I recently went to court to observe testimony at a high profile murder trial.
As I selected a pew in which to sit I found reserved seating for CNN – a piece of yellow tape with ‘CNN’ poorly written on it and stuck on one of the pews. I opted to sit directly next to it.
The trial began and I quickly learned there are a lot of criminal justice non-professionals who flood trials such as these to blog, tweet and share their wisdom/perspective. My two favorite were the elderly women seated in front of me. They had been ‘whispering’ loudly throughout the duration of the trial and it quickly became clear that they lived for this stuff. As they continued to chat, my interest in what was actually happening shifted to what they thought was happening in the court room.
One of the women did most of the talking and she had something to say about nearly everything.
As she observed the jurors she leaned toward her friend and said, “With as much as he is losing his hair I would shave it – that’s very in now.” The other woman nodded and she continued with her observations, “Based on this jury, you and I would never get picked.”
Her focus eventually returned to the actual testimonies. As one of the witnesses testified she was asked where she worked, “I don’t work. I retired after 32 years.” The older woman leaned over to her friend and said, “Did you hear that? She was fired. They didn’t even ask a follow-up question.” A hearing impairment and misinformed – I only wanted to see/hear the trial through her eyes/ears.
The witness continued to testify, this time focusing on the defendant’s demeanor one day after his wife’s funeral, “He seemed happy.” “Seemed happy?” the elderly woman in front of me said and then added, “Object. Inconclusive.”
Sadly, right soon after this comment her friend announced she was tired and decided to step outside and take a nap in the lobby. Thus, Monday Morning ‘Court’erbacking ceased….until after nap time.