As I sit here flipping through the channels looking for something informative to watch (in between watching such guilty pleasures as old Simpsons reruns and anything on ESPN) I stopped for a moment on CNN Headline News (not to be confused with the reg CNN channel which I actually enjoy), and I see news anchor Nancy Grace on her self titled news show. I can not remember a time when I have watched this woman for more then 5 seconds without her quickly reminding me why I can not stand her. She should have no place on television. She shows no professionalism or remorse towards any of her guests and uses Bill O'Reilly's tactics of insulting and trying to intimidate whoever she has on her program.
I don't understand why this woman remains on television. I am by no means what so ever even implying that she is not educated or anything of that nature. This is a woman who worked as Special Prosecutor for the DA's office in Fulton County, Georgia for high profile felony murder, rape, and drug cases. It was in this capacity that she was already showing her arrogance and high levels of improper behavior. At least 3 of her cases were brought to various appellate courts in response to ethical issues as a prosecutor.
The main arguments I have against her though are in relation to her actions on her television show. The more well known example is that of when Nancy was interviewing 21 year old mother Melinda Duckett, who was the mother of a missing child at the time of the interview. Melinda Duckett had not officially even been named as a person of interest, but Nancy Grace took it upon herself to bombard Melinda with a barrage of questions as to where she was the day her child went missing. Before the interview was over, the talk show host was pounding her desk and demanding, "Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day?" The following day Melinda Duckett committed suicide by shooting herself. Duckett's family filed a wrongful death suit in her defense. Yet Grace insists her line of questioning was reasonable.
Journalists should be unbiased in their views in order to present the news in the correct manner, yet Nancy Grace is narrow minded and quickly jumps to conclusions. In the 2006 Duke lacrosse scandal in which a female college student accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape, Nancy Grace repeatedly called the players "guilty". When Duke decided not to cancel the lacrosse season while the students were on trial (innocent until proven guilty right?? Not according to Nancy Grace) she stated on her show "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!". The three students were acquitted when it was later proven in court that the female student had fabricated the story. The day after the students were freed of charges, Nancy Grace had a "guest" host on her show and did not appear herself. The fill in host broke the news of the acquittal.
During the well documented Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, when the first suspect Richard Ricci was arrested by police on the basis that he had a criminal record and had worked on the Smarts' home, Nancy Grace spoke on Court TV and on Larry King that he was "guilty", and even stated several times that Ricci's girlfriend was also involved in the cover up of the crime. When the true criminals were captured (Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee) it was disclosed that Richard Ricci had never had any contact with these individuals. Richard Ricci died while in confinement, a innocent man. Again Grace was proven incorrect (even though she is a news anchor and should not be making the judgement in the first place!) and yet her only response was to say that Ricci was "a known ex-con, a known felon, and brought suspicion on himself, so who could blame anyone for claiming he was the perpetrator?"
Lastly, the most despicable thing I can think of when I think or see Nancy Grace is how she supposedly came about going into the legal profession and eventually news television. The story she gives is that at the age of 19, her fiance was murdered by a random thug. She stated in the past that the murderer was finally caught and that once the trial was over that jury deliberations went on for several days, and then once the guilty verdict came in that a string of appeals ensued. She has also stated that she rejected the option of the death penalty because it was against her beliefs. This was what changed her life in her words, to go into law as a prosecutor. This is a very tragic story and a commendable means of inspiration to go into the legal field. Too bad Nancy Grace is such a conniving and disgusting person that she would even lie about this as well. The New York Observer did a investigative piece on that crime and this inconsistencies came up:
Her fiance was murdered by a known co-worker not a stranger
Deliberations went on for a couple of hours, not several days
The death penalty was asked for and rejected because the murderer was mildly retarded
The murderer never had an appeal; he filed a habeas application and it was denied
The killer had no prior convictions although when she recounts the story she calls him a previous felon
She has stated on a couple of occasions that the crime occurred in 1980 when it was actually 1979
Grace told the Observer she had not looked into the case in many years and "(tried) not to think about it". She said she made her previous statements about the case "with the knowledge I had." Even her ex fiance's brother has stated "“The reality of it is, the guy killed him. I know that. Our family knows that. There’s nothing we can do to bring him back. What she’s gonna say, she’s gonna say. I’m not gonna stop it. But if she doesn’t tell the truth, it’s gonna come out sooner or later.”
