Archive for December 7th, 2012

Morris, Weingarten, and MacDonald.

Friday, December 7th, 2012

I have written before about my complicated relationship with Gene Weingarten and his writing.

I have a tremendous admiration for Errol Morris as a filmmaker.

I own, but have not yet read, A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald.

The intersection of these three things: Weingarten in the WP profiling Brian Murtagh, the federal prosecutor in the MacDonald case. And, in the process, taking on Morris and his book. Weingarten believes MacDonald is guilty:

I’ve concluded this both because I have researched the case extensively, and because, as a writer, I see exactly how Errol Morris prejudiced his account while shrewdly appearing not to do so. I admire his skill but not his book. I think the media have been careless and gullible in reviewing it, perhaps partially because the story of a grievous, enduring miscarriage of justice presents a more compelling narrative than the alternative.

So Weingarten should maybe be taken with at least a small grain of salt. But he does bring up several places where Morris himself admits problems. For example, a woman named Helena Stoeckley allegedly confessed to a federal marshal, Jimmy Britt, that she was present when the killings took place. Britt filed a sworn affidavit stating that Stoeckley confessed while he was transporting her to the trial. Both Britt and Stoeckley are now dead.

None of what was about to come out was in Errol Morris’s book, though it was available to him in public records.
Jimmy Britt, evidence suggested, had not transported Helena Stoeckley from South Carolina at all; he’d never had hours to talk to her. The transport had been done by a tag-team succession of other marshals. Some of the paperwork still survived. Two of the transporters testified.

More:

There are many significant, incriminating facts glossed over in, or completely omitted from, “A Wilderness of Error.” Conversely, much is made of nonsense. An entire chapter is devoted to the supposedly startling fact that Helena Stoeckley reported seeing a broken rocking horse in Kristy’s room. Yes, the horse had been clearly visible in newspaper photos, but no one, Morris argues, had ever publicly disclosed it was broken.

Punchline: it wasn’t broken. And:

Just before this story went to press, Errol Morris and I spoke for nearly an hour; he concedes there are some things he wishes he’d written differently — for example, disclosing that there were some credible challenges to Jimmy Britt’s story. Morris allows that he may have used some facts selectively to make a case for what he believes — selectivity, he says, is part of all journalism — but adds that his belief remains solid that MacDonald did not get a fair trial. He also thinks MacDonald is innocent, but of that is less certain.

The entire article is pretty long, but I commend it to your attention if you have any interest in the MacDonald case.

(Hattip: Ted Frank by way of Popehat on the Twitter.)

Quiet, modest people.

Friday, December 7th, 2012

If you ask me, “Professor, Librarian, Mentor” is a pretty darn good way to be remembered.

Also, if you served honorably in our country’s military – especially if you fought at the Battle of the Bulge, or were at Pearl Harbor, or any number of other great battles – yeah, that should be all over your tombstone.

(Dr. Mersky isn’t as famous as some of the other folks I’ve posted about, but I found this very nice conference announcement/tribute to Dr. Mersky, with an awesome picture of the gentleman in life. He sounds very much like someone I would have enjoyed knowing.)

Random notes: December 7, 2012.

Friday, December 7th, 2012

Happy Pearl Harbor Day. On this date, as always, I will pause for a moment of silence to remember the Japanese-American graduate of Texas A&M who, on December 7, 1941, bombed Pearl Bailey.

Jim Letten, the chief federal prosecutor in New Orleans, has resigned over the comments scandal in his office. For those who weren’t following the story: two of the prosecutors in his office, including his top assistant, were exposed as the authors of pseudonymous comments about active cases on nola.com.

The exposure of Ms. Mann, months after Mr. Letten’s avowals that Mr. Perricone had acted alone, raised doubts about the effectiveness of an internal investigation by the Justice Department. The revelations could also jeopardize hard-fought convictions — including those last year of police officers involved in post-Katrina killings on the Danziger Bridge — as well as continuing inquiries like a bribery investigation that appears to be steadily encircling C. Ray Nagin, the former mayor.

Oh, isn’t that special? The Danzinger Bridge convictions might get tossed because a couple of prosecutors couldn’t behave themselves online. Thanks, guys.