Watching Headline News' Nancy Grace talk about the Duke alleged rape investigation last night, it became obvious that I was witnessing the definition of "trying a case in the media."
Nancy Grace doesn't know what happened at Duke that night. Only a few people do know, and they were there when the crime happened or didn't happen. But Grace called members of the Duke lacrosse team "perpetrators"--not "alleged perpetrators"--and the accuser a "victim," not an "alleged victim," and told defense attorney Rahul Manchanda that he was engaging in "slander" when he suggested that mental instability may play a part in false sex assualt reporting in general--not in this specific case, but in general. Plus she said she'd take the FBI's 8% false-rape-reporting statistic with "a box of salt." This is all in the official CNN transcript.
Anyone watching Grace last night could tell that she's made up her mind about whatever transpired at Duke. As Martha MacCallum just noted on "Fox News Live" while interviewing Duke lacrosse team defense attorney Bill Thomas, no charges have been brought against anyone. Grace's philosophy seems to be "guilty until proven innocent."
