Says here that Julie Ann Rainbird is pleading Not Guilty to all charges. Ms. Rainbird is the woman who drove a stolen RV wildly all over the valley the other day, crashing into cars, injuring several people and terrifying two dogs she had that apparently did not belong to her either. If the link's still good, you can see what she did by checking out this post.
The reporters who cover such news stories live have one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Not only do they have to do it from a helicopter with very little idea what will happen in the next five seconds…not only do they have to suppress a certain amount of emotion and boiling adrenaline…but they have to beware of the impropriety of showing something gruesome that could happen at every moment and (boldface "and") they have to ad-lib madly without stumbling into prejudicial language.
It's a suspect we see committing crimes before our very eyes. What we're witnessing is alleged. Covering this one, I heard one reporter refer to "the alleged driver" of the vehicle we saw plowing into things. Well, who was at the wheel if it wasn't the driver?
I understand the need to phrase things that way. We have no law and order in this country if we don't have the fairest trials possible. I'm just struck by the contrast. One of the intriguing things about these televised car chases is that we are actually watching crimes being committed as they happen — unedited and in real time.
On Facebook, I saw some folks who were incredulous that a woman we had witnessed driving her vehicle recklessly into other vehicles would have the gall to plead Not Guilty. "Why would she believe she could prove her innocence?" a couple of them asked. The question is interesting and I wrote back to one, "Why would she believe she could get away from the cops and helicopters speeding madly through intersections and not hurt someone, including possibly herself?" The woman did one of the most irrational, insane things you ever witnessed and you expect logic and sanity from her now?"
And of course the other answer would be an attorney who thinks he can get her a lighter sentence by starting with Not Guilty and plea-bargaining down to something less than the 14 years in prison she could serve if convicted on all charges. That might seem like a wild longshot but when there's actual videotape of you committing the crimes, you might just take a wild longshot. What else have you got going for you?