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Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Nancy Grace is a nutcase

Nancy Grace has made an industry out of trashing the Constitution and ridiculing the notion that in America, a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. She speaks and writes often about the roots of her crusade: the 1980 murder of her fiancé.

Well now, it turns out that she’s been lying about it!


The New York Observer (which did a fine write-up on Tabloid Baby some years back) does a Smoking Gun on Nancy Grace, and it’s downright headscratching.

After reading the article, you can only come to the conclusion that Nancy Grace is either a mental case in deep need of therapy, or a cynical huckster whose manipulation of the facts equals James Frey’s exploitation of a high school classmate’s death in his book, A Million Little Pieces.

Or maybe a little of both.

What’s the matter with these people? From Grace to Dimond to O’Reilly to Cosby (Rita & Bill, for that matter), why are we subjected to the pompous bullying and sermonizing by these cynical, lying, hypocritical, untelegenic gaseous windbags on our newscasts? Is the need to fill the cable airwaves with rabid, hate-filled ideologues so great that they have to pull out the genuinely mentally ill?

Here’s the best of the Observer:

“Every crime-fighting superhero has a creation story. Nancy Grace, the prosecutor turned breakout star at CNN Headline News, has a particularly moving one. As she tells it, in the summer of 1980, she was a 19-year-old college student in small-town Georgia, engaged to Keith Griffin, a star third baseman for the Valdosta State University Blazers. The wedding was a few months away.

"Then, one August morning, a stranger—a 24-year-old thug with a history of being on the wrong side of the law—accosted Griffin outside a convenience store.

"The killer, Tommy McCoy, was 19, not 24, and had no prior convictions.

"He shot him five times in the head and back, stole $35 from his wallet, and left him dead.

"Griffin was shot not by a random robber, but by a former co-worker.

"Police soon tracked down the killer, and a new phase of suffering began for Ms. Grace. The suspect brazenly denied any involvement.

"Mr. McCoy confessed to the crime the evening he was arrested.

"At trial, Ms. Grace testified, then waited as jury deliberations dragged on for three days.

"The jury convicted in a matter of hours, not days.

"The district attorney asked her if she wanted the death penalty, and in a moment of youthful weakness, she said no.

"Prosecutors asked for the death penalty, but didn’t get it, because Mr. McCoy was mildly retarded.

"The verdict came back guilty—life in prison—and a string of appeals ensued.

"Mr. McCoy never had an appeal; he filed a habeas application five years ago, and after a hearing it was rejected. The justice system, in other words, apparently worked the way it was supposed to.

"Ms. Grace has also misreported the date of the incident—it was in 1979, not 1980—and has given Griffin’s age as 25 when it was 23."


What a nut!

Your move, Nancy. Maybe an hour-long special with Dr. Phil? Or how about an O’Reillyesque statement and a vow never to speak of it again. Or a nice suspension?

There’s lots more disturbing information in the Observer article. Read it here .

And read the Observer’s piece on Tabloid Baby.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Nancy Grace is a wonderful person who speak's for victim's.She speak's the truth and dosen't sugar coat it.Everyone who is alway's bad mouthing her take a minute and ask your self what you have done to help all the victims.People who don't like her need to get over it.

Anonymous said...

You have got to be kidding...Nancy Grace doesn't speak for anyone except Nancy Grace, and apparently as much of the time as not, when she does so she is LYING. Living in Florida where she trolls for a great percentage of her media whore panderage, I have reached the point where I am no longer shocked by the differences in what she reports (mostly through innuendo and carefully crafted semantic manipulation) and what is reported locally in the REAL news (where credibility still has value). Victims of crime deserve an honest advocate; Nancy Grace is NOT it!

Anonymous said...

This woman should be taken off the air.She makes her money off the pain of others. She has made more money off the Calee Anthony story than anyone. And don't get me stated about those no-neck monsters of hers. Can you imagine what it will be like when those children of hers have to say. "That is my mommy" Oh my god those poor children. I can't image what it is like living with this bitch!

Anonymous said...

Intelligent shows are too taxing for the brain of the average American, even the news (which in actuality is nothing but infotainment) sucks in the USA, the problem being that the attention span of the average American is only 10 seconds. Nancy Grace her show is made for the same lowest common denominator (which is 99% of the US population!!). Land of the free?!?!?! Land of the free retards that is!

Anonymous said...

Maybe Nancy should, instead, explain to her viewers why she battered her son-tot to the point of him needing hospital intervention and why she was breathalized when she was recently stopped by police while driving, according to her.

Anonymous said...

Well, well.
To find you're a liar does not surprise me. That's why you connect so well with the Anthony's. Defending Ronald Cummings and sticking by him. That's why they call your show an entertainment show. I've heard you tell a story with facts in front of you, then you change it in next sentence.