Alaskablawg Hangs 10

Speaking of trials, Steven Wells, a blogging public defender, just won a hung jury in the murder trial of Rachel Waterman, “a Southeast Alaska teenager accused of plotting with two former boyfriends to murder her mother.” Wells writes about the verdict on his own blog, saying in part:

We started this case with people literally across the world reviling my client and we came to this trial and showed that the State was wrong. I cannot consider this anything but a win and I will try it again and again and again and again if necessary.

As Skelly puts it, “A great lawyer blogs among us.”

For more information about the Waterman case, CourtTV has been following it pretty closely. One of the angles that makes the story especially interesting is that, like her lawyer, Waterman was a blogger:

Rachelle Waterman kept a Web log, or blog, called “My Crappy Life” that detailed her conflicts with her mother and growing up in the small town of 1,100 which she referred to as “Hell, Alaska.” She told Arrant, Radel and police that her mother mentally and physically abused her.

Her last blog entry before the police seized her computer and took her to jail said:

“Just to let everyone know, my mother was murdered. I won't have computer acess [sic] until the weekend or so because they police took my computer to go through the hard drive. I thank everyone for their thoughts and e-mails. I hope to talk to you when I get my computer back.”

I have a feeling that final post did not make Wells' job any easier, which is all the more reason for him to be proud of the hung jury.

Posted 09:37 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack | crimlaw