Bailey Speaks

"Any relationship between law and justice is coincidental and guilt or innocence has very little to do with the outcome of a trial," F. Lee Bailey said to an audience at Tufts University last night.

Bailey said the judicial system was a game of "Russian Roulette" citing his own brush with the law in a court case in Florida "as a harrowing experience."

Bailey and Bailyn

The Founding Fathers created a legal system to correct abuses of individual rights experienced under English rule and their primary concern was to insure due process under the law, Bailey said.

"I've never heard an innocent man convicted of a crime say it was a glorious trial and an appeal conducted with exquisite fairness," he added.

Bailey also commented on the misconception held by many Americans that false evidence is inadmissable in a court of law.

"If it is relevant then the most blatant lie is heard by the jury," he added.

Bailey also expressed concern over the tendency for intelligent people to avoid jury duty and "lawyers with weak cases to deliberately exclude anybody with an I.Q. over three figures."

No Brains

Bailey suggested reforms similar to those implemented in military and English judicial systems.

The civilian legal system should adopt the military procedure of a complete pretrial investigation because many of the innocent are weeded out before litigation, Bailey said.

The military courts have phased out the need for an unanimous jury decision. "Only two-third's majority is necessary for a conviction," he added.

Bailey praised the English system of training lawyers because it is a ten year program stressing first hand experience over the classroom.

American lawyers are churned out of law school with little specialized training in courtroom techniques, Bailey said. The United States has 300,000 lawyers for two million people, and many lawyers "create more problems than they solve to acquire business," Bailey added.

Bailey also said that steps must be taken in the near future to upgrade the court system.

The use of such technological advances as the polygraph would reduce the back load of court cases because innocence could be established early in the proceedings, Bailey said.

After the lecture, a student asked Bailey whether he was disturbed by the acquittal of clients whom he felt were guilty.

Bailey said that he was more upset about innocent defendants who were convicted because for every three guilty persons acquitted, 20 innocent people are convicted.

"Besides, those that are guilty and are acquitted are punished in other ways and I hope in part by my fee," he added.

Another student asked him for his opinion about Harry Reems' conviction for acting in a pornographic film.

"The Harry Reems conviction was a mistake because any arbitrary constraint on freedom of speech is the first indication of tyranny," Bailey said.

Bailey ended the evening by stressing the need for honesty in the law profession because lawyers "walk the edge of temptation."