Saturday, November 14, 2009

An opposite word?

There has been a murder case in the Chicago area where a prosecutor got up in court, during his closing argument, and arrogantly claimed, " "We got it right! We got it right, Brian! You raped and killed Jeanine Nicarico!" What a jerk. The fact is that more than 20 years ago he prosecuted 2 other men, put them on death row, hiding evidence to do so. It took many good people, including the journalism school at Northwestern University, to put the puzzle together and finally free the wrongly accused men. The prosecutor, Joe Birkett, wouldn't even believe DNA evidence! Now, that the real murderer and rapist has come forward, admitted his guilt, and this is corroborated by DNA evidence and other facts (including 2 witnesses), Mr. Birkett unbelievably stands up in court and takes the credit.

As I thought about all of this, I realized that I am taking misery in his joy. Is there a word that means the opposite of epicaricacy or Schadenfreude?

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