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| Not marketable |
There is also multiple DNA testing to be done, with at least three individuals' DNA targeted by the investigators; the victim, the mother's and the boyfriend's, and, perhaps, one eye open for the possibility that the boyfriend had physical assistance in moving the body, outside the intellectual guidance provided by the mother.
With both mother and boyfriend in need of attorneys and likely, an immediate need of bail money, what can be done in this scenario?
If the remains are Hailey's, and if Billie Jean Dunn, mother, and her boyfriend, Shawn Adkins are arrested (they are only "Persons of Interest" as of this writing), let's move forward from there, with a possible scenario:
1. Arrest warrants are sworn out and executed against, first, Billie Dunn.
2. The second is delayed, as Adkins is not currently in the State of Texas, but is successfully executed.
3. Arraignment and Bail is set for each.
4. An attorney known in the small part of Texas steps forward to be Dunn's attorney while Adkins claims that he has no ability to pay for an attorney and is given a public defender.
We now come to the first question:
Who pays the bail?
This, of course, assumes there is bail conditions, but let's proceed with it, as is. Not being familiar with bail in Texas (nor bail in Maine), I can guess that it would not be low, and that 10% of it would be put up in cash, or equity. In any and all cases, it won't be cheap.
Does John Young, for instance, roll the dice and put up Dunn's bail?
For some, this might seem like a no-brainer since she's not a flight risk, but consider the following since attorneys like Young make their living on their reputations:
a. Young's professional courtesy, like his standing in the legal community, is not what it once was. With the original manslaughter accusation behind him, his instability was evident when he was, in the words of law enforcement "on something" when he pulled a gun on police and lived to speak about it. If he hopes to cash in on this case, he will have to exercise some level of self-control. Rumored to have been addicted to cocaine, self control and cocaine are not known to associate closely. He may be clean from substance abuse, and, perhaps, on a short leash with the bar, pointing a gun at a law enforcement officer is to touch a bond that law enforcement is very jealous over protecting: one of their own. It isn't so much that he pulled a gun on someone, which is bad enough, he pulled a gun on one of their own. This makes him less than the favorite, not only among one group of law enforcement, but upon the entire fraternity of those who carry a gun. It did not help the situation to have heard that an officer's estranged wife was involved, either, but the gun, itself, a lethal threat, is just something 'you don't do.' He will be on a short leash.
In practical outworking, Young should expect a cold shoulder where once it may have not been that way. They will not tolerate much. The muck-raking attorney, historically, needs a target to aim at, the way that, for example, Roy Kronk was targeted. Young will not likely do well attacking the initial reaction to the investigation, nor would he do well in going after any one in law enforcement, including comments various individuals made to the press. He'll need a target to bluster against, to make press and make himself sound larger than life; don't expect it to be someone in law enforcement. He will need a smaller target. He may fall into the trap of "David Versus Goliath" with him being type cast as the ugly Philistine bully. Not smart for an attorney.
b. Young's gamble on publicity. He has a reputation for seeking out case which will bring him free publicity. This is done by often not only taking on 'hated' clients, but in making outrageous statements and drawing in media. Recall his "we are a mother...we are hoping its not our little girl" bizarre statement was inflammatory. Will this be a case that will bring him the type of publicity he wants?
Tough call.
Jose Baez thrived off of being seen as 'swarmy' and illogical. Young's intellect is much stronger than Baez', but with the instability of substance abuse, it becomes a clouded issue. He could be clean and sober, and crisp with clarity, or he may pick up where he left off; short tempered, speaking before he thinks. The rumor mill points to the latter.
Baez had the chemistry of George and Cindy Anthony; the people the nation loved to hate.
Think about it: every time either George or Cindy opened their mouth, the press pounced. I analyzed much of what they said, as they were rich with deception. They captured the imagination of a nation, enraged with the soap opera.
As angry as we were, we tuned in.
Nancy Grace was never so popular as when she was going after "Tot mom" or when she was deliberately provoking the audience by courting Cindy Anthony with soft and endearing comments. In the long run, she did not 'win' the Cindy Anthony interview, but her ratings were strong.
