Chris Brown's Attorney Focusing on LAPD

In what may be viewed as a brilliant piece of legal misdirection, Chris Brown's attorney is going to draw an intense focus upon the leak of the Rihanna photo that has now been seen numerous times around the world. Someone from within the LAPD apparently leaked that photograph and it ended up in the possession of Hollywood gossip site TMZ. In fact, the photo is still available for viewing on the TMZ web site.

Brown's attorney, Mark Geragos, is arguing in his motion that the leak of that photo has poisoned the jury pool and that it alone should be grounds for dismissal of the case against Brown. Ultimately, in the opinion of Geragos, it will be impossible for Brown to receive a fair trial now that the picture has been made public.

Of course, it's very likely that the same photo would have been used as evidence during a trial proceeding, so it's somewhat difficult to claim that the release of the picture would in some way taint jury members to the upcoming proceedings. Certainly, the photo carries an impact that will have to be overcome by Brown's legal team, but the photo is authentic and only presents factual information about the case.

It's unlikely that Geragos will be able to gain any legal traction with the motion itself, but what he will accomplish is possibly gaining access to the personnel records of the LAPD. That would allow him to effectively put the department on trial for the leaking of the photo and he could also expand that argument to say that the investigation itself was botched, as evidenced by the department's inability to maintain the integrity of its case evidence.