not a subjective perception of impropriety, can warrant a court taking the significant step of recusing an individual prosecutor or prosecutor’s office,” Werdegar wrote.
In the case of another Santa Barbara prosecutor, who wrote a novel that was similar to a case she was to try, the court said it did “not condone actions that place a prosecutor’s literary career ahead of or at odds with her fealty to the fair and evenhanded pursuit of justice.”
Even though writers are encouraged to write what they know, “the prosecutor who follows that advice may compromise her ability to carry out duties to represent the people and to seek justice impartially, the court warned.
If you want to read the California Supreme Court decision, go here: IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA.
Well, this is good news, isn’t it :O) ?!
It’s not good news because the California Supreme Court had the opportunity to draw some guidelines on how prosecutors, and maybe even law enforcement agencies in general, should be allowed to deal with the mass media while trying cases. Defendants are basically convicted by the press, and these cases outside the lines of court are devastating against the accused, who wear the cloak of innocence until proven guilty. The accused deserves better treatment, or else we have no protections left.
he should be given the same treatment in that of the young boy with justice, the death penalty is to good for this person as he never give nick this treatment and his father should also stand trial as he kept the thug in money all the time .In Ireland both would die without a judge and jury
Hope he gets his coming upens in jail as no one like baby killers TWAT
First, Hollywood should probably be tried and a verdict rendered. Then we have to see if he’s found guilty, and what for. Then the jury could weigh this in the penalty phase of the trial. That’s where death might be discussed.
But when all the facts come out, I believe it will become clear why this case does not merit the death sentence for anyone of the participants.
This guy is a killer. No he didn’t pull the trigger, but he is still responible for taking someones life. A wannabe gangster. Put his Papa on the stand to for Aiding a Fugitive. Secondly, the prosecutor just gave the filmakers the truth, and as Paul McCartney said and Hollywood will soon find out “The truth is sometimes painful.” Child Killing bastard.
Pity he didn’t resist arrest and get shot dead in the process. If he’s guilty of what he’s acused of he deserves some form of unique, perhaps medieval type of punishment. Keep him alive but make him wish he was dead. I Don’t condone the death penalty, you can’t acquit a deadman at a retrial if you get it wrong, and from what I’ve seen and read the guy that pulled the trigger is a symptom of the disease that is the USA. Get some gun control over there hey, it ain’t a frontier nation anymore, you killed most the Indians already. And damn all you hip gangster wannabe’s.
Are you on crack? Jesse didnt do anything! He wasnt even there when it happend! Those scumbag friends of his lied to try and save their own asses. FREE JESSE!!!
No, but it sounds like you are. In fact, if Jesse could, he’d plead to kidnapping in a heartbeat, if that closed the door on everything else. So, maybe the question really is: what have you been smoking?
I disagree with adam, well partially. Only the person who pulled the trigger should get the death penalty. Telling someone to shoot someone isn’t murder. I believe they shouldnt have made the movie or give up files for the details to make the movie until the whole trial was finished…