The Western World: MMQB

[BWahlberg]

Saw this blog posted today.

http://thewesternword.com/2013/03/04/johnson-trial-playing-monday-morning-quarterback/#more-6079" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Johnson Trial: Playing Monday Morning Quarterback Mar
4
by Jackie M. (Mike) Brown
When Emily Adamson, the NBC Montana reporter at KECI TV in Missoula, tweeted “Not guilty #JohnsonTrial” at 3:53 p.m. on Friday, she was the first one on my Twitter Feed to deliver the breaking news that had many Montanan’s attention. Adamson was followed by the Missoulian Newspaper’s tweet a few seconds later.

This sure was an exciting time for a Friday afternoon in Montana.

Then the Monday morning quarterbacking started. That is what this column is about – my commentary about the trial as an interested far-away observer – or Monday morning quarterbacking.

To set the record straight, I feel for both people and their families. I do not know either person. I do have a son and daughter around their ages. I do know that rape is a terrible crime and must be punished and that “no” is “no.” The accuser felt she was raped. The court was brought in to make the legal decision. Johnson was found not guilty.

I am not a lawyer (So I won’t insert a lawyer joke here) and I don’t even play one on television, but I did follow the Johnson trial in the news and via Twitter. What that means is with my undergraduate degree and by watching just one more season of Law & Order or a half season of Law & Order SVU, I should be able to prosecute cases as well as some current prosecutors. Or, maybe I would decide not to prosecute if the evidence was just not there – no matter how intense the outside pressure is.


When this first started (before court), I felt that Johnson was probably guilty. But as time went on and pieces of information started coming out I started having doubts. I made my final decision about him being not guilty right after the accuser was finished being cross-examined by the defense which was very early in the trial.

At that time I started thinking, “Is that all they’ve got?”

Only the Missoula County Attorney’s office with the help of an Assistant Attorney General from the state knew if they could present a strong case for the accuser and the citizens they represent. It took the jury about two hours (which was probably about the same amount of time it took them to eat lunch) to slap Missoula County and the State of Montana across the face with a not guilty verdict.

Of course Missoula County officials were somewhat between a rock and a hard spot with all the bad publicity going on regarding the University and the football team.

Now their case seemed pretty weak. Or, maybe the defense team was just that much better than the prosecution. I do believe the prosecution team did a disservice to the accuser in this case.

It would be interesting to find out how much this trial cost the taxpayers. As taxpayers we hope that those elected and appointed to prosecute the cases will be wise with the resources provided from us – the taxpayer. We see the U.S. Attorney’s office waste millions of dollars by going after athletes for getting poked in the butt with a needle and then lying about it.

In a perfect world the County and State would have to pay for Johnson’s legal fees since they got their %^&$ handed to them in the trial.

As for the future at the University of Montana for Jordan Johnson, on Saturday the Great Falls Tribune asked, “Should Jordan Johnson be allowed to rejoin the Montana football team?” There were 370 total votes cast and 78% said “Yes “and 22% said “No” in the unscientific poll.

A story in the Missoulian said there is an “appeal process Johnson can take to return to the field.”

What the…Johnson was found not guilty in an “actual” court of law. If I were him, I would transfer. Start a new chapter. His head coach and athletic director are gone.

Jordan Johnson as well as his accuser may now be asking, “Which office do I go to get my reputation back?”

I am sure the Missoula County Attorney’s office and the Assistant Attorney General will get right on that…

 

[Ashamed]

JJ is the one with the shattered reputation :roll:

 

[dsprout]

First, let's be clear, I hope JJ stays with the Griz. I hope so for all of the selfish, obvious reason; I love to watch the kid play ball; it's fun and exciting. But I also believe that the UM is the best place for him.

I doubt that there are many football fans in the state that didn't follow his case from beginning to end. They know the facts and have drawn their own conclusions. They support him or not. Recent polls suggest the vast majority supports him. Should he choose to transfer to another school, the story would follow him in bits and pieces. Rumor, innuendo and hearsay would control the story. Attempts to control the story would be difficult.

Will JJ face unruly, rude and obnoxious fans if stays at Montana? Of course. But he will also have the support of the fans who actually know the facts and truly believe in him and want nothing but the best for him on a personal level. That could be hard to duplicate elsewhere.

 

[racehorsewilly]

OMG--I would hate to be the fan who voices loud vocal displeasure when and if JJ hits the Griz field. Even naysayers should have more sense than that......

 

[Grizo406]

Jackie Brown Rum Punched the $hit outta' that one! :clap:

Thanks for the info, BW!

