a view from the inside: observations from our own court observers #6

[galvino]

Thanks KCL!

 

[MeeBee]

Did any of you interpret CEO's rapid gum chewing as irritation with Juan? JC...

Also, does HW worry any of you? Also JC. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dmacky]

Didn't he deny he was supplying anything for the arias family? However, he didn't deny $ for the photo rights did he? I feel that dr. Phil is just one more person that swoops in for personal gain whenever he can.:twocents:

He no doubt has had a lot of backlash over this, so he is changing his story. MOO I still believe it though. He has his nosey arse in everything. Ratings ratings ~

 

[katiecoolady]

Thanks again to KCL and PASA for sharing your observations. I always look forward to reading your reactions as well as those of the jurors.

Question: Have you noticed any difference in the "feel" of the courtroom from the beginning until now? Is it more tense or less tense since, let's say, Juror 5 left or since the family was told they could not wear their ribbons?

I know sometimes it's difficult to gauge those things, but I was just wondering if y'all have noticed anything. Thanks in advance!

I definitely have noticed a difference. The jury seemed to me to snap back in a serious mode after 5 was dismissed. I'd say generally it's more tense. People are more self conscious. I know we all are. We feel like we're in a fish bowl with the defense looking for everything and anything to cry foul about.

I've said they have very little inside the courtroom to work with as Judge S is so lenient in their direction so they are looking outside for things like Juan on the courthouse steps, etc. So we've kind of circled the wagons. Feeling very protective especially of KatieDDJ.

 

[atthelake]

She bashed Travis and then approached his sister. Isnt that abuse?

See legal thread here, not on the face of it per our wonderful in house lawyer AZlawyer. On my nook so cannot do link, sorry. And for newbiies, you do know how to get to the main thread which shows all of them on this case not just this one?

 

[PASA]

Pasa thx. ;-) when you say manicuring abt Ponytail, is she literally manicuring or are you referring to her manicuring in general, touching hair, wiping lint from shirt, playing with shoes.. just curious?

She bites her nails, picks at her cuticles and looks at them a lot. I've gotten lazy and type manicuring for all of the above. LOL!

She does twist the hang-down side bangs, but not as much as the fingernails. I haven't seen her do any other kind of "grooming" in the jury box.

If I had to guess I'd say she is bored and fidgeting. MOO

 

[MeeBee]

She bites her nails, picks at her cuticles and looks at them a lot. I've gotten lazy and type manicuring for all of the above. LOL!

She does twist the hang-down side bangs, but not as much as the fingernails. I haven't seen her do any other kind of "grooming" in the jury box.

If I had to guess I'd say she is bored and fidgeting. MOO

It worries me that she is also bored when Juan is up though. Sounds hard to read

 

[Liebchenmutti]

KCL:

Do you anticipate there to be a record made in court of AVL breaking the rules by approaching and commenting to a victim family member?

Also--do you think that the judge will tell JW that she doesn't want ALV to request her own schedule for breaks?

 

[jayarohh]

It's 4:30 and Juan's got ALV in knots. He is on fire, getting justice for Travis after having to hear him be trashed for days and days.

ALV is toast.

*respectfully snipped*

Out of every single post on this ever-lasting website which details an infinite amount of trials...

What you wrote above was absolutely poetic.

I got goose bumps when I read that.

Thank you.

 

[atthelake]

OK, sorry...new here lease: forgive any assumptions on my part.

:wagon: I often should ask for forgiveness, but ...hang in there as we help each other! No worries! And even if someone "takes a vacay" for a day.(or five like me during FCA trial)... do not worry and get right back in the saddle and rejoin us! :seeya:

 

[PASA]

Don't want to go o/t so this is for clarification about the Dr Phil story.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20688951,00.html

Thank you for that link. Where there's smoke there's fire I say. I do see the mom taking notes.
(this will keep us on topic)
One day I sat behind her after lunch break and I saw a bag under her seat with 2 or 3 spiral bound notebooks inside. It was either Walgreen's or CVS.
My guess is/was she bought them over lunch hour.


We tend to go OT a little bit over the weekends. No trial to report on.

I finally got my notes posted so no more observations until the next person goes to court and shares.

