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Dubin was the plaintiff's lawyer in a civil suit against Robert Blake in the death of his wife Bonny Bakely.  With that trial and case as a reference point, Dubin analyzes the situation with celebrity trials in the US.

He analyzes elements of the Bakely-Blake case and how it was handled, and compares with other trials of celebrities in recent years.  He writes from his own insider perspective to expose the double standard that often prevails.

This book has the feel of a trial court drama, with the behind-the-scenes analysis of the legal team.  But here you also get a broader analysis as Dubin looks back as a legal analyst, not the trial lawyer reporting on his case.  He revievws these cases with a critical, comparative eye.  This last stage is, of course, the aim and heart of the work, but he deals well with the ongoing drama within the case also.

Dubin's role as a legal cultural analyst provides a perspective and warning about how far the American enthrallment with media and movie celebrities has taken us from the original American concept of "blind justice" where who you were, how famous or rich, made no difference in the legal status.  That is gone, Dubin proclaims.  But he still offers hope, suggesting the US can recover if we are serious and honest about what the US system has become.

In balance, he recounts in engaging detail his own experience in his own spectacular win against Blake, who had already been found not guilty in criminal court.  He analyzes the cases of O J Simpson and Michael Jackson, among other less spectacular cases.

Dubin's razor-sharp analysis and precision reasoning power combine with a quiet but sometimes uproarious wit and sweeping writing style.  Dubin takes himself seriously enough to know not to take himself too seriously!

This is insightful, funny, challenging and alarming.

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OBJ

Reading notes written 6 April 2010
Developed and Reviewed on Amazon 31 January 2011
Last edited 12 July 2011

Orville Boyd Jenkins, EdD, PhD
Copyright © 2011 Orville Boyd Jenkins
Permission granted for free download and transmission for personal or educational use.  Please give credit and link back.  Other rights reserved.

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