Thanks for your post. I will consider carefully. First, there are some assumptions here that have not been proven, in part because there is much that is unknown, and in part because there may be things that are known by the LAPD and the DA, but are not known to the general, interested, public. We do not KNOW that Murray was the "sole cause of Michael's death." We have no way of knowing that, yet. I'm not saying there was a conspiracy, or there was not, but just that we do not know. None of us do.
I dont' think ANYONE is asking this? Just because we do not know everything, does not mean we know nothing. This is complicated. The law is never simple, or completely untainted. There is the ideal, and there is the messiness of personalities and conflicting interests. For one thing, politics always play a part, in pretty much everything? This D.A. is running for Attorney General. To me, that is significant. We don't yet know the effects one way or another, but there surely are some. There are those on this board who played an important role in the trial, mostly because journalists read here, and the Santa Barbara Police Department read here, and even if we did not "testify," in a sense, our information kept them more honest. It's called "freedom of the press," and believe it or not, message boards like this ARE a kind of "press" in that our words are widely read. This board is IMPORTANT, and what we say here is important.
Nothing is certain when it comes to a jury.
I certainly would not "trash" Cooley. I don't know him. I am also not convinced that he is on "our side." I have only one side at this point, and that is hoping, HOPING, that the truth comes out, whatever it is, and that Michael achieves justice, and that his children do.
Would I be willing to take this gamble? I do not speak for ANYONE else, ok. Personally, YES. It would be worth the risk, to me personally. If Murray did more than make a simple mistake, to ME (and not speaking for anyone else here), I would be willing to take that risk to find out the truth. If Murray walks, that would be terrible. If the entire truth would come out at a civil suit, that would be acceptable to me. It actually WOULD, because at least we would know, and then God, or karma, or whatever one may believe, would take care of Murray. It would be worth it to me, to KNOW. I fully respect that others may feel differently.
Peace,
Victoria