[gumby]

I uprooted this not because I think any of us should take purist interest in the tragic events of someone else's life. The article is interesting on many levels.

This how an abuser works, subtly and forcefully both. The dialogue is also bizarre in that it focuses on technical details as a vehicle (and would be almost incomprehensible 10 years ago.

It shows how the justice system works at the retail ("end user") level, when most discussion of justice issues happens at a macro level.

And it shows how ubiquitous cameras/recording devices change not just police and politicians, not just big airlines, but the justice in proples' lives. Ubiquitous surveillance cuts both ways.

(Plus there's the weirdness of the court being in "fabled Palo Alto" -- wtf?)

[jpatokal]

The stereotypical wife beater is an unemployed alcoholic white man who wears a ketchup-stained wifebeater (hence the nickname) and lives a trailer park. They're not loaded senior execs/CEOs running large companies in Palo Alto, which is one of the richest cities in the entire US.

And of course, if someone conforming to the stereotype were to find themselves in court facing identical charges, they would not be walking away with a slap on the wrist...