Most celebrity lawyers do a great job dividing public opinion when their clients face charges, if the public hasn't already divided itself for them.
With someone like OJ Simpson, you can divide your jury into black members and white members and be sure that one side knows he's guilty while the other side is certain that the police had it out for your poor client.
The reason I think the Michael Vick story hasn't had that sort of split is that nearly everyone loves dogs or at least some kind of pet. This isn't a case where gay people are on one side and people who hate gays are on the other. It's not a black or white thing. It's not a male versus female thing. It's an animal cruelty thing.
If you love dogs, you are outraged. If you hate your neighbor's constantly yapping mutt, you are still outraged. You might wish something bad would happen to the one that keeps you awake at night, but you couldn't imagine actually bringing over another dog and watching them fight each other to the death in your own apartment.
If you're OJ or Michael Jackson or Phil Spector, you can maintain your innocence and there will always be a good chunk of people who totally believe in you, who hold large signs outside of your court appearances which read "I would let my kids spend the night at Neverland", but not in the Michael Vick case.
People love their pets and even people who don't have pets can't comprehend what it takes to participate in dog fighting -- much less what it takes to run an organized dog fighting operation.
GrimJack
EZ Street
Jon Sable, Freelance
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