General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Holy Fuck Me Harder! [View all]markpkessinger
(8,395 posts). . . I was with having brunch with him and a group of parishioners a couple of years after O.J. Simpson's infamous trial. The subject of O.J.'s acquittal came up, and some of the folks felt (as indeed many did and many do) that he had effectively been able, because of his wealth, to 'buy' his acquittal But then my federal prosecutor-cum-priest spoke up. He said (paraphrasing from memory here): "Anybody who is accused of a crime who doesn't throw every possible resource he may have into the cause of defending himself is a blithering fool!" (He pointed out that the government effectively has unlimited resources available to it to put towards prosecuting someone.) (Stay with me for a second longer -- you'll see how this relates.) He pointed out additionally that not only does the government have unlimited prosecutorial resources, it often plays dirty. He offered this example: "When I was at the SEC, if we had a situation where we wanted to go after a particular company but didn't really have enough on which to proceed, or if we simply wanted to 'shake the trees' a little, all it took was a few well placed phone calls to officers of other corporations in the same or related industries as the target company, to the effect of, 'Hello, Mr. Jones. This is John Smith with the SEC. We are interested in speaking with you regarding any of your business interactions with XYZ Target Company.' And then we would sit back and watch as the company's stock price, in a matter of hours, tanked."