The Senate votes on Wednesday to convict or acquit Donald Trump after no trial occurred. How can someone be acquitted if there was never a trial? In a real court room instead of a fake political proceeding, witnesses are called to testify under oath before a jury can convict or acquit a defendant. The impeachment trial left all semblance of a trial at home. In a recent The Hill article, I wrote: Please Don’t Call the Impeachment Proceeding a Trial; It’s Charade.
As a trial lawyer, I am appalled at what occurred in the Senate chamber masquerading as s trial. It demeans the term justice to think that what occurred in the impeachment proceeding was anything but a sham.
As a trial attorney and former prosecutor, I’ve tried over hundreds of cases. The essence of a trial is to seek justice and search for the truth. I often tell jurors that it’s a fact-finding mission with a juror’s role to determine the facts of the case. As I watched the impeachment trial unfold, I saw little semblance of a real trial. The critical element of a trial should exist in both legal and political trials. It’s called fairness. That element is missing in these proceedings. Read the rest in The Hill:
Leave a Reply