The public is getting mixed signals on last week's mistrial of Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry on drug and perjury charges. Barry returned to work acting as if he were an underdog who had successfully fought off trumped up charges fueled by crazed media.
Some of his associates have alleged that Barry has been "exonerated" by the actions of the jury, and the mayor himself is considering a run for the City Council as an Independent, even though he already announced in June that he would not seek re-election to the mayor's office in the fall.Exonerated he was not. It should not be overlooked that Barry was convicted of one misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine, and the jury was deadlocked on 12 other drug counts, including three felony perjury counts. U.S. Attorney Jay B. Stephens will decide by Sept. 17 whether to retry the unresolved drug possession and perjury charges.
Whether a retrial occurs or not, it should not be forgotten that Barry was caught in the act, and a seamy videotape now serves as the smoking gun. In it, Barry was seen doing drugs and otherwise cavorting with a girlfriend, who was acting in collusion with authorities in conducting a "sting."
It appears that members of the jury were divided over whether the so-called sting was really "entrapment," meaning that the mayor was set up and thus treated unfairly.
Be that as it may, Marion Barry was on camera not only for a jury but for everyone in America who watched the evening news. And the sight was not a pretty one. It clearly depicted Barry as a leader of exceptionally low morality, who not only took drugs and sought sexual relations with a woman other than his wife, but angrily responded in a low, vulgar manner when he realized he was caught in the act.
In presiding over a city that serves as our nation's capital, Barry is a disgrace. In attacking the evils of drugs before young audiences and in a public advertising campaign, he is guilty of rank hypocrisy. Barry is clearly unfit for public office.