The last few days of this case were almost like an episode of Benny Hill, and I cannot be the only who feels this way…this would have been at least a “hung jury.” I have received dozens of phone calls as to what I feel now as to my being wrong as to the guilty verdict. Sorry I am not going to apologize to anyone in what I feel was the tone and look of the jury. Is it my fault that the one person who would not be swayed was kicked off the jury? How about jury misconduct? Juror #7 was young, perhaps a little off on his comments, but he was not going to find Christensen guilty! And Team “Get me out of here in time for the weekend” was not going to be coming back to discuss this case any further after today, hell half of them had reservations at Subway.

First day of “In the Jury Room,” maybe 1.50 hours and it is “send help,” we have a juror who won/t conform! Day 2, Team “get me out of here” gets #7 booted at about 10 AM and the alternate is brought in, done at 2PM. NOTE: DID ANYONE ELSE SEE HIM PAT THE SHOULDER OF JUROR #9 AS HE WALKED PAST HER? (#9 being a member of Team “get me out of here”). Ok, Day 3, it is not even 10ish and we have a verdict! What kind of review of the evidence did this group of Mr. Christensen’s “peers” do? By my estimate this jury spent less than 7 hours coming to their verdict…and don’t anyone tell me that the activity of Day 1 and Day 2 did not have an impact on all of them, I say it had a great deal, and what about the “alliance?”

My position on this case is very clear, if they convicted Terry Christensen, why not all of the others? However, the comments from the legal community are just full of bad words and dagger throwing towards this man and the firm he founded.

Be sure to read the rest of John J. Nazarian’s fascinating take on the guilty verdict with a few interviews with attorneys.

http://desperateexes.com/2008/08/30/guilty/.

©John J. Nazarian
August 31, 2008
Used with the permission of John Nazarian P. I. – writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, John Nazarian, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Webster defines the word, ‘PEER’, a noun as ‘One’s Equal’, now what makes a jury of ones peers or equals? Do you see where I am going with this? Equal on what? We have maybe two eyes and two ears? One lives in a $300 a month room and the other lives in a $10,000,000.00 mansion? One takes the bus the other drives a new Aston? Should we be concerned about this term ‘peer’? I think that we should…How about a group of jurors in a small town in Middle America? Who will decide the guilt or innocence of one of its town’s citizens? Or as in the big cities where socioeconomic situations can jump up and bite you on your backside, is there a difference in these two places as far as lifestyle and education? I think so….

We all witnessed the OJ trial when he was found not guilty of two people’s murder. Now let’s see what all of OJ’s peers in Las Vegas has to offer the ‘The Innocent One’. Not one lawyer I spoke to did not have a little chuckle in response to my, “whadda ya think about jurors and the process from where they come”.

I do understand that a ‘juror’ has to follow the directions of the court to look at the evidence and to ‘follow’ the law and come to a unanimous decision…hmm seems simple enough, but is it? How much does one juror with a much stronger personality have over a soft-spoken individual who only wants to please? Does the act of bullying also ever come into play? I am not sure if we may not have seen some of that in the Christensen / Pellicano trial. All of these are issues that I think many think of but many don’t want to speak out about. For me I think of it every time I see a group of potential jurors walking the halls of the courts that I spend hours in every week.

Terry Christensen and Anthony Pellicano were both found guilty as charged in Los Angeles in a federal courthouse. Was I surprised? Yes I was, did the defense try to kick a field goal? Yes, with a bit of a Hail Mary. Did Saunders add the much kick that the government’s case needed? Oh did he ever, his closing kicked ass, It was very strong and in your face and on point. I just did not think that the jury was buying all of it…I was wrong. We will see what Christensen’s defense team does with his appeal and we all know that it is coming and based on what I saw, not being a legal scholar, I am curious as to what the decision will come from the higher court.

Which brings me back to what the F&#K is a jury of my peers and who is it that makes up this group? We have all received those dam cards in the mail telling you to appear at such an address and at such a time usually a courthouse. When I was called to jury duty a few months back the holding area for the call to be assigned to a court looked like a birthing facility for challenged orangutans. There were people who spoke little or no English, some were what looked to me as homeless, one had on only one shoe, and another was going through a trashcan that someone had just puked in! This was awful, I wanted to soooo go and take another shower! I did not want to even sit down…you could catch a contagious disease in that room! OMG, sure there was the occasional face that looked as I did, and that being in shock that I had to expose myself to this gaggle of misfits! Oh, some thought this was great; they got to get up early, grab a McD and take a bus to the ‘important’ building and have a day out.

At the Christensen/Pellicano trial, I could see a few jurors that I was curious about. My curiosity was answered when I got to hear a few speak and explain themselves. For those of you who don’t know me and may not want to know me, I have never played well with many people. Even as a child, I was the one that the teacher would comment on as
I went out for recess, “watch out for that one”. And for all of those teachers and later cops that said that I would not turn out so good…you can kiss my ass!

