
PUFF DADDY AKA P. DIDDY AKA DIDDY
Most of us remember hearing about that fateful night in 2001, when squeaky clean Jennifer Lopez ended up at the police station with her then boyfriend Puff Daddy and his protege Shyne, after a ruckus in a NYC club ended in gunfire. And most of us remember how Puff Daddy and Shyne were charged with weapons violations. And then there was the sentencing… We all know what happened to Puff Daddy (nothing, except a name change and a hearty goodbye from JLo), but what about Shyne? He wasn't as lucky as his boss and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It's enough to make a guy bitter, don't you think?
Hey now, Lauren, go easy on us lawyers! As a former defense lawyer, I have to step up and say that the great mass of us don't have the luxury of throwing tons of resources into a case: We take our clients as they are and do the best we can no matter what, and that's a damn important thing.
Sure, it's pretty clear that R. Kelly is guilty as the day is long, but I would suggest that when a person is accused and the victim won't testify against him and the only other witness is highly implausible, that person *should* get acquitted. Fairly recent American history is full of examples of similar trials with less convincing evidence where the (poor, black) defendant *did* get locked up. R. Kelly's acquittal doesn't right that wrong, but it also doesn't mean we should blame defense lawyers.
OK. Rant over. I definitely won't feel bad if he gets it Nino Brown style (as someone said in the earlier post on this topic).
Hmmm… It might have seemed that way, but I wasn't blaming lawyers (or anyone, really), just acknowledging the fact that celebs have a lot more money than the average person to use for their defense when they find themselves in these positions and, in fact, probably have their high-priced lawyers to thank for their acquittals. Snoop, OJ Simpson, and Puffy all had Johnnie Cochran (RIP) defend them in the trials referenced in this post. Now, that's a defense the Average Joe cannot afford. Anyway, some of my best friends are lawyers!
Sure, sure, that's what they all say! "Some of my best friends are lawyers . . . I just wouldn't want my daughter to date one!"
Seriously, that disparity between the way justice works for rich and poor is something worth talking about. Just don't tell Wesley Snipes.