How can a bloke walk into a building, pull out a gun, point it first at one man and then at another, shoot them three or four times each and get away with manslaughter?
Some kinda of psychological defense had to be involved.
shareIt's called the "Twinkie Defense." Basically, the defense claimed that Dan was eating more junk food leading up to the assassinations and that was an indication that he was clinically depressed. It's a BS defense for sure but the jury bought it.
shareI remember at the time the talk was if White had *ONLY* shot Mayor Moscone, he would have been convicted of first degree murder. Homophobia played a HUGE part in his light sentence.
shareOh, fair enough.
shareExactly....After you kill one guy be sure that you kill another to get a lighter sentence.
shareI was once a juror for a trial. I can tell you that it all comes down to who has the better lawyer and who can put on the better show and who can withhold evidence from being shown to the jury. Trials are usually boring and the jury tends to fall asleep because truth be told, they don't want to be there in the first place. Jury duty is forced on people at random. With that being said, that could've been a contributing factor to Dan White's case.
You're just a little boy in a playsuit, crying for mommy and daddy!
This was obviously a case that should have resulted in two counts of premeditated murder. The so-called "Twinkee Defense" was *beep* and still the jury went for it.
shareYep. He obviously got a favorable jury that wanted to find him not guilty. The defense came up with the twinkie defense and that's all they needed.
shareYeah, it's messed up. It's why the jury system isn't always the best system. Dan clearly murdered Harvey with malice. He should have been convicted of first degree murder but because one of the victims was a "fruit" it's all practically forgiven.
share