Legal Expert
Appearances
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Pin It On The Girl: S1-E7
Even in sort of the best light of saying that these police officers were not corrupt, they're trying to do their best, they didn't tamper with the investigation, anything like that, if that's sort of your viewpoint, even with that, there should be a major shakeup with this police force and to reassess and probably to let some people go.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Pin It On The Girl: S1-E7
Like to just say, hey, you've had a good run, but maybe you shouldn't be a police officer anymore if this is going to be how you're going to behave. Like, if that's how Trooper Proctor thinks about women, I don't think any woman in the Canton area should ever have to think that this might be the officer who puts her in cuffs and puts her in the back of a car at the end of a night of partying.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Pin It On The Girl: S1-E7
If you're sitting here thinking Karen Reid is guilty, then you should be also thinking that John O'Keefe was owed a proper investigation using proper investigative techniques by officers who are above reproach. Whereas instead we get Trooper Proctor and his sending text, the discussion about gifts, all of these things are just wild and disgusting. There's just no reason for it.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Pin It On The Girl: S1-E7
It's obviously the wrong choice. So this has been such a wild case for the number of holes in it. It's difficult to say if they'd done a proper investigation from the outset, where would we be sitting today?
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Pin It On The Girl: S1-E7
Basically, he seems really early on to have decided that it's definitely Karen Reid. And depending on who you're talking to, it may be that it's for very good reason or it may be for very bad reasons because he made comments about like, nope, these people are not going to have a problem because they're Boston cops. This is a big problem. It creates all of these issues.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
I wasn't surprised, in fact, anticipated it. And the reason being that this case has been so polarizing. People either feel really strongly that she did it, or they feel really strongly that it was a cover-up.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
I definitely think at a retrial, the common will probably have the advantage. Usually it's the defense because there was already one mistrial by reason of a hung jury that there's a higher probability of another hung jury or an acquittal.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
But I definitely think that the Commonwealth is going to be able to change how they present their case and make it more succinct and easy to follow in the subsequent case and camera out the bad facts and lay the trap, if it were, to see if the defense tries to argue the conspiracy.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
I don't think they will just simply because if this jury didn't buy it the first time, I don't see another jury buying it either.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
But since this case, the jury has been adjourned, I don't foresee that the judge is going to actually be like, oh, well, if they all agreed, well, we should have acquitted them. That's not how the law works in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. That would have been needed to be done before they were released. And they're like, hey, we have a unanimous verdict on two of the counts.
KAREN: THE RETRIAL
Impasse: S1-E8
But I ultimately don't believe under Massachusetts law it's going to go anywhere.
Morning Wire
Jack Smith’s Dismissal Motion & Holiday Travel Expectations | Afternoon Update | 11.25.24
Smith filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Trump, citing the DOJ's long-held policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. Filing now awaits final approval from Judge Tanya Chutkan. This comes after Trump's recent election victory, with Trump signaling plans to wind down the case earlier this month. Smith had previously moved to vacate deadlines in a separate election interference case.
Morning Wire
Jack Smith’s Dismissal Motion & Holiday Travel Expectations | Afternoon Update | 11.25.24
though he stopped short of dismissing them entirely. Trump, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, argued for presidential immunity, and won a Supreme Court ruling which shielded him from prosecution for official acts.
