The inefficiencies of this court/judge are astounding!
I'm pretty sure any of us on here could consult with the judge for 10 minutes each trail day and help her with this stuff. Judging is her gig. Being efficient is not her strong suit.
I'll paste the below from a site with people in the legal/court area.I will later post about Leading Questions and how bad that is to have done by ALV. It includes this tid-bit:
Leading questions are questions that are framed in a way that evokes a specific response from the individual being questioned. Issues about such questions can come up in journalistic interviews, court rooms, and surveys, and in some cases,
the use of such questions is viewed as a breach of ethics and professionalism.
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The behaviors allowed in the spectator seats confuse me. The very few times I was in a gallery watching a trial, there were rules in place. No distractive behaviors, no food, no drink, no laughter. I am curious to see the jurors thoughts on those things after trial, if they even discuss anything.
IMO: On Monday the judge should include in her "daily admonitions" that any outburst from the gallery will result in removal from and revocation of access to the courtroom... without consequences the "Alyce LaViolette Trio" will continue their antics...
I have never seen anything quite like it, either. I have been observing trials since I was young, and the atmosphere in the courtroom is usually respectful and controlled. Most judges won't tolerate any less. What really surprises me is how often the MIT spec is allowed to go and sit with Jodi, every time there is a sidebar. She sits, and they whisper and laugh and giggle together like they are besties in Jr. High! Usually, for security purposes, no one but the attorneys are allowed to get near the defendant. This judge just seems to have let all common sense and control fly out the window, and I don't get why.
Yes! I could not agree with you more. I go to court pretty much every day for my job. I also work for 2 judges. We were talking about this very issue on Friday at lunch. I was describing the behavior of the gallery, attorneys, witnesses etc. and I even played the ALV "Are you angry at me Mr. Martinez" bit. They were appalled.
Our courtrooms here do not allow ANY FOOD or drink (besides water bottles) in the court. There is no gum chewing, no using your cell phones, no reading newspapers. That kind of thing. In my opinion, this judge has no respect from anyone in her courtroom and she doesn't demand it. If an outburst of laughing happened here, anyone who was caught laughing would have been thrown out. The Mitigation Specialist would have been sanctioned and probably her supervisors as well.
When ALV was becoming combative, the judge should have looked at her and said, "I'm going to ask you one more time to answer the questions Yes or No or you will be held in contempt."
This stopping court for people being "sick" is a joke too. They needed a hard nosed Judge to handle this case. Maybe after/if JM speaks to the Judge about the ALV/Sam thing, she will realize things are out of control and she better get her courtroom on track fast.
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32:42 Juan starts cross in his normal tone of voice. Firm but not raised.
AL is deliberately evasive and being obtuse and combative
38:47 Yes or no! ...
AL pulls her 'are you angry at me'
Her PLANTS not only laugh but make it very loud acting up.
(at this point they should have been told to exit the court room)