Can Young get the producers for The Nancy Grace Show on board? Are there other characters in this saga that appeals to the masses?
If so, I don't see them.
Shawn Adkins' family may be something but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. They have stayed low key and locals report that although they have their own issues like anyone else, they are a hard working, close knit family. They may present as 'human' and someone the public might feel for, but thus far, they have stayed away from the spotlight. We don't know what they look like.
George Anthony had that 'steroid' look, playing the poor lost puppy dog act, while working hard his whole life at not working, while Cindy had that wild angry mercurial eye-brow thing going for her, harsh, demanding, in-your-face, "you're no 10, no offense, Ms. Gonzalez" countenance that infuriated the public and made us turn in to hear and see her.
The public hated Cindy Anthony, but she drew ratings and ratings mean money.
I don't see any such rich character draw for John Young to work with to market and turn into defense money.
Clint is not a sympathetic figure because he will stand before a camera and quickly change the topic from his daughter to his love of marijuana. It is his passion in life and it is his drive to grow and smoke the very thing that took away his initiative and drive as a father and protector to his daughter. These are the same words I used when I spoke directly to him. Marijuana is a thief that steals away initiative and drive, cancer patient aside. I feel for his loss and I hope he is able to turn his back on marijuana and be the father and provider he can be to his daughter.
The Ostranders "tap out, good ole boy, hee-haw, can't stay out of prison" thing will not make for good characters on television. Honey boo-boo is about all the ill mannered nonsense the nation can absorb.
About the only thing I can see that would provoke an audience is to have the mother go through various make overs on television, infuriating the public at her callousness towards the case, and let her butcher the English language with "I, we wasn't worried about not drinking when Hailey went missing; nobody was not worry about no party", while using subtitles. This would be of interest the way Honey boo-boo needs subtitles. But it appears to be a hand played out. The shark circles and its about ready to jump.
c. Raising the money
Without a story to sell, money can't be raised. Ratings mean money and it will take money, lots of money to defend Dunn. She is likely to demand to be Front and Center, and she will likely find that Young will compete with her for the spotlight.
It is a trial, not a quick plea bargain, that gets attention, ratings and money even when a plea bargain is in the client's best interest.
I thought that the Casey Anthony defense had no shot at victory and I was wrong. Even as we view the questions from the Jodi Arias trial, it appears, however, that the Casey Anthony jury was a one-shot deal of illogic and inability to follow an argument. Jose Baez' performance as a trial attorney was akin to a chimp throwing darts at a Wall Street board and landing on 10 perfect growth companies. Baez could not have been worse, yet...he won.
Baez blundered point after point because of his limited intelligence, and somehow, for various reasons, the jury said "we believe she did it, but the prosecution didn't prove it" which is nonsense because, how did you come to believe she did it? Baez got lucky as his goofiness tripped him and he fell into the winning lottery.
John Young is way smarter than Baez, which will work against him. Why? Because Young has an ego that will betray him, he will be under immense scrutiny, which for an addict is not something to be handled without major support, and he will be up against the facts of the case and up against something, perhaps, even worse than the facts:
He will be up against Billie Jean Dunn, herself, who holds him, and the rest of the world, in contempt.
She has been lying since childhood, and has succesfuly manipulated her way into 'winning' always and she is not going to be muzzled by him, or anyone else, even as she will not allow him to tell her to 'tone down her dress' or shut her mouth. It will be the battle of the narcissists to see who gets more camera time. This, all the while other attorneys are watching and commenting on television saying things he is not going to like hearing. The talking head attorneys are going to be all over him:
"How could he bring this to trial?"
" He owes it to her to cut a deal to save her life!"
"He can't let her take the stand!"
"He has to ask the judge for a competency hearing!" and on and on it will go.
If a national audience is hooked, he will then face the scrutiny of some big city investigative journalists who do not ask the softball questions that have been the earmark of this case. They will dig into his background and they will be merciless.
They will openly question is Young was romantically involved with Dunn and they will ask questions that the local media would never dare consider.
