June 19, 2001

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  Justice –

  
  

  Today my topic is justice, nothing light for my early morning contemplation. I’m remembering the various verses I’ve always heard about justice "The just shall live by faith" and "What does the Lord require of you, but that you love justice . . ." I’m trying to reconcile my ideas of justice, truth, and fairness with the circumstances of a trial I’ve been attending.

  
  

  My dear friend is an attorney in town. I’ve known for months that he was emotionally involved with a particular client. He has worked long hours and absorbed the cost of his labor on behalf of this poor young woman who stands accused of murder one. The facts of the case at first seemed simple. The husband was found dead of a gunshot wound through the roof of his mouth and the wife confessed to police that she pulled the trigger.

  
  

  After ten days of testimony, the facts are no longer simple. The husband was drunk and beat the crap out of her the night he died. At this point all the court has seen the photos of the bruises. Frankly, in my mind that alone should be sufficient to find her not-guilty of murder, but in its wisdom the high court of the state of Indiana three weeks ago struck down the law that permits the use of "battered woman syndrome" as a defense.

  
  

  Back to the facts, the husbands fingerprints are all over the gun including the trigger, hers are found only on one part of the gun between the handle and barrel consistent with her testimony that she tried to pull the gun away from him after he threatened to kill himself. She insisted on the stand that she "must have pulled the trigger" because people who kill themselves "always go to hell." It’s less painful for this woman to take upon herself the guilt of his death, than to imagine him suffering torment.

  
  

  There are more facts, but they all seem tedious and irrelevant to the point of justice. I think that the only way that justice would be served in this case is if the judge sentences this child/woman/child to be adopted by a loving family that will embrace her, love her, and give her a place to heal.

  • 9:14 am
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