Great Article on the Scooter Libby Trial
The day began like any Washington, DC commuter's day: on the Metro. Then I got to the courthouse, and suddenly, it was no longer an ordinary day.
I watched opening statements from a seat between my incredible co-blogger Christy Hardin Smith and the vivacious (who knew?) Nina Totenberg of NPR. Her eyes always dance happily, even in repose. I lent her a pen; we whispered furtive courtroom quips. I was charmed.
Marcy Wheeler, the eponymous emptywheel who has been liveblogging the trial for the last week, is amazing. She types so fast! If you want to get up to speed on this case, you really need to buy her book. The day of opening statements, Christy and I were in the courtroom while Marcy, er, womaned the keyboard from the media room.
A trial is a complex thing. There's all the evidence, rules of evidence, legal stuff and rules for jury deliberations, but anyone who has interviewed jurors after a trial (and I have) knows that it's often the unpredictable elements, the very human elements, jurors hang on to and remember. As I watched opening statements this week from inside the courtroom, as preoccupied as I was with taking notes of the competing arguments, I was also most attentive to the ebb and flow of human energy, the little looks and asides, the personalities and the dynamics of people and perceptions, as best I could read them, drawing on my experience and my doctorate in psych. I want to share a little of what it was like to be in the courtroom, through my perceptions of how the players came across.
MORE>>
I watched opening statements from a seat between my incredible co-blogger Christy Hardin Smith and the vivacious (who knew?) Nina Totenberg of NPR. Her eyes always dance happily, even in repose. I lent her a pen; we whispered furtive courtroom quips. I was charmed.
Marcy Wheeler, the eponymous emptywheel who has been liveblogging the trial for the last week, is amazing. She types so fast! If you want to get up to speed on this case, you really need to buy her book. The day of opening statements, Christy and I were in the courtroom while Marcy, er, womaned the keyboard from the media room.
A trial is a complex thing. There's all the evidence, rules of evidence, legal stuff and rules for jury deliberations, but anyone who has interviewed jurors after a trial (and I have) knows that it's often the unpredictable elements, the very human elements, jurors hang on to and remember. As I watched opening statements this week from inside the courtroom, as preoccupied as I was with taking notes of the competing arguments, I was also most attentive to the ebb and flow of human energy, the little looks and asides, the personalities and the dynamics of people and perceptions, as best I could read them, drawing on my experience and my doctorate in psych. I want to share a little of what it was like to be in the courtroom, through my perceptions of how the players came across.
MORE>>
posted by Marti at 6:20 PM
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