Convincing enough for a conviction?

The Staircase (Documentary, 13 episodes; 2018)
Netflix

No, the truth does not somehow mysteriously appears out of thin air and settles the score. Often, the perpetrator goes scot-free. It is not unusual for fall guys to carry the burden. Innocent bystanders who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time sometimes get suckered in. Tonnes of news of the incarcerated getting reprieve with newer modern scientific revelations, e.g. when DNA evidence comes to fore, is evidence of this. Truth does not manifest on its own. We have to make it appear. At the end of the day, the determinant is money. With ever-increasing legal fees and protracted trials that last forever, proving innocence is the domain of the well-heeled. The impoverished are just left to the spiralling uncertainty of time and divine intervention. 

It is a game of poker. It is a question of how long can one hold his card. Court cases can run till the money runs out or the accused is out of breath, metaphorically and biologically. Anyway, at the end of it all, the court does not give a bill of innocence. It merely states that the accused is 'not guilty' when it acquits someone. It does not say 'innocent'. It is saying, "damn, you managed to defend yourselves with good legal representation that money can buy. It is no match against our prosecutors and the evidence that the State had collected!" Justice does not fall in the equation.

'The Staircase' is a documentary presentation of the trial of a fiction writer, Michael Peterson. The Durham, North Carolina 911 helpline, in December 2001, received a call from a near-hysterical Michael asking for help after his wife's apparent fall of the stairs. A week later, Michael is charged for the murder of his wife, Kathleen. Kathleen had broken thyroid cartilage but died primarily of blood loss from seven laceration wounds on her scalp.

Citing disproportionate blood loss for a simple fall from stairs and the unaccountable scalp wounds moved the prosecutor to charge Michael for murder. Then the bag of worms came out. Michael's desktop hard drive showed him entertaining gay porn sites and liaison with a particular gay prostitute. The prosecutor surmised that the discovery's of Michael's sexuality probably inspired an argument, and in the heat of emotions, Michael could have struck Kathleen on the head and subsequent fall. 

Michael, an ex-Marine, was once stationed in Germany. He was married with two kids then. His neighbour, Elizabeth, an American and a close family friend, also died after falling off a flight of stairs. Even though her death was certified as an intracranial haemorrhage, her case was linked to somehow to Kathleen's. Elizabeth's body was excavated for re-autopsy, but nothing incriminating was found.

The trial went on and on. Michael's family was fragmented. On his side were his sons from his first marriage, his two adopted daughters (Elizabeth's daughters) and Patricia, his first wife. The deceased, Kathleen, was Michael's second wife.

Kathleen's sister and Kathleen's daughter, Caitlin, from her first wedding, were ferociously working with the prosecution to get a conviction for Michael after initially rooting for Michael!

The jury found Michael guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment. After repeated appeals, 8 years into incarceration, Michael finally had his appeal heard. In an unrelated case, a vital defence witness who appeared in Michael's trial had falsified evidence. Michael was put on house arrest awaiting retrial. By then, money had run out for the lawyers. David Rudolf, who was doing an excellent job representing Michael, excused himself but later appeared pro bono.

In 2017, 16 years after the nightmare started, Michael Peterson finally took an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter to end it all. He vehemently maintains his innocence till today, but on paper, he is guilty.

People are divided on Michael's guilt. The police have a bone to pick with him. As an editor in a local newspaper, Michael has often highlighted the police shortcomings and inefficiencies. 

Another theory that had been floating around is the 'rogue owl theory'. Batted owls are known inhabitants of the woods around Michael and Kathleen's habitat. Owls have been reported to attack people unprovoked. This could have happened to Kathleen. Feeling tipsy with wine and startled by an owl clutching her scalp, she could have run and tripped down the flight of stairs. The peculiar scalp laceration, extensive blood loss and absence of skull fracture and brain injury could be due to the talons of a barred owl. In retrospect, micro-feather fibre and bird feathers were found on the body.

The justice system is flawed. It metes different justice to different people. A starving person is imprisoned for stealing, whilst a politician who embezzled billions is still gallivanting around because he has not exhausted all the legal avenues available to prove his innocence. It should be read as he still has enough money to hire cunning legal eagles to look for a loophole in the system or get the bench members convinced with some kind of junk science or sly sleight of hand. Period.

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