Why trees cry: The Sunday ‘Bune

A sunny, chilly November morning.

The Bune's city editor Amany Ali contributes a front-page report on the prosecutor’s impending decision on whether to bring David Camm back to trial for the murder of his family. Camm’s previous murder conviction recently was thrown out by the Indiana Supreme Court, which took issue with evidence submitted by the former prosecutor.

While justice presumably remains blind, it isn’t cheap, and the only real question here is whether anyone is whispering into the prosecutor’s ear with respect to Floyd County’s ability to withstand another million-dollar trial.

Ali does not ask this question.

Rather, her weekly column contains no thoughts whatsoever about the re-emergence of the controversial Camm case – the one unfolding right here in New Albany, Ali’s own bailiwick as city editor.

Instead, she chooses to offer thoughts on the Scott Peterson trial in far-off California, most of which are confined to the type of observations that anyone watching too much television might conclude in like fashion.

Ali’s justification in condemning Peterson is that his errant behavior following his wife’s death is sufficient proof of his guilt, but does she understand the implications given that the prosecution in the Peterson case never found a murder weapon? The original Camm verdict was reached with the help of forensic evidence, but the conviction was overturned owing to the introduction of circumstantial evidence (i.e., Camm’s extramarital affairs) that differs little from what the Peterson prosecutors offered.

Isn’t this interesting? Has Ali compared and contrasted the two cases?

There is no available published forensic evidence to indicate such a thought process.

Meanwhile, managing editor Chris Morris quite properly decries an outbreak of vandalism at Holy Trinity cemetery, but not until he describes the 36th annual mayor’s prayer breakfast as an outstanding example of the quality that makes New Albany such a great place to live.

It remains that a gourmet coffee shop downtown, one keeping real-world hours, would do far more to improve the quality of life in New Albany than an annual ecumenical photo opportunity … but maybe Chris doesn’t do espresso.