COURTROOM OBSERVATION:
A friend came to visit me recently who had been traveling and had a layover in Phoenix on each end of the trip. He remembered my interest/obsession in the Arias trial so he thought about dropping in one day if there was seating. He happened to be there when Willmott was questioning Geffner and was fortunate to get a seat. Some of his observations:
1. Unbelievable poise and dignity from the Alexander family, even during what he called the most atrocious and demoralizing testimony
2. Willmott’s voice was incredibly distracting with the whines, the “junior high school snobby girl voice”, inappropriate laughing and giggling while questioning.
(My friend is a college professor who speaks very well himself and as a former colleague I can attest to his popularity and excellent teaching style. His work in the legal field as a part of the commissions overseeing teacher standards and practices has given him courtroom experience as well.)
3. The “overtly indulgent” attitudes of the defense attorneys with repetitious and insistent interruptions, the “arrogance of entitlement” by assuming before asking/demanding a bench approach and the incredibly leniency the judge allowed them to do this.
4. Realizing this was resentencing in mitigation, he was still shocked at the number and extensively detailed accusations and assumptions made about Travis Alexander and done so without corroboration.
5. He wasn’t sure at first Nurmi’s role except as teammate to the shrill and demanding Willmott during bench approaches. He said Nurmi was so glued to his phone he was reminded of his teenage nieces who would forego listening to conversations, listening during their favorite musicians’ concerts in favor of checking social media constantly. Nurmi would read, scroll, make weird gestures, look around at the gallery, write something down, continue scrolling, totally glued! He thought at first he was the media spokesperson for the defense team whose job it was to keep up on media interpretation and reporting via tweets!! Seriously!
6. He counted Geffner replying “35 years of experience” more than a dozen times before he quit counting. He said it was the only “fact” he could decipher in Geffner’s very longwinded conversational toned answers directed to a jury who looked like they could use a stiff drink!
7. The “fancy pancy lady” (later told was MDLR) was quite concerned with her telephone as well, so much so she didn’t respond to several gestures from Nurmi to get her attention for something. He thought her physical proximity and general attention to Arias was strangely “suggestive” and was surprised how much physical touch between the two was allowed.
8. He found it very odd and alarming to see so little presence from jail officials. The one guard was not “at attention” in a physical way that suggested he could jump up and intervene should it be necessary. The environment was more like what he would expect to see in a divorce hearing than a capital murder case.
9. After an hour listening to Geffner display and explain his “colored sex chart like a 5th grader at the science fair”, he saw juror’s postures gradually slumping down farther into their chairs! He described the boredom factor as easily a 10 out of 10, and the believability factor in the negative numbers. As he told me, it was like to Geffner, “words mean whatever I want them to mean”, and “Having 35 years experience I know the motivations and meaning behind every written word, and I have the authority given 35 years experience to take words out of context, combine conversations, label conversations as being sexual if I believe it makes the victim look bad.” Again, he had to remind himself about the difference between guilt and mitigation phase, because he was alarmed how these suppositions could be made without contest.
10. He had a few chances to actually see Arias from the side. He said it was ridiculously dramatic how she stood in rapt and serious attention with posture and glasses as the jury entered and left, staring them down until they were out the door, then immediately went into smiling “princess mode” who immediately was attended to by her handmaiden MDLR.
10. There were a lot more observations and interpretations, but one last one that stood out and may be viewed controversial by folks, was the “unprofessional, undisciplined and flippant actions and attitudes” from several court watchers that appeared to know each other well. His experience and expectations of anyone attending court is to respect the court at all times, not come joking and rumbling out of the courthouse laughing and teasing each other as though they had just left a party. I thought that was a bit harsh, but he said it wasn’t everyone, not at all. But the few that seemed to be a “clique” were so goofy acting and almost playful leaving the courthouse even as family members were exiting, counsel members, even jurors and media who were not there for the entertainment as the specific group he was referring to.
I have pages of notes he took and pages I took from what he told me and will gladly share if anyone is interested. He knows much less about the details and history of this case, but is familiar enough to know what Arias is, what she did, how it was done and the defense spin. Anyway, I find his observations interesting.
. Thinking of you....
