allen iverson and legal commentary

Allen Iverson's recent legal troubles have not only earned him a high level of media attention, but also a bit of scrutiny from people who write about legal issues. A couple of articles that I found interesting were Allen Iverson and the Presumption of Innocence and a Philadelphia Inquirer article that compares the investigation of the Iverson case with another that didn't involve a celebrity:

The two cases suggest what many would already assume: that police give preferential treatment to cases involving people of prominence. In this instance, however, it would appear Iverson's prominence did as much to hurt as to help him. If anyone benefited, it would seem to have been his alleged victims, Charles Jones and Hakim Carey, whose charges received prompt and unusually extensive attention from police.

Sometimes the price of fame is having to live under a microscope. [July 22 -- A gag order was issued in the Iverson case today to help avoid the problems that publicity might raise in a high profile proceeding:

Municipal Court Judge James DeLeon barred police, the district attorney's office, and the lawyers involved from talking to reporters about Iverson's criminal case. He said he would revisit his decision after Iverson's preliminary hearing, scheduled for July 29.

This was probably a good idea considering all of the press that the case has been receiving locally.]