http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/harristrial
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?s=9640498
http://kscj.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/harris-trial-may-be-postponed
There is one major news story that has been the focus point lately and it is the trial of Lawrence Harris. Lawrence Harris has been accused of the ritualistic slaying of his step-daughters a little over one year ago.
The Sioux City Fire Department responded to a house fire call at the residence. When they were there, they found the girls dead in their room. Lawrence Harris told the police that he was performing a witchcraft spell and it had gone wrong.
From that date, the media in Sioux City have been all over the case. You can’t blame the media though. They are doing their job. The media is giving the community the information they need.
The local television media have had their cameras at each event containing Mr. Harris. From the initial coverage of the story to his first hearings and at every court appearance along the way.
The local newspaper has had a live blog from the courtroom everyday. It is on the front page of the newspaper and is the first item on the web site. If the newspaper follows their previous examples, there will be a special section on the web site for years to come.
This trial has been delayed for some time because of motions involving the psychiatric well being of the defendant. Lately, the main focus of the defense attorneys has been the location of the trial. They feel there is no way that Lawrence Harris can receive a fair trial in Sioux City.
The defense may have a point. With the amount of media coverage that has taken place, is it possible for the potential jurors to be completely fair? At this point it must be as the jurors were sworn in yesterday and the trial has started.
Sioux City is a town of about 100,000 people. News of this magnitude very rarely happens in our quiet community. The people want to know about this crime, these little girls, and the resulting trial. The media is performing their duty to the community by giving them access to the information they crave. When is there a line crossed between what is needed for the community and what is needed for the courts.
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What a story! We never believe things like that can happen in our communities. When it does we can hardly believe it and want to know the facts. Some say it is because people are cynical by nature and want to know the horror factor about things. In my case I want to know so that if I ever see something like this happen near my family I can do whatever it takes to keep my family safe. The tragedy is in the loss of two young girls. And then there is the question about the mother. Where was she when this was taking place?
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ReplyDeleteIt really i crazy that something like this happens in today's world. I know there are people who still practice and believe in witchcraft, but to hear about it affecting a family like that is shocking. I don't think if there would ever really be a fair trial for that man. Even if all the facts were kept out of the news or if the news coverage was held to a minimum, word of mouth is much faster. The news of the accident would spread through the town and it would probably be much worse than what actually happened.
ReplyDeleteThere are things that are kept from the people in every case that will be going to trial. However, in cases such as these I really don't think it will matter. The jury will probably have their mind made up before they get there and that is not how our justice system is suposed to work.