Since the interviews, I have received hate mail and threatening telephone calls. One caller suggested that I should be set on fire and thrown down the steps from the third floor of my office. The letter concluded by noting that attorneys have no ethics or morals and that by undertaking this defense, Sandage and I have proven that. I have to attribute this public outrage in part to the pervasive television coverage of the matter. Obviously, having access to the tape has been a factor in the repeated media exploitation of the story.
Sensational footage equals ratings points.
If Arsenault is adjudged guilty, then justice demands that an appropriate punishment be imposed. But before the case reaches that fork in the road, our Constitution and 200 years of judicial precedent require that we, as citizens of a civilized society, follow certain time-tested rules of judicial decorum and procedure in dealing with an accused person. This process starts with exercising sound judgment in the charging phase, which coincidentally raises the question of whether this is more properly a case of misdemeanor animal abuse as opposed to felony arson of property. It culminates in a fair and open court proceeding unencumbered by outside pressures. Justice would also be served if the media would do a bit of reflective thinking on the matter and put this case into perspective.