 

[Liebchenmutti]

Thank You PASA & KCL!!!!​

I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have both of your insights and eyeballs on this trial.

It makes it easier to take when things happening around the trial get so negative and depressing.

Thanks also for advocating for Travis' family. I can't imagine the pain they are going through right now.

 

[joypath]

The worst case she's ever seen? I cannot see how she lost her mind far enough to say that. Was she never called out to the E.R. to be with a victim so battered and swollen you can't recognize them? Did she never have the police bring in a 15 year old who gave birth 3 days prior but was now being forced to have sex with her abuser again so the neighbors kept calling? Did she never help a man get a TRO after he'd had boiling water poured on his head, and when he ran from the house the abuser ran him down with a car?

I could go on for days with the parade of horrors that I keep seeing in my memory now. I am shaking! I really am! Worst case?!!! :what:

B/UBM.....oh, heck YES, I agree with Donnareit to the infinite degree that ALV has lost "it" to make such a statement!!!!!! and I could join Donnareit in telling the nightmare of horrors that are still happening but for me they arrive on my autopsy table, thus making them a worst case scenario of those TRUE DV victims, men and women caught in a web of horror, pain, anguish and confusion just as TRAVIS was!:furious::furious:

BTW::twocents::twocents: as an individual who HAS testified in more than a few trials, contact (including EYE contact, IMHO) with ANY involved parties should NEVER be made while within the courtroom! (exception would be when providing CPR but THAT only happened ONCE!):blushing:

 

[PASA]

No doubt she is quite qualified and attentive. She does seem to nod when Jaun is making a point at sidebar and sort of irritated with JW, but not being in the courtroom it is so hard to truly get a take on any of it. I had just read that JW has the same giggly demeanor at sidebar and sometimes the Judge has a moment with her. Which by the by, aside from her being an irritating troll like person is one of the things that p**** s me off the most about JW like she auditioning for a cheerleader position in HS. " I keep waiting for her to slap her knees and screach " READY OKAY!!!" BLECHHHHHH

I can see Cheri Oteri playing the part of JW in the movie. I'm reminded of that cheerleader skit she and Will Farrell did on SNL.

Yes, that giggly stuff has no place in the courtroom. It is very off putting and high pitched in person. My husband calls her Mini as in mouse.

When at trial I don't feel the court is running amok. It seems orderly and when something isn't right the judge addresses it.
I take her seriously and feel like it is her courtroom. She said "please refrain from laughing in the courtroom" and I know she meant it.

I'd rather have her than some steamroller of a judge who is ill tempered.

I've seen a stern look on her face, shaking her head in a "no" motion while talking to JW, then she turns to JM and smiles and her head is shaking in the yes motion as if she is agreeing with him. I've seen it a few times.

As I said, it's my personal take on her and some may not agree, that's ok too.

 

[PASA]

Thanks again to KCL and PASA for sharing your observations. I always look forward to reading your reactions as well as those of the jurors.

Question: Have you noticed any difference in the "feel" of the courtroom from the beginning until now? Is it more tense or less tense since, let's say, Juror 5 left or since the family was told they could not wear their ribbons?

I know sometimes it's difficult to gauge those things, but I was just wondering if y'all have noticed anything. Thanks in advance!

Thank you!

I don't think it's more tense in terms of the trial and testimony. I think the jury is tired of the defense (but that's just an opinion of mine) and their bag of tricks.

The public is more tense and demanding. Especially some of the out of towners. They expect special treatment. One lady was mad because her seat wasn't saved after lunch. She p*ssed and moaned from noon til 1:30, loudly and foul language I might add. I was about ready to tell her to STFU.
I was talking to a regular the other day and she said she was just as bad in the morning. Oh yes, she knew who she was right off the bat.
Then another brings in her drink, puts it under her chair, knocks it over and ice all over the carpet. She doesn't pick it up... just leaves it. It is irritating to see such disrespect. It is exactly the reason we're not allowed to bring drinks to court.
The bailiff told us she has to clean up after people because they won't pick up after themselves... I was disgusted. These are adults not toddlers.

I feel the defense knows this case is going down the gurgler, and so they are feeling the tension of losing. Pulling more stunts and mistrial motions.

Other than that, I don't things are much different.

