Front page article “Prior DUIs key to case” reports:
“Assistant District Attorney Christine Wilson wants the trial jury to know it wasn’t (name withheld by NewsLanc) first DUI arrest. In fact, it was his fourth, Wilson wrote in a motion to be decided before trial.
“Such evidence is typically barred from trial as “prejudicial” to the defendant. However, judges in a neighboring county and elsewhere have started allowing such rap-sheet evidence.”
WATCHDOG: According to “Society for Professional Journalists Code of Ethics”, Schreiber should “Balance a criminal suspect’s fair trial rights with the public’s right to be informed.”
Here again we see how Executive Editor Ernie Schreiber trashes journalistic ethics by telling at least two-thirds of possible jurors in Lancaster County information that judges refuse to allow in court.
So how is the jury to be seated that isn’t already prejudiced? The fair answer: Try the case in another county, preferably in the western or north-eastern parts of the state.
If this is done, it will be at a high cost to county tax payers. If it isn’t done, it will be at a high cost to justice.
In his search for circulation and profits, Schreiber and the Lancaster Newspapers are disgracing their profession. Shame on both of them.
No surprise here….just remember….Ernie came cheap……LNP lost their way and their ethics back when they became part of PSP.
“If this is done, it will be at a high cost to county tax payers. If it isn’t done, it will be at a high cost to justice.”
That’s highly debatable. Ignoring past convictions (not arrests) is like renting to an applicant without a credit report or background check. Should it be illegal to review a resume or references when hiring an employee?
As a result, instead of stopping drivers with a history of alcohol abuse, the NTSB wants to lower the blood alcohol limit so low you won’t be able to gargle with Listerine without risking a failed traffic stop.