8 votes

"Framed": She was the PTA mom everyone knew. Who would want to harm her?

7 comments

  1. [7]
    AliveProbably
    Link
    This is a pretty famous story that is being adapted into a movie, but if you haven't read it, it's incredibly engrossing. I think it's definitely worth it to read it beginning-to-end as intended...

    This is a pretty famous story that is being adapted into a movie, but if you haven't read it, it's incredibly engrossing. I think it's definitely worth it to read it beginning-to-end as intended by the author Christopher Goffard, but if you want to know how inconsequential the slight was--the victim said the perpetrator's son was "slow to line up" when being called to come into the building. That's it, that's the slight that two successful lawyers needed to plan the stupidest revenge plot ever.

    2 votes
    1. [6]
      cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Engrossing and honestly incredibly terrifying. The sheer lengths that couple went to for "revenge" is insane, especially since it all stemmed from such an inconsequential event that was just a...

      Engrossing and honestly incredibly terrifying. The sheer lengths that couple went to for "revenge" is insane, especially since it all stemmed from such an inconsequential event that was just a simple accident. And SPOILERS AHEAD! (I really recommend reading the article, it's quite good!):

      Their legal maneuvering in both criminal and civil court was also infuriating to read about, but that bombshell dropped by Mr. Duff at the end of the second criminal trial was glorious as was the result of the civil trial.

      I really liked the way Duff came across in general too and was also especially struck by this part:

      Christopher Duff, a career prosecutor in his early 40s, joined the team in the spring of 2012. Among the files that landed on his desk was a bizarre caper involving a pair of married Irvine attorneys suspected of planting drugs in a neighbor’s car.

      Duff was struck by how thoroughly the Irvine police had investigated a crime in which the victim had suffered no physical harm. They had put 20 detectives on the case against Kent and Jill Easter at one time or another, and the lead investigator had spent six months on it exclusively.

      Duff considered the possibilities. In so many places, he thought, it would have gone differently. If the attempted frame-up had happened in one of the gang neighborhoods of Los Angeles where he used to prosecute shootings, rather than in a rich, placid city in Orange County ... if the cop who found the stash of drugs in Kelli Peters’ car had been a rookie, rather than a sharp-eyed veteran … if she had been slightly less believable ...

      It was easy to picture. Peters, the PTA president at her daughter’s elementary school, would have left the campus in the back of a patrol car, a piercing sight for the teachers who loved her and relied on her, for the parents who had entrusted their kids to her for years. It would have stolen not just her freedom but her name.

      Too fucking true.

      3 votes
      1. [5]
        AliveProbably
        Link Parent
        Yes that absolutely stuck out to me. As badly put together as their revenge plot was, had this been a less affluent neighborhood or a less sympathetic victim it probably would have worked. Of...

        Yes that absolutely stuck out to me. As badly put together as their revenge plot was, had this been a less affluent neighborhood or a less sympathetic victim it probably would have worked. Of course, this specific brand of crazy seems to permeate this kind of neighborhood more, so perhaps they walk hand-in-hand. It does make me wonder what other things this couple might have staged and gotten away with in their past.

        2 votes
        1. [4]
          cfabbro
          (edited )
          Link Parent
          Does it? Or is the only reason we think that due to the fact that in these affluent neighborhoods the police there are willing and also able to "[thoroughly investigate] a crime in which the...

          Of course, this specific brand of crazy seems to permeate this kind of neighborhood more

          Does it? Or is the only reason we think that due to the fact that in these affluent neighborhoods the police there are willing and also able to "[thoroughly investigate] a crime in which the victim had suffered no physical harm" and put "20 detectives on the case" so these cases get highly publicized... whereas in less affluent ones the police there cannot afford to do similar or perhaps are also less willing give the accused the benefit of the doubt, so frame-jobs actually wind up working or ultimately end in no charges against the perpetrators due to a lack of any proper investigation so never get any publicity? :/

          1 vote
          1. [3]
            AliveProbably
            Link Parent
            Oh, I'm not saying framing in general, that happens everywhere. I'm saying that the type of parent it breeds--like the easily offended, litigious, conniving kind. This is just coming from my...

            Oh, I'm not saying framing in general, that happens everywhere. I'm saying that the type of parent it breeds--like the easily offended, litigious, conniving kind. This is just coming from my personal experience in childcare. You could usually guess what kind of trouble you'd get from kind of parent.

            1 vote
            1. [2]
              cfabbro
              (edited )
              Link Parent
              True enough... litigiousness is definitely a luxury only afforded to the affluent. And with affluence also often comes a lot more free time to spend on frivolous endeavours like being easily...

              True enough... litigiousness is definitely a luxury only afforded to the affluent. And with affluence also often comes a lot more free time to spend on frivolous endeavours like being easily offended and conniving, whereas most "regular" people have keeping a roof over their head and food on the table to worry about so can't indulge in such things. ;)

              1. AliveProbably
                Link Parent
                Yes, exactly. That's how I see it too. It's not like all people aren't capable of the same kinds of crimes, but it's more what the environment is conducive towards.

                Yes, exactly. That's how I see it too. It's not like all people aren't capable of the same kinds of crimes, but it's more what the environment is conducive towards.

                1 vote