Did anybody expect a Sleepers type defense?
Laura Linney came damn close to doing that in her zeal to prove motive. She even said that if it was her she would kill the Archbisop just that same way. Wow! That was dumb.
Basically the idea is to portray the murder victim as so vile and disgusting a character the jury would not hold it against the defendant for killing him and as a result deliver a nonguilty verdict or at least a hung jury.
For those who have not seen Sleepers watch it. It's a little more complex than I'm stating it and Brad Pitt's character is one of the abused boys and he is the prosecuting attorney.
As this story unfolded I immediately thought of that.