How long would I have lasted in that jurors’ room? I have never got pass the beginning selection process of being called to jury duty. When asked if I can be fair and impartial for a criminal trial. My standard answer is that when I was a cop I never arrested an
innocent person! What could be truer than that? The law prohibited me from arresting innocent people. So with a comment like that I always get, “thank you juror # whatever” and I am on my way home. And for comments of not being in order, catch me on a bad afternoon of getting my chain yanked by some dip shit and just see how much fun I am when I don’t like something. Or I ask for something and someone gives me a bullshit answer…you would not want to be present….I was recently challenged to a fight, ‘ I am not afraid of you! I’ll meet you any time any place’, I am not a fighter, but on my way up, I am going to give you a severe and penetrating dose of lead poisoning! I am old and I am not well and for anyone to think I am going to be attacked and perhaps hospitalized and not shoot back? Does not understand the mentality of an old gun fighter…ask any former or retired copper what I am talking about…

And for my “peers”? Can we find 12 self-made men and women who know what it is to suffer through what I have, 12 miserable MoFo’s who know how to survive and to respect some people and trust many even less. 12 former cops who knew what it was like to tackle a fleeing felon (the old days you could shoot them in the back… as they fled…that is why we have overcrowding in the jails). 12 former embalmers who have had their hands buried in the body cavity of a deceased trying to tie a vessel off…. or to move a 400 pounder from the embalming table to a gurney and not drop the lard ass on the floor; or twelve people who know what misery you will have in store for owning a Rolls and a Bentley when they require service; or arriving at the Four Seasons and finding a ‘yellow’ stain on your crisp white sheets, now if we can get this group together then we would have some peers…..till then any of us who ever find ourselves sitting in the box and looking at “ The Twelve” who will set us free are in deep shit!

To read all of John J. Nazarian’s “take” on current events and trials be sure to visit his blog, it is well worth spending some time reading it!

http://desperateexes.com/.

©John J. Nazarian – An Editorial Opinion
August 30, 2008
Used with the permission of John Nazarian P. I. – writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, John Nazarian, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Dedication is all I have to say… I was at the Federal Court House with one of my “new best friends”…she always dresses very well and even tossed me a snack once. We got our coffee and took the elevator to the 8th floor. Glaser is there already (I have a feeling that she keeps hours like my dear friend Lisa Helfend Meyer who also believes that sleep is a waste of time…these are driven women).

After the flurry of lunacy yesterday flying from the jury room to the judge in the form of notes, I was not going be late for the morning hearing. I was the only “media” person present this morning, coming straight to court after having worked all night with my two sons on an assignment around some very high end mega yachts (the rich truly are so different than the rest of us).

…Judge Fischer makes it perfectly clear that Juror #7 lied, and he was not going to follow the law. and thus her decision. I as an observer and being of relatively sound mind did not see it….it looked as if it was a personality clash between jurors #1, #2 and for sure #9, gotta have a female in the mix. Whatever you may think of this juror, does it not have an effect on the rest of the jury to see how the judge deals with someone who doesn’t “conform”?

Go to John J. Nazarian’s blog to read the rest of his very enlightening article.

http://desperateexes.com/2008/08/28/christensen-trial-farewell-juror-3/.

©John J. Nazarian
August 29, 2008
Used with the permission of John Nazarian P. I. – writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, John Nazarian, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Today’s article by Victoria Kim of the Los Angeles Times touches on some interesting thoughts. What Anthony Pellicano did was nothing short of a time bomb waiting to go off: recording people without their knowledge and keeping those recordings for some “future” use. I am still not sure why, I hope that someday Anthony will see his way to telling me…I would love to sit and talk to him. What happened to all the money. and why tape everybody?

…I and many of those close to me believe that old-fashion gumshoe techniques still work best. Having reliable contacts and being able to use those contacts effectively are as good today as they were back in Hal Lipset’s day! Hal was one of my mentors in the beginning of my becoming a P.I. (Mr. Lipset was Richard Nixon’s P.I., back when it was fun).

Cell phones, text messages, and e-mails have become a big enough problem trying to keep things “quiet,” never mind recording your friends and people who trust you. If someone is leaving threatening messages and your safety or that of a loved one is at risk, that is a totally different matter, do what you have to.

I tell all the lawyers who work with us that they should never speak to any so-called private investigator on any phone for more that 1 minute or more about any “assignment.” Have them come to your office, NOT theirs, and discuss whatever it is that needs to be discussed, and bill the client for that meeting and even for parking for all of you big shots who don’t validate. To just put your mouth in gear chit chat about any case is a HUGE mistake and Mr. Pellicano proves my point. He is not the only one that likes to tape your calls, please trust me on this. You have a nice office and that is where you need to discuss issues. Also for those of you who attended my lectures on Attorneys and P.I.s, remember those darn files — that too is something that you need to be aware of and take control of. Our policy at Nazarian and Associates: we don’t keep records, never have and never will, never mind recordings.

To read all of John Nazarian’s thoughts on the ethics of being a private investigator visit both the L. A. Time’s article and the rest of his interview here.

http://desperateexes.com/2008/08/25/did-you-just-beep-shhh/.

©John J. Nazarian
August 26, 2008
Used with the permission of John Nazarian P. I. – writer
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of our featured author, John Nazarian, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.