Pity the poor immigrant

Tuesday's proceedings centered around the testimony of Dr. Joseph Cohen, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Diallo. Cohen's version of events was as close as the prosecution was going to get to an eyewitness account and the defense was duty-bound to jump all over it. Was the spine severed or perforated? And how could Diallo have turned while falling if he was essentially paralyzed?

"If a helicopter came in and lifted him up, that would explain it," a defense lawyer harangued. (The prosecution objected and Teresi sustained.)

Granted, the police attorneys are in a tough place, even though some members of the jury (eight white, four black) have law enforcement experience. They can blame the system (the cops were "trained not to wait for the glint of steel" one attorney said in his opening remarks); and the job (they feared for their lives); and try to put the killing in the best light possible. At one point Tuesday, for example, one of the defense lawyers seemed to be making a case for 9 mm full-metal-jacket bullets. Hollow-points would not have passed through Diallo's body with the same ease, he argued, making the full-metal-jacket the kinder, gentler ammo of the day.

And unseen by the folks at home is the victim's now-famous mother, Kadiatou Diallo. Her grace and composure, even in grief, has been a P.R. nightmare for the NYPD. While adopted (some would say appropriated) early on by Sharpton, her presence has had the opposite effect of his. While Sharpton traditionally provokes, Mrs. Diallo has called upon all concerned to do the right thing. As she reminded the audience on Court TV's "Pros and Cons" last week, her son "was full of hope and belief in America." (She did not attend court Tuesday, due to the nature of the evidence presented.)

For its part, Court TV's presentation of the trial has been straight-ahead and unfiltered, only occasionally using break-out graphics to remind viewers what they're watching and why. Anchor Fred Graham adds a benign and, well, courtly presence -- especially compared to "Pros and Cons'" Nancy Grace, who seems to be doing an impression of Ted Knight. While Grace may be concerned about the staid nature of the hearings, her attempts to sensationalize what is already a hot-tamale case are over the top. Her vocal inflections don't seem to have much to do with what she is saying ("Believe it or not, I have not made up my mind in this case"), and she squints and widens her eyes so often that she appears to need new contact lenses.

By contrast, former CNN hand Catherine Crier is almost a voice of reason and professionalism -- though her choice of an "exclusive" guest on her lunchtime program Tuesday provided one of the coverage's more bizarre moments. Bernhard Goetz may be an expert in shooting unarmed black men, but what "The Subway Vigilante" of 1984 has to do with this particular case is anybody's guess.

"I don't have a lot of faith in the legal system here," Goetz whined at one point, to which Crier countered, "It turned you loose."

The desire to sensationalize these solemn proceedings is perhaps a natural one, though Court TV would be wise to resist it. The testimony of a Mrs. Diallo says far more than any heated "debate" between legal experts could, just as the ability to observe the trial and its players enables us to draw our own conclusions.

Until the trial began last week, most New Yorkers had seen no more of the four cops than a few seconds of tape of them walking into police headquarters last year, looking rather lost. Sean Carroll (who probably yelled "Gun!" when Diallo pulled his wallet) seems the most stricken, staring intently at the schematic drawings of the victim, refusing to touch the weapon he fired.

On Tuesday, as Cohen held up Diallo's shoe to show the jury the placement of a particularly incriminating exit wound, the humility of the victim's life was brought home. It was a cheap brown sneaker, probably a knockoff. It had been suggested by the defense that the videos Diallo sold may have been pirated as well -- though that's hardly a shooting crime, even in Giuliani's New York.

Before the people rested Tuesday afternoon, making way for the officers' testimony Wednesday, we got to hear about Bernie Goetz's new cause. "Be Kind to Animals" was the message on the button he wore, and he bemoaned the fact that 25 million squirrels are killed in the United States each year for target practice.

Not African immigrant squirrels, I trust.

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