Random Wednesday: Defending the Twinkie

Althouse talks about Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito's comments during a particular case today. Here's the quote: "I don't want a 'competent' lawyer. I want a lawyer to get me off. I want a lawyer to invent the Twinkie defense. I want to win."
Huh? Who brought Twinkies into the courtroom? Apparently, the "Twinkie Defense" came from the Harvey Milk murder case in SF, where the murderer got a lesser sentence -- one of the arguments was that he was addicted to junk food.

So, when people talk about a "Twinkie Defense", they are usually talking about a seemingly illogical defense that actually works. Or maybe they are talking about self-defense.