I don't understand why this woman remains on television. I am by no means what so ever even implying that she is not educated or anything of that nature. This is a woman who worked as Special Prosecutor for the DA's office in Fulton County, Georgia for high profile felony murder, rape, and drug cases. It was in this capacity that she was already showing her arrogance and high levels of improper behavior. At least 3 of her cases were brought to various appellate courts in response to ethical issues as a prosecutor.
The main arguments I have against her though are in relation to her actions on her television show. The more well known example is that of when Nancy was interviewing 21 year old mother Melinda Duckett, who was the mother of a missing child at the time of the interview. Melinda Duckett had not officially even been named as a person of interest, but Nancy Grace took it upon herself to bombard Melinda with a barrage of questions as to where she was the day her child went missing. Before the interview was over, the talk show host was pounding her desk and demanding, "Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day?" The following day Melinda Duckett committed suicide by shooting herself. Duckett's family filed a wrongful death suit in her defense. Yet Grace insists her line of questioning was reasonable.
Journalists should be unbiased in their views in order to present the news in the correct manner, yet Nancy Grace is narrow minded and quickly jumps to conclusions. In the 2006 Duke lacrosse scandal in which a female college student accused three Duke lacrosse players of rape, Nancy Grace repeatedly called the players "guilty". When Duke decided not to cancel the lacrosse season while the students were on trial (innocent until proven guilty right?? Not according to Nancy Grace) she stated on her show "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!". The three students were acquitted when it was later proven in court that the female student had fabricated the story. The day after the students were freed of charges, Nancy Grace had a "guest" host on her show and did not appear herself. The fill in host broke the news of the acquittal.
During the well documented Elizabeth Smart kidnapping, when the first suspect Richard Ricci was arrested by police on the basis that he had a criminal record and had worked on the Smarts' home, Nancy Grace spoke on Court TV and on Larry King that he was "guilty", and even stated several times that Ricci's girlfriend was also involved in the cover up of the crime. When the true criminals were captured (Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee) it was disclosed that Richard Ricci had never had any contact with these individuals. Richard Ricci died while in confinement, a innocent man. Again Grace was proven incorrect (even though she is a news anchor and should not be making the judgement in the first place!) and yet her only response was to say that Ricci was "a known ex-con, a known felon, and brought suspicion on himself, so who could blame anyone for claiming he was the perpetrator?"
Lastly, the most despicable thing I can think of when I think or see Nancy Grace is how she supposedly came about going into the legal profession and eventually news television. The story she gives is that at the age of 19, her fiance was murdered by a random thug. She stated in the past that the murderer was finally caught and that once the trial was over that jury deliberations went on for several days, and then once the guilty verdict came in that a string of appeals ensued. She has also stated that she rejected the option of the death penalty because it was against her beliefs. This was what changed her life in her words, to go into law as a prosecutor. This is a very tragic story and a commendable means of inspiration to go into the legal field. Too bad Nancy Grace is such a conniving and disgusting person that she would even lie about this as well. The New York Observer did a investigative piece on that crime and this inconsistencies came up:
Her fiance was murdered by a known co-worker not a stranger
Deliberations went on for a couple of hours, not several days
The death penalty was asked for and rejected because the murderer was mildly retarded
The murderer never had an appeal; he filed a habeas application and it was denied
The killer had no prior convictions although when she recounts the story she calls him a previous felon
She has stated on a couple of occasions that the crime occurred in 1980 when it was actually 1979
Grace told the Observer she had not looked into the case in many years and "(tried) not to think about it". She said she made her previous statements about the case "with the knowledge I had." Even her ex fiance's brother has stated "“The reality of it is, the guy killed him. I know that. Our family knows that. There’s nothing we can do to bring him back. What she’s gonna say, she’s gonna say. I’m not gonna stop it. But if she doesn’t tell the truth, it’s gonna come out sooner or later.”
I know this was a VERY long post..but I can not stand this woman. Why is she on TV? Nancy Grace is a big jerk...
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