He Speaks Not, Yet He Says Everything; What of That: Text, Context, and Pretext in State v. Jeffrey Dahmer
![handle is hein.journals/denlr87 and id is 103 raw text is: HE SPEAKS NOT, YET HE SAYS EVERYTHING; WHAT OF
THAT?: TEXT, CONTEXT, AND PRETEXT IN STATE V.
JEFFREY DAHMER
GREGORY J. O'MEARA, S.J.t
[Dahmer] drill[ed] holes in his living victims' heads, pour[ed] in
chemicals to zombify them, ha[d] sex with the corpses' viscera,
and ke[pt] some body parts in his refrigerator, occasionally eating
them.1
Of course, in some respects, Abraham does speak. He says a lot. But
even if he says everything, he need only keep silent on one single
thing for it to be concluded that he hasn't spoken.2
She speaks, yet she says nothing; what of that?3
INTRODUCTION
In State of Wisconsin v. Dahmer,4 the defense attempted to lead the
jury through a series of inferences that would have them conclude the
defendant was insane at the time he committed each of the fifteen mur-
ders charged by the State of Wisconsin. They portrayed a client who
cooperated fully with the authorities and who was too disturbed to be
responsible for his actions. To make this approach work, they needed
narrative distance between Dahmer and the jury so he would not be inter-
rogated about his prior inconsistent statements and meticulous planning
of the killings. This distance was created by Dahmer's silence in the
courtroom. The jury heard his words only through others' voices.
Though silence had worked as Dahmer's strategy outside the courtroom,
the weight of the evidence undermined that approach at trial. His actions
t Assistant Professor, Marquette University Law School. B.A., Notre Dame; J.D., Wiscon-
sin; L.L.M., New York University. When I was an Assistant District Attorney for Milwaukee Coun-
ty, I was part of the prosecution team in State v. Dahmer. Lead counsel for the prosecution was then
Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, assisted by both Assistant District Attor-
ney Carol L. White and me. The defense was headed by Mr. Gerald Boyle, assisted by Ms. Wendy
Patrikus and Ms. Ellen Ryan. The current District Attorney of Milwaukee County, John Chisolm,
graciously gave me access to the office's file in the Dahmer case. I am grateful to him and his assis-
tant, Ms. Sheila Stanelle, for their generosity in the preparation of this article. I am grateful also to
Professors Edward M. Gaffney, Bruce Berner, Scott Moss, Philip Chmielewski, S.J., Daniel Blinka,
and Paul Secunda for their help on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks also to Mr. Bryan Bayer and
Mr. Michael Moeschberger for their research assistance.
I. Stephen M. Glynn, If Dahmer's Not Crazy, Who Is?, NAT'L L.J., Mar. 9, 1992, at 13.
2. JACQUES DERRIDA, THE GIFT OF DEATH AND LITERATURE IN SECRET 60 (David Wills
trans., Univ. of Chi. Press 2d ed. 2008) (1999).
3. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, ROMEO AND JULIET act 2, sc. 2.
4. No. 1991CF912542 (Milwaukee County Cir. Ct. filed July 25, 1991).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/denlr87&div=7&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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He Speaks Not, Yet He Says Everything; What of That: Text, Context, and Pretext in State v. Jeffrey Dahmer
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