The convicted murderer's final straw

As I said yesterday, this is nothing to be concerned about. The only reason it's news at all is because it's a high profile case. It happens as a matter of course for the guilty to grasp their last proverbial straw.

The Appeals Process

"The appellant's brief must specifically discuss the alleged errors that entitle the appellant to a reversal of the trial court's decision and discuss why each ruling was wrong, citing authority such as a case or statute that applies to the particular point at issue. The appellee may file a brief containing arguments against reversal, discussing why the trial court's ruling was correct. Only conclusions of law, not findings of fact, made by a lower court are reviewable. Appellate courts can decide only issues actually before them on appeal.

The appellate court must decide whether the errors alleged to have been made by the trial court are harmless or prejudicial. If an error substantially injures the rights of the appellant, it is called a prejudicial error, or reversible error, and warrants the reversal of the final judgment or order. If the appeals court determines that the error is technical or minimally affects the rights of the parties or the outcome of the lawsuit, it is considered a Harmless Error and insufficient to require a reversal or modification of the decision of the trial court."

The appeals court does not re-try the case. They simply look at the contentions the murderer has on what he thinks went wrong during his trial.

He complains that Judge Strother was unfair. Whoa, big surprise. Liars and cheats (and murderers) don't like a sharp Judge. Too bad. You shouldn't be on the wrong side of the law.

He complains his counsel was ineffective. We'll, we've beat that poor horse to death. Defense attorneys have actually fallen asleep during a trial........and not be deemed ineffective during an appeal. Nice try, Killer Boy.

He complains that the alternate juror was in the deliberating room for a few minutes. Not against protocol. Are we going spend tens of thousands of tax dollars letting all the murderers appeal when this protocol has taken place? Even Matt's only lawyer admits it's not unusual. Poor guy. Stuck to Matt like this. And besides, that alternate juror DID NOT SPEAK, DID NOT GESTURE and was only in there a few minutes of the 7+ hours it took to deliberate. Did Matt forget that she was the one that had to leave before dark because she couldn't see to drive at night. This was in January. Gets dark pretty danged early in January. I forget the timeframe now but I believe it was less than an hour she silently sat in there. And THIS is your grand "OMG, See? I'm not guilty ploy???"

Worry not, people of faith and justice. And rejoice. Matt's seemingly enternal "10 minutes" are getting closer to being over. This is one of the final steps. By 2011 the cameras and reporters will have nothing left to cover as far as Matt Baker is concerned. Hear the final "ticks of the clock"?