Morning Wire
Jack Smith’s Dismissal Motion & Holiday Travel Expectations | Afternoon Update | 11.25.24
Legal experts speculate Smith could also withdraw an appeal in a classified records case, previously dismissed after a judge ruled Smith's appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
Morning Wire
DOGE’s HHS Overhaul & Maine Sports Standoff | 3.28.25
You can't create laws by thinking them, by tweeting them, by issuing press releases, by issuing executive orders. Congress makes the laws.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
There was no reason. There was no purpose. It was done for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant's internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
At least 49 of those stab wounds were to the hands, arms and the head. and were defensive in nature. The bottom line is that premeditation could be inferred certainly from just the sheer number of stab wounds that Tristan Bailey had to suffer. Every time that arm went back, And every time that arm went down, that was premeditation. And it happened if you times 114 by two, that's 228.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
But it's not just the fact that she was stabbed 114 times. It's also information that we were able to glean from witnesses. The defendant made statements. to several people that he intended to kill someone. He didn't say who that was, but he indicated to witnesses that he was going to kill someone by taking them in the woods and stabbing them, which are certainly the facts of this case.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
A knife was found in the pond, very close in proximity to our victim's body. That knife had a tip that was broken off. That tip was located by the medical examiner in the scalp of our victim.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
The statements that the defendant made to his friends made it clear that he was considering a homicide. And I got to tell you this, it's disturbing and concerning that those statements were not true. let's say adequately or appropriately, or not taken seriously by the folks that heard them. I'm not saying that this could have been avoided, but I'm saying that it was never reported beforehand.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
I have considered all of the evidence that has been presented during this week, the testimony that was presented, the victim impact statements, the evidence that was submitted, the filings, and I have analyzed each and every one of those factors as well as any other factors that may be relevant to these proceedings in order to determine an appropriate sentence for this case.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
I would say that the defendant has shown some ability to modify his behavior that was shown in school through the Dean of Students. However, as Dr. Pritchard noted, this crime is extraordinary. His behavior was so unusual compared to individuals his age that there is a poor prognosis for rehabilitation.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
The effect of this crime that has had on the victim's family and on the community is significant. There is no greater loss than the loss of one's own child. The nature and circumstances of her death have caused an even greater trauma on her loved ones.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
Her siblings, parents, and extended family members all provided compelling victim impact statements relating their personal struggles with coping with her death. It has caused them deep and emotional and mental health problems. They are no longer able to function as the family they once were. It has also had a tremendous impact and effect on this community.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
This court has reviewed all of the letters that were submitted by her friends, teachers, coaches, and others. Approximately 150 letters were received. I have read all of them and all of them strike a similar chord. This was a devastating crime. It was devastating to the children of this community. It materially changed an entire community.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
Some of the letters indicated and discussed children who were teenage children who could not sleep in their beds alone and had to sleep in between their parents for fear of what happened in this case. I would submit that this case is probably the most difficult and shocking case that this county in St. Johns County has dealt with. 114 stab wounds.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
49 defensive wounds, 35 wounds to the head and neck, 29 to the back and shoulder, and six fatal wounds. This court has reviewed and seen more than its fair share of autopsy photos. The autopsy photos in this particular case were particularly difficult. The 49 defensive wounds indicate that
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
Tristan Bailey was conscious that she was aware and that she was doing everything she could to fend off this attack. She suffered a painful, horrifying death from someone that she trusted. Her screams were most likely stifled by her own suffocating lungs. He lured her into a secluded place in the woods near his home a person that she trusted, and he led her there under false pretenses.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
There was a heightened level of premeditation in this case. Based on the prior statements that he made to his girlfriend and his friend, he indicated that he was going to kill someone. At which point he determined that it was going to be Tristan Bailey, I don't know. but there was going to be a victim.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
He indicated that he was going, how he was going to do it, that he would take them into a wooded place, that he would stab them, he would kill them and then run away so that he could keep on killing. He told his best friend that he wanted to kill someone to see what it felt like and he wanted to watch them bleed out. This particular victim
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
Crime was committed with the weapon of choice as a knife, which he nicknamed Poker. That required a up close, personal type of murder that is rare, it's unique. What is also very troubling is that this crime had no motive. This was not done out of greed. It was not done in retaliation, retribution, or revenge. It was not a crime of passion.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
It was not a crime that was committed because he felt rejected by her. It was not done in a fit of uncontrollable anger. There was no reason. There was no purpose. It was done for no other reason than to satisfy this defendant's internal desire to feel what it was like to kill someone.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
It is for this reason and all of the reasons previously stated that leads this court to the conclusion that there is only one appropriate sentence in this case. Mr. Fucci, if you and your attorneys would please rise. Counsel, is there any legal reason why this court cannot impose sentence at this time? No, sir.
Sword and Scale
Episode 288
Mr. Fucci, having entered a plea of guilty to the crime of first-degree murder, I adjudicate you guilty of the premeditated first-degree murder of Tristan Bailey. I sentence you to life in prison. Because of your age, you are eligible for review of the sentence in 25 years. You will be taken back to the Duval County Jail and then transported into the Florida State Prison System. We are adjourned.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Vance is Right: Germany Isn't Free
The fine could be even higher if you insult someone in the internet.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Vance is Right: Germany Isn't Free
Because in internet, it stays there. If we are talking face to face, you insult me, I insult you, okay, finished. But if you're in the internet, if I insult you or a politician... That sticks around forever. Yeah.
Up First from NPR
Israel Strikes Gaza, Trump And The Courts, Takeover At US Institute Of Peace
So what I see them doing so far is playing footsie with the notion of defying a court order rather than actually defying a court order.
Up First from NPR
Israel Strikes Gaza, Trump And The Courts, Takeover At US Institute Of Peace
So what I see them doing so far is playing footsie with the notion of defying a court order rather than actually defying a court order. They're getting cute. They're getting up to the line.