This has to Suck

For the defendant we mean:

• In a decision that restores the prosecution's strongest evidence against the remaining defendant in the Brown's Chicken massacre, an appellate court ruled Monday that jurors can watch a videotape in which James Degorski acknowledges his role in the 1993 slayings.
  
  
  During the 41/2-minute video, Degorski, now 35, admits killing two of the seven people slain at the Palatine fast-food restaurant. Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan had thrown out the tape last year, saying authorities should have reread the defendant his rights before filming the statement.

The defense motion went something like this we're sure:

• Defense attorney: Your Honor, we'd like this particular piece of evidence suppressed.
  
  Judge: On what grounds?
  
  Defense attorney: One the grounds that it makes my case impossible to present with a straight face your Honor. I mean, he admits to killing two people, one of them by cutting a woman's throat. How can I make any sort of reasonable doubt based on that?
  
  Judge: Well, you have a point...

We're almost amazed that an appellate court had to make a 2-1 decision to restore this critical piece of evidence. Remember the name Jill McNulty - that's the dissenting judge who attempted to keep a freely given admission of guilt out of the juror's earshot.