Parker Spitzer clueless on Kevin Cooper

0

CNN's Parker Spitzer ran a segment Tuesday on Kevin Cooper, the man sentenced to death for the 1983 murders of Chino Hills chiropractors Doug and Peggy Ryen, their ten-year-old daughter Jessica and 11-year-old house guest Christopher Hughes.

Kathleen Parker actually said, "When you look at the facts in this case, nearly everything points toward Cooper's innocence."

Really? DNA tests placed Cooper at the Ryen home and in the Ryen's car, even though Cooper testified that he had never been in either. Before DNA testing, a jury found Cooper guilty based largely on physical evidence that tied him to the crime. The California Supreme Court upheld the conviction, and a majority of the uber-liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Cooper's bogus grounds for appeal -- because nearly everything pointed toward his innocence? Can Parker really believe that?

As I've noted before, the whackier and more convoluted Cooper's tall tale becomes, the more gullible professionals flock to his corner. Part II of the Cooper phenom: The further away journalists are from Chino Hills, the easier it is for them to ignore mountains of evidence.

Kevin Cooper victim Christopher Hughes' mother Mary Ann

AP, Damian Dovarganes

Kevin Cooper victim Christopher Hughes' mother Mary Ann

For more on the facts of the case, look here, here, here and here.

I talked to Mary Ann Hughes, mother of Christopher Hughes after the Cooper PR-campaign blitz began, but before the CNN puff piece aired. Hughes told me, "I try not to let this stuff get me too upset, especially over the holidays. My son would have been 39 this Saturday."

Posted By: Debra J. Saunders (Email, Twitter) | December 15 2010 at 11:07 AM

Listed Under: Hell