And the Los Angeles DA Steve Cooley Professionalism in Service Award Goes to...

In real life, murder trials don't always last much more than a few days. Most mortals don't begin to have the funds to put up a true defense when they're indicted/arrested for murder - guilty or not - so it's the state's show. Juries in criminal cases usually believe the prosecutor/police - it's a built-in "well, they wouldn't have said he was guilty if he wasn't" response from the public.

Only in California (well, not only, but close) do murder trials take anywhere from four months to one-plus years. And you don't have to be OJ or the lawyers with the killer dogs from San Francisco or Robert Blake. Scott Peterson's trial seemed to spend a few months just playing tapes from his pissed-off girlfriend. Heck, it doesn't even take murder. Somebody please explain why a child molestation trial - where we aren't talking about the horrific abuse such cases often entail - should take 4-6 months as with Michael Jackson.

But after the prosecutors invariably spend tens of millions of dollars of tax money and then - even with pretty much everything tipped in their favor - can't get a conviction (you know, because they perhaps did not prove their case), California DAs seem to have this penchant for calling the juries "incredibly stupid". Chris Darden and Marcia Clarke must have taught LA DA Steve Cooley well.

I have no idea if Robert Blake is guilty or not. I suspect only about 15 people cared. But why go after the jury when you don't have sufficient evidence to convict?