Does Young really want to put his family through this sort of scrutiny?
Will all of this provide real traction for his career?
This is not Casey Anthony dancing it up while 'searching' for her daughter. This is the ugliness that is different than what we saw in that case.
Casey Anthony was a killer who played coy with the camera, demanding attention. Think of one journalist calling out to Casey Anthony, "Casey, why do you strut like that?"
Billie Dunn seeks out the camera, which turns people off.
Casey Anthony was not into heavy drugs.
Casey Anthony was not in child pornography. This is a major public relations turn off that ABC is not going to want to touch.
Casey Anthony's looks are a distinct advantage over Dunn's. Billie Dunn appears like one who has had a hard life, which makes her look significantly older than she is. This does not play well to a camera.
Casey Anthony talked "hip" with such things as "Jose Baez? Yeah, "I'm hitting that." while Billie Dunn's speech belies her intellect.
Who is going to pay a quarter of a million dollars for a video of a mother burning a tattoo into her son's back with stolen nursing items? It just doesn't work.
Baez also had the support of other attorneys who were so falling over one another to get on the case that one even paid money to get in. Young will not receive such support in this case.
There is however, one more issue that should be considered by Young (and Dunn) in mapping out strategy and listening to others pitch him ideas about how this can be marketed in order to not only pay for Dunn's defense, but benefit Young's career. This should not be overlooked:
d. Angering Shawn Adkins
I've saved the most startling point for last.
John Young has already tipped his hand by stating that his client will "fully cooperate" and that there is a willingness to turn on Adkins. This was just last month that he said this, when the remains were found. Here is what he said. He knows his words will be carefully heard.
"She does not live with Shawn Adkins. She has had a relationship. "
He does not say "She had a relationship" but she "has" had a relationship. He then said,
"Any long term relationship is difficult to break the bonds." The pronoun, "is" is present tense, even though it is "any"; he is telling us something important.
Then her attorney tipped his hand regarding the remains: "If it is, Billie will will will be cooperating so he can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Put yourself in the shoes of Shawn Adkins. He saw this or read this, and so did his family. His family has already said that they are not putting their house for sale to pay for his defense.
Put yourself squarely in his shoes:
He turns on the television and sees his ex girlfriend and co-conspirator, with a make over and maybe some botox or plastic surgery, paid for by someone other than her, standing next to a smiling and expensively attired attorney, talking about how they understand the police and are working with the police and how this will be done "so he can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law", which, for those familiar with Texas even just a little, means the death penalty.
Shawn Adkins is looking at his court appointed attorney wearing cheap shoes and trying to etch out a living for himself, facing the death penalty while Billie is sitting pretty, everything paid for, about to throw him, not under the bus, but under the needle.
The anger will explode.
Just the fact that she gets a free attorney of some renown is enough to anger Adkins, but Young's eagerness to blame Adkins and end his life may be enough to get his pride up and talking.
Recall: he boasted about threatening Hailey's life and even said that he'd kill Dunn in a way that people would remember for a long time. His sentence structure shows a lot of truth for those who follow statement analysis.
Shawn Adkins should not be underestimated by Young. Yet, it is Young's responsibility to defend his client (it should be his responsibility to defend her against malicious prosecution, not to win a game, but that's a different argument).
He has to battle the evidence in the case, the public perception of the case, his own difficult-to-control client and he will have to battle the anger of Shawn Adkins.
The game of "chicken", that is, who makes a deal first, may have just run out of time. If these remains are Hailey's, it is known already, and the information has not released intentionally. If this premise is correct, the child pornography charges have also not been levied intentionally, as the larger, bigger picture comes into focus.
John Young has his hands full, and must consider what it is that is on the line.
His client could face the death penalty.
His client could face lengthy prison time for other charges.
His client could be testified against by Shawn Adkins.
His client may not yield much, if any "Hollywood" "licensing fees" from studios.
What pays for her defense? What even pays for bail?
If Shawn Adkins isn't the biggest hinderance to young's success, it may well be that his own client will be.
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