Published: July 26, 2008 04:20 pm            

Editor should check the facts

Editor:

I read with interest Matt Lane’s column and felt that he should have researched his facts a little longer.

Perhaps if the district attorney in the O.J. Simpson case had postponed the trial until the case was air tight and all the questions were answered, a murderer would not be among us today.

Another case that comes to mind along these lines is the Duke University players. This district attorney rushed to judgment and filed charges without any collaboration of the evidence. Hs also talked to the press and condemned these students without a trial. Of course, we know what he got for his 15 minutes of fame.

I have never written a letter to a newspaper before, but felt this was too important to ignore. When I read the response from District 18 District Attorney Jim Miller I had to respond and thank him for his restraint. He rightly decided not to waste the taxpayer’s money on a trial and lose the chance of later winning a conviction. The Simpson trial is a great example of double jeopardy. This could have been another.

The other part of this piece concerned Miller’s son. I believe that his picture should not have been published. When I read what his crime was, I had in my purse a bottle of my mother’s thyroid medication and some of my sister’s high blood pressure meds. Thank God I wasn’t stopped.

I am not making light of the problem, but feel when someone hasn’t been in trouble before, don’t rush to condemn before the facts are in.

Vicky Church

McAlester

        

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