TV
Judge sentences man to death
A
teenager has been sentenced to death on television by Judge
Vito Brambilla - whose new series, called eye4eye, premiered
on national networks in the US a month ago - prompting a mountain
of complaints from viewers and newspaper editors. Rupert Wallenberg,
a 16-year old from Chicago, appeared voluntarily on the programme
to settle a claim over a damaged mobile phone, but he quickly
earned the ire of the judge by talking back and was sentenced
to die.
The defendant was led from the courtroom in a state of shock
immediately after the sentence had been passed to be interviewed
outside the court with the smiling plaintiff. He said: 'I'm
a bit confused here...I mean he's just a small-claims TV-judge,
ain't he? No one ever mentioned nothing about executions and
stuff...I mean, is he allowed to do that just coz of a broken
phone? Oh, I got it now...ha-ha...this is one of them hidden
camera things, right? No? You bullshittin' right?' The cameras
turned away as he became hysterical.
The judge was unrepentant saying: 'He shoulda' read the small
print. If he'd gone to school instead of messing around on the
streets breaking girls' phones, then he woulda learned things
like how to read. But no, he chose to wise off and call me "a
punk-ass bitch" during ratings season and then he thinks
I'm just gonna sit there and look bad on front of my fans all
across the country? Well, he quickly learned or he soon will.'
Mr Wallenberg is scheduled to be executed live on Judge Vito's
new programme, called Street Justice, tomorrow evening during
primetime with a single shot to the head in the alleyway behind
the court, unless outraged protesters and politicians can stop
the broadcast first of course. No appeals can be made to any
governor as Mr Wallenberg signed away all his rights to fair
justice in the contract, which has been deemed to be legally
binding.
The decision is likely to be overturned by the Supreme Court,
but the case will not be heard for at least another two years
as there is a large backlog of cases already waiting to be heard.
April 2003