In high profile cases, the media can be a very useful tool for prosecutors to employ in furtherance of getting its narrative out to the public on a consistent basis, especially if the local media has a chummy relationship with the prosecutor's office and is then privy to insider

information which may not otherwise be available to the public.

It has been customary for as long as criminal cases have been reported on by the

media, whether it be print, television, or in recent years online, that it is the

state's theory of the case that makes its way out to the public, and it is that unrebutted

narrative that swirls around in the minds of the public,

also known as the potential jury pool, sometimes for years leading up to trial.

Now if you're asking yourself, where is the defense while all this pretrial publicity is taking place? Well, historically they're standing by quietly without the public hearing much of anything from the defense

attorneys or the defendants themselves. Sure we may hear or see sound bites from

defense attorneys stating that their client is presumed innocent

and shall remain as such until such time that the government proves beyond a reasonable

doubt that they are not, or that their client steadfastly maintains their innocence.

But these proclamations ring hollow in the minds of the public,

because the fact is that's what they all say, right?

Furthermore, a bald assertion of the presumption of innocence by some defense attorney

pales mightily in comparison to the perceived weight of the government's ability to get their

narratives out there into the world because those narratives contain something

that resonates with people and that something is evidence that has been collected by law enforcement.

We love to hear about evidence because it gives us context and it potentially gives us answers

to the question that as human beings plagues us more than most, which is why?

As human beings, we desperately want to try and understand those things which we cannot

begin to contemplate. And considering the heinous nature of homicide cases

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