[Washington at Morristown]

Val Wachtel told the judge if his client appears in the courtroom in shackles it will give the jury the impression he is a dangerous person and influence their ability to presume him innocent

The degradation of the American *justice* system, courtesy of scumbag lawyers like Val Wachtel.

it will give the jury the impression he is a dangerous person

Words fail me, and I'm angry.

[cajun-jack]

i used to work for La. Dept of Corrections and it was standard prcatice that inmates going to court would be fully shackled to and from the courtroom, but we always had to remove the chains prior to entering the courtroom so as not to influence the jury...nevermind that the inmate was already doing time in the state prison system for other crimes and that he had his name and doc # stenciled on his clothes and was being escorted by two armed officers in full uniform. The "chains" would give the jury a bad impression of this individual....didn't make sense to me then and doesn't make sense now either.