Season Finale of Bainwatch

Well, it was inevitable. Not the verdict, that is, but the fact that, as soon as the jury decided, a Your Views would go up asking "Did the Bain jury get it right?" Before you know it, every conspiracy theorist, redneck and high-school dropout in the country have popped in to open their mouths and let the words roll out. Words inspired, of course, not by being on the jury and hearing the evidence, but by watching thirty seconds of footage on the news or reading the increasingly manic articles in the paper. Rather than entire posts, a mishmash of sentences might give a better impression of the level of consistency:

• "I am sure the murderer has been briefed to respond but I am disturbed that the five dead have not been acknowledged by the defendant. Does David find it too difficult to acknowledge the loss of those whose life he deprived by bullet?"
• "I think he's guilty, but my opinion doesn't count. That's the price for the rule of law (bugger)."
• "Such is the judicial system and cheapness of human life terminated by homicide in NZ. David Bain has got away with murdering his entire family - he knows this and must live with it for the rest of his life - or is compensation of more importance to him." [Yes, I'm sure David's delighted with how the last 13 years turned out.]
• "How can one jury find him guilty and another not - from similar evidence. He should be hung - he did it, how can he blame his old man, he's in the grave." [How disrespectful.]
• "... he should be hung by the nearest oak tree or serve 5 life sentences, the jury in this trial are thick, he has fooled you all 'the Judge knew who did it' and so does most NZers you have to question their intelligence in sorting fact from fiction, Joe Karan is purely in it to make money and sell his story."
• "The David Bain trial is a good example of why it is now time to re evaluate the Jury system. We have justice by the available."
• "Unless there is more evidence, David should not receive compensation. Is it too far fetched to consider murders might be staged to receive compensation?" [Yes. Sorry.]
• "If these murders were to take place in today's society, David Bain would be in jail for 5 counts of murder, so he got off pretty lightly in my opinion. [Unlike society, say, 13 years ago...]
• "I tend to think that the jury ,like most NZers , have had a total gutsful of the Joe Karam show and finally decided to put an end to it despite the evidence."
• "I'd have to say that I'm 95% certain he did it. [...] Sad fact is that other people planning and committing crimes in the future will be able to use this case as their template for committing their crimes.
• "It is obvious Robin killed the Bain family and when David came home and discovered what Robin had done, David killed Robin."
• "I have always believed that David Bain was innocent and to me that is what 'Not Guilty' means. If you look up the dictionary 'Not Guilty' means Innocent."
• "I hate it when people go in search for compensation like this. I'd just be thankful for the verdict and get on with my life."
• "Were the members of the jury seduced by his "nice guy" demeanour? Did they even bother to weigh up the evidence objectively?"
• "this is just my thoughts but I think that Robert did do it but I say that David came home and saw what Robert had done and then David shot his dad but thats what I think"
• "There's masses of evidence against David Bain - it hardly needs going over for the millionth time." [That would be the third time.]
• "What a sham.who dunnit? i believe David did it. What a crock.Reasonable doubt my ass. They just cant convict him on circumstantial evidence - Robyn didnt do it. So who did.the cat?" [Well I wouldn't put it past this maniac.]

The conspiracies are astounding. Joe Karam, who has bankrupted himself pursuing the case, did it for the money. David Bain did it so that some future day he might seek compensation money. Remarkably, some people seem to not realise that this is a retrial, think that the murders only just happened and that Bain has got off without punishment.

What to conclude? That the internet is populated with unrecognized legal geniuses? That any government system where these people get as many votes as you and me is fatally flawed? One scary thought is that jurors are drawn from the same pool of people as YVers - and they may be passing judgement on you one day.