Al Mayo: No Grace Nancy

Nancy Grace. Two words that provoke reactions whether you agree with her or not. Grace has made her career by proclaiming the guilt of various criminal defendants around the country. Notice I said guilt. The possibility of innocence never seems to enter her mind. With the joyous news that three missing women had been found safe and sound in Cleveland, she began hammering on guilt again. Not justice–guilt. Now I readily admit that this case seems awful and the three brothers in question are likely culpable, but Grace totally perverts the very justice system she self-rightiously promotes and “defends”. She’s single-handedly managed to gin up the Jodi Arias trial in Phoenix. I agree the case is terrible, and needs to be publicized, but to have HLN drop everything, and saturate the airwaves, was prompted by Grace.

This is far from the first time Grace has obsessed on a criminal case. Let’s take a look back and examine just how much credibility she really has accumulated in her career.

Casey Anthony. Acquitted. Was it a perversion of justice? According to the trial judge, it was, but Grace took the verdict personally, almost as though she was on trial. I admit I took rather perverse pleasure in watching her near melt-down after the Casey Anthony verdict came down. As for my opinion, I think Anthony is certainly culpable in Caylee’s death, but I digress. Grace, along with other TV law “experts,” was raked across the coals eloquently by Cheney Mason — one of Casey Anthony’s defense lawyers, after the verdict, and may I say she deserved every burn. Let’s just take a further walk down memory lane with Nancy.

In 2006 alone, Grace managed to convict the entire Duke University Lacrosse team, and some believe she drove another woman to suicide. Regarding the Duke case, I’m sure we all recall how she pronounced each of the defendants GUILTY multiple times on her shows. Then suddenly the DA was disbarred and the three defendants were released without a trial, because the accuser fabricated all of the allegations. Grace spent MONTHS proclaiming their guilt, but did she admit she was wrong? Nope! In fact she took the night off after the charges were dismissed, and never apologized or addressed the charges again. Nice Nancy. Very Nice.

Also in 2006; a toddler named Trenton Duckett went missing in Florida. He has never been found. His Mother was 21 year-old Melinda Duckett. She was not named as a suspect by police, but they later acknowledged she — like all parents in child abduction cases — was considered a possible suspect. Melinda Duckett agreed to appear on Grace’s show, whereupon Grace hammered so hard on this woman asking why she would not, (or could not), reveal details in the case, that Melinda Duckett broke down on camera. She said that her lawyers and police asked her not to reveal anything she knew to the media. This is a standard practice in an ongoing investigation. But Nancy Grace continued to browbeat this woman so much that she went home and put a bullet in her head. Grace then went ahead and ran the interview the next day, saying that the suicide proved Melinda Duckett was guilty. Really? Because even if she was guilty—WE’LL NEVER KNOW NOW! With this unfortunate result, Nancy Grace managed to not only subvert the entire legal system of the United States, but claim victory, because she told the world Melinda Duckett was a killer, and the woman wasn’t even alive to prove otherwise. Want more?

Remember Elizabeth Smart? Nancy did, and she was all over TV saying that Richard Ricci was her kidnapper and had probably killed her. Surprise! Elizabeth was found—ALIVE—after escaping from her abductor—Brian Mitchell. Ooops! Again no acknowledgment or apology. Elizabeth Smart later appeared on Grace’s show to push a piece of legislation that related to abductions and kidnappings. Grace proceeded to grill Smart on details of her abduction. Smart nicely asked her to stop, saying she wasn’t comfortable speaking on the subject, but Grace kept it up until Smart told her she did not appreciate her bringing it up at all.

In fact, it could be argued plausibly, that Grace and her ilk, may have saturated TV so completely, that the verdicts could have been affected. I would guardedly speculate this was partially the case in the Casey Anthony verdict.

I could go on with other examples, like the so called ‘inadvertant’ plagiarism in her book. Or maybe the sanctions from the Georgia Supreme Court for prosecutorial misconduct that resulted in at least one murder conviction being overturned. And in that same case she led a CNN camera crew through the defendants’ home without a warrant or any permission. Oh and Natalee Holloway, remember that one? She got huge ratings as a result of that ongoing case. She got her highest ratings ever on HLN after Casey Anthony was found not guilty, which proves one thing. Even when Grace is wrong, she wins. I’ve had several people claim that Grace was “Caylee’s voice” during that entire mess.

That is a load of garbage. Nancy was looking out for Nancy. No one else. Her self-righteous blather is all about her.

I have just one question for Nancy Grace. There are 11 unsolved child murders in the county where Caylee Anthony died. What are you doing about those?