 

[stubbins]

Jackie Brown Rum Punched the $hit outta' that one! :clap:

Thanks for the info, BW!

I think I got rum punched once....don't know for sure, but I hurt like hell the next day.

 

[grizcountry420]

Good ol fred is still butt hurt about it.. Lots of sand in his vagina.

 

[MrTitleist]

Good ol fred is still butt hurt about it.. Lots of sand in his vagina.

Fred is being very sandy about this. That's a dude talking like he's going to be fired for this debacle. Deflecting a lot of blame. Can't wait to hear what the jurors have to say when they have a debrief with him.

 

[Grizo406]

Jackie Brown Rum Punched the $hit outta' that one! :clap:

Thanks for the info, BW!

I think I got rum punched once....don't know for sure, but I hurt like hell the next day.

How could anyone do that to you, stubbins?

The few games we watched together, in 233B, you seemed like a pleasant, game savvy Griz fan to me!

 

[grizcountry420]

Good ol fred is still butt hurt about it.. Lots of sand in his vagina.

Fred is being very sandy about this. That's a dude talking like he's going to be fired for this debacle. Deflecting a lot of blame. Can't wait to hear what the jurors have to say when they have a debrief with him.

Ya. That will be interesting. I read that kpax article too. He should lose his job over the this. A waste of taxpayers money..

 

[mtgrizrule]

Good ol fred is still butt hurt about it.. Lots of sand in his vagina.

Fred is being very sandy about this. That's a dude talking like he's going to be fired for this debacle. Deflecting a lot of blame. Can't wait to hear what the jurors have to say when they have a debrief with him.

Ya. That will be interesting. I read that kpax article too. He should lose his job over the this. A waste of taxpayers money..

Judge should be replaced too. She did everything she could possibly do to keep the Defense from it's game. I got so tired of reading the Twitter feeds and how they favored the prosecution every time. I cannot imagine how much the jury may have questioned the one sided judge. They had to be even more shock and surprised. Especially the one she overturned before Paoli even said anything. That was the one I could no longer stomach this judge. She has to go.

 

[stubbins]

Jackie Brown Rum Punched the $hit outta' that one! :clap:

Thanks for the info, BW!

I think I got rum punched once....don't know for sure, but I hurt like hell the next day.

How could anyone do that to you, stubbins?

The few games we watched together, in 233B, you seemed like a pleasant, game savvy Griz fan to me!

Can't wait for the opener...I'd better see if footballhead will allow me up there again...

 

[Umista]

Many elected and appointed persons were shown the exit because they fell into the trap of being certain of the "facts" they read in the Missoulian were true. All of the dolts that believed what was insinuated in the press was an absolute fact were instrumental in this case being brought to trial. These men and women all fell into the "herd" or "mob" mind set similar to our friend Pat Williams and simply ran in the wrong direction.

These are our "leaders" and they seem hide-bound and bigoted all the way to the lowest level. Of course our "leaders" seem to speak out with superb knowledge far superior to ours but in this case they spoke and acted with malicious deception. Yes, plain old rubbish!

Time will heal what these undistinguished "leaders" made occur at the University of Montana and for that matter the entire state. In one year or less things will begin to calm down and the following "good" things will begin again:

#1. The University will be back and better than before. More kids will be coming to the U.

#2. The football program will rebound and once again be a top notch program.

#3. Crowds will again be vibrant, our new coach will become masterful.

#4. Football will become the topic on E-griz and not all this drivel about (she said--he said).....

 

[Grizo406]

Jackie Brown Rum Punched the $hit outta' that one! :clap:

Thanks for the info, BW!

I think I got rum punched once....don't know for sure, but I hurt like hell the next day.

How could anyone do that to you, stubbins?

The few games we watched together, in 233B, you seemed like a pleasant, game savvy Griz fan to me!

Can't wait for the opener...I'd better see if footballhead will allow me up there again...

I'm the one that controls that area...not footballhead!

The sooner you realize that, the amount of rum punches you do/do not receive will diminish considerably!!

 

[stubbins]

I think I got rum punched once....don't know for sure, but I hurt like hell the next day.

How could anyone do that to you, stubbins?

The few games we watched together, in 233B, you seemed like a pleasant, game savvy Griz fan to me!

Can't wait for the opener...I'd better see if footballhead will allow me up there again...

I'm the one that controls that area...not footballhead!

The sooner you realize that, the amount of rum punches you do/do not receive will diminish considerably!!

noted...won't happen again. :thumb: