Miscellaneous

Hair Today, Guilty Tomorrow

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Just when you thought the Nichols trial would either a) never happen, or b) not possibly get any weirder, here we go.

The defendant, accused of shooting up an Atlanta courthouse and several people in it, is contesting the use of cameras in the courtroom. His reason? He has not gotten a chance to shave, and he thinks his beard makes him look guilty.

The judge chided Nichols and his team for wasting time, threatening them with Sunday court if they don't pick up the pace. The trial will finally begin July 10.

The trial has been fraught with delay and controversy. The first judge was called too biased for stalling due to inadequate funding for the defense. Then, Toobin quoted him as saying "everybody knows [Nichols] did it," upon which he was immediately seen as too biased the other way. So he stepped aside and a new judge was appointed. See Damned If He Does, and New Nichols Judge, both from the pages of court-o-rama.

See Brian Nichols: Don't Broadcast My Sinister Beard, Steve Visser, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (July 2, 2008). Nichols's lawyer, Robert McGlasson, should be worried, too: the article has a photo of him wearing one of those goofy yellow wristbands. SOOOO 2004!

At this writing, an entirely unscientific reader poll accompanying the article showed that 6.91% of voters thought this beard made Nichols look sinister; 43.73% thought he looked normal, and 49.36% said "neither, but issue could help his insanity defense."

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on July 02, 2008 (boomark / email).