MANSFIELD: Show Trial

One of the hallmarks of totalitarian regimes and dictatorships worldwide has been the “show trial.” These mock exercises in justice are designed and staged to convince the world that the countries in which they are staged have a commitment to justice that, in truth, is nonexistent. They’re the ultimate dog and pony show.

Usually they’re staged as a placating move, to convince the public that whichever enemy of the state that is going to be put to death was treated fairly and got their day in court … but nothing could be further from the truth. The outcome of such exercises in legal legerdemain is preordained from the outset and the end result predictable.  As Brian Dennehy’s character, Cobb, said to a known outlaw in the classic western Silverado, “We’re gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging.”

In America the show trial is usually turned on its head: Instead of sending a dissident or other troublemaker off to the gallows or firing squad, we use the ruse of a fair trial to release the guilty. The most famous instance of course was the trial of the four cops accused of beating Rodney King in 1991, an incident that was caught on video. All four were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force, and all four were acquitted of all charges, touching off one of the deadliest riots in U.S. history, which ended only after martial law was declared and the military was called in.

In both repressive countries and supposed democracies such as ours, the show trial is used as a preventative, a means of tamping down civil unrest by faking justice. Which is why I’ve not paid much attention to the trial of Cleveland cop Michael Brelo, who is currently on trial in the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas courtroom of Judge John P. O’Donnell, charged in the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in the incident where 137 shots were fired into the vehicle containing the two unarmed suspects.

This really has nothing to do with the integrity of Judge O’Donnell, who is hearing the case without a jury; it has everything to do with the rigged criminal justice system under which the trial is being conducted. Our system of jurisprudence, which we hold out to the world as a shining example of fairness, has been perverted to the point that Lady Justice has been turned into little more than a ‘ho … a handmaiden to unjust outcomes.

As long as cases of serious cop misconduct are handled on the local level — where judges are afraid of being booted off the bench if they rule against a member of law enforcement — there will rarely, if ever, be fair adjudications. As you read this, forces are at work in South Carolina, attempting to figure out a way to get Michael T. Slager (the cop who shot Walter L. Scott, 50, a black Coast Guard veteran and father of four, in the back five times) off with as little punishment as possible. And no one should be surprised if his eventual punishment doesn’t fit the heinous crime he committed.

The reason is simple: Local grand juries are reluctant to indict, and judges are reluctant to render guilty verdicts — especially if the victim is black and the cop is white. The evidence of this is irrefutable, but still hotly denied by those who don’t feel blacks are due the same brand of justice as other Americans. But the burning question is, how many “isolated incidents” does it take to make a pattern?

The only real solution — if one is to eventually come — is going to have to come from Congress, a body that is going to be very reluctant to make any laws that insure fair play for black males. Conservative members would rather play it safe and do what their constituents want: Deny blacks equal protection under the law.

But, until strong federal oversight is finally established, first with an FBI team of experts to investigate all police shootings, and then automatic federal indictments when warranted, nothing will change. Knowing all of this in advance is why we shouldn’t watch the Brelo trial and pretend that a rigged process can produce a fair and just outcome.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.

 

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