A court document submitted by the City of Portland requesting a change of venue for an upcoming federal trial mentions our film about the death in police custody of James Chasse:
The logic of the memo seems to be that because the cops beat Chasse to death, the media covered it, and therefore, it happened. Then we made a movie about it. No…wait…
I’m always struck when attorneys ask jurors what media they read before a trial, during voir dire. If a juror says they read the Mercury, for example, it’s a fair cue that they’re informed enough to be skeptical about a police officer’s statements and not just swallow them, verbatim.
Sometimes I wonder if the ideal juror for the state isn’t an ill-informed gerbil. Is there really such a thing as objectivity in a situation like this?
I’m still amazed that after being registered to vote for more than 10 years I have never received a juror’s summons.
I was recently in the juror selection process and several people brought up the Chasse case in response to a question about opinions of the Police Dept. I wasn’t selected.
There is obviously sooo much more to look up about this. I think you made some decisive points in Features also. Keep working ,good write up!