[Imc] Trial coverage...bad news

[Mike Lehman]

Hi Sehvilla,
I left out a bit of detail from my report of yesterday afternoon. There
was a couple from Chicago sitting in front by the jury; I think he has
been posting some of the messages and photos on the Decatur stuff on the
Chicago IMC site. They did some whispering back and forth yesterday and
the judge ordered them to move over to the other side of the courtroom
during one break, where he exiled y'all today. He said then it was
because of complaints from the jury. So I think he is a little testy
about this already. He is trying to avoid a mistrial, I'm sure.

As for you not being able to sit there because you were protesters, as
long as you were silent, I think that is going a little too far. The
only thing you can do is file a complaint or, more likely file a suit,
in order to do anything about this. Folks should be advised that decorum
in the courtroom is a big issue.

I was not asked to move or otherwise hassled, but maybe I have a
preceived status as a journalist. Of course, we know that is a pretty
thin line;>)

I'm not sure what to advise others other than, if this happens again to
anyone, to specifically request that you be allowed to move over to view
the videos, as necessary. It might not be allowed, but you won't get
thrown out that way.

No doubt, he felt justified in kicking you out when you directly
disobeyed his order. Judges are basically god in their own courtrooms.
Remember, they bound a guy to a chair and gagged him durimg the Chicago
7 Trial in the 60s, so that proper decorum could be preserved in the
eyes of the judge. Remember, somethings have really not changed all that
much in the power stucture in this country.
Yet.
Looking forward to the notes you do have.
Mike Lehman

Sehvilla wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> This morning at the trial, Laura Anderson and I were thrown out of the
> Courthouse by Judge Baker. It was because of where we were sitting:  When
> we first came into the courtroom, we sat
> down on the south side of the courtroom behind the plaintiffs and their
> laywers. The lawyers told us that we should probably move over to the
> North side so that we could see the videos that would be part of their
> testimony. So we moved over there. Then when the judge came in, he told us
> that if we were "associated with the group of demonstrators" we had to
> move to the other side, so that we couldn't whisper things to the jury (as
> if).
> An hour or so later, the plaintiff's lawyers presented the first segment
> of video. Laura and I went over to the other side of the courtroom, well
> away from the jury, and watched. I don't think the judge noticed us. Then
> about 15 minutes later, another video was shown to the courtroom, and
> Laura and I walked over to the other side again to watch it. Something was
> wrong with the tape and the lights had to be turned back on. The judge saw
> me and Laura, scolded us for being on that side of the room, told us we
> had to leave and were not allowed to come back, and had
> security guards escort us out of the courtroom.
>    Yeah justice.
>  I am angry and upset that Laura and I were thrown out. I'm sorry I can't
> go back. I still can't believe it. :(
> I think that other people from our group are allowed to go still. I would
> like it if we had a presence in the courtroom tomorrow.
> sehvilla
> 
> ps. I'll send my notes about the stuff that happened for about the two
> hours that we were there soon.