As for since juror 5 is gone. It looked weird seeing the empty seat. And while court was in session it wasn't any different. After it was because media was lined up outside the courtroom waiting and running down the street with cameras when they thought she had been spotted.

 

[MeeBee]

I can see Cheri Oteri playing the part of JW in the movie. I'm reminded of that cheerleader skit she and Will Farrell did on SNL.

Yes, that giggly stuff has no place in the courtroom. It is very off putting and high pitched in person. My husband calls her Mini as in mouse.

When at trial I don't feel the court is running amok. It seems orderly and when something isn't right the judge addresses it.
I take her seriously and feel like it is her courtroom. She said "please refrain from laughing in the courtroom" and I know she meant it.

I'd rather have her than some steamroller of a judge who is ill tempered.

I've seen a stern look on her face, shaking her head in a "no" motion while talking to JW, then she turns to JM and smiles and her head is shaking in the yes motion as if she is agreeing with him. I've seen it a few times.

As I said, it's my personal take on her and some may not agree, that's ok too.

It really bothers me that the THs, with all their Juan bashing, has not commented at all on the DT's unprofessionalism. JW's unprofessionalism these last couple weeks has been palpable. I am not a lawyer and have not watched many trials, but the way she behaves is amazing to me. I have never seen anything like it. And they are clearly instructing their witnesses to be combative with Juan, even their experts! What a mistake that is! Why aren't they being criticized for this? HLN seems to dislike Juan so much that nothing else bothers them.

Someone mentioned the Scott Falater case on the other thread, which Martinez prosecuted, so I decided to learn more and read about. Seems all this is nothing new for Martinez. From this article:

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1999-07-01/news/wake-up-call/


"And she can't come in and testify, can she?" Martinez snapped at him.
Despite his tendency to go overboard with several defense witnesses in this trial--for example, he verbally attacked a clergyman who testified on Falater's behalf for wearing a clerical collar to trial--Martinez was sound technically, fast on his feet and, with inexplicable exceptions, on his game.


...Martinez is almost a foot shorter than Kimerer, and still looks like the distance runner he used to be in the high desert of rural Victorville, California. His high-pitched voice grates at times, and he has a short fuse with adverse witnesses. But he does seem to earn the grudging respect of juries."


It was interesting reading how Martinez was able to get a seemingly unlikely first degree conviction. He was been the same way he is now since probably the beginning and rarely loses. It is becoming comical now watching these less experienced attorneys night in and night out trying to tell him what to do. I know they are being forced to say that for ratings (though Eiglarsh seems genuine in his criticisms), but still. Let the man do his thing.

 

[PASA]

Did any of you interpret CEO's rapid gum chewing as irritation with Juan? JC...

Also, does HW worry any of you? Also JC. Thanks in advance.

No, I noticed it before Juan was up. I think it's more to do with ALV and her man-bashing and trashing of the victim. I could be wrong, but that is my take on it.

HW doesn't bother me much. She seems quiet and attentive. Who is JC? I can't figure that one out, sorry.

 

[Tsunvirtual]

Can you imagine if DeMarte walked off the stand and walked right over to JA's Mother and leaned into her and started speaking into her face...:what:

Nurmi would be calling for a mistrial before the lunchbreak.

Grabbed these pics. Nurmi hug. Friends of ALV and Hugs with friends of ALV

 

[PASA]

See legal thread here, not on the face of it per our wonderful in house lawyer AZlawyer. On my nook so cannot do link, sorry. And for newbiies, you do know how to get to the main thread which shows all of them on this case not just this one?

AZ Lawyer rocks. She is a sweetheart in person, just love her.

 

[MeeBee]

No, I noticed it before Juan was up. I think it's more to do with ALV and her man-bashing and trashing of the victim. I could be wrong, but that is my take on it.

HW doesn't bother me much. She seems quiet and attentive. Who is JC? I can't figure that one out, sorry.

Yeah, I went back and read KCL's notes and noticed he was doing that the whole time and got. He seemed more impatient with ALV than anything else. I think by now the jury realizes these experts are just hired guns when they think back to RS, especially. Thanks for answering.

Sorry, JC was just curious. I get a little carried away with the abbreviations sometimes.