Scooter Jury Down To 11, Mistrial Avoided ... For Now
The mean old judge kicked one of the Libby jurors out of the trial this morning, because the Evil Juror somehow let her Camp X-Ray sensory deprivation full-head mask slip off for a moment and was immediately bombarded by Scooter news.
Because the jury has been deliberating for a whole two-and-a-half days, everybody decided to not bring in an alternate juror -- there are two alternates, just wasting away their lives -- and proceed with the 11, because they're just making this shit up as they go along. The question is, Who got kicked off the team? We've got the info, after the jump.
The jury system is, of course, an elaborate scheme to keep us from registering to vote. Those Americans foolish enough to register and too dumb to get out of jury duty are called "jurors," and they sit in drab civic buildings for months at a time while lawyers lie to them. When a senior White House official is on trial, it is basically a supernova of lies.
The poor jurors are mentally frail to start with, but by the end most are hollow shells who will live out their days jabbering to nobody in particular about motions and Nigeria and Tim Russert.
Anyway, Scooter-Trial-Blogger David Shuster noted (in an e-mail to Fire Dog Lake, another Scooter Blogger) a grumpy oddball old lady on the jury who refused to play along with a totally lame elementary-school-esque Valentine's Day stunt:
When the jurors came in 45 minutes ago for the final evidence presented in this case, 13 of the 14 jurors (12 jurors and 2 alternates) were wearing bright red t-shirts with a large white heart on the front. The shirts appeared to be new... The one juror not wearing a red shirt was an elderly woman who works as an art curator. A man on the jury, who is a retired school teacher originally from north carolina, then read a statement to the court. The man said the jury wanted to "thank the clerks, marshals, and judge for all of the accommodations made" for the jury during this trial. The juror then said the entire jury understands their responsibilities in this case and that their "unanimity may now go no further." "But on behalf of the jury," said this man, "we want to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's day."
To say this moment was awkward would be an understatement. All of the attorneys, and the judge, appeared on the edge of their seats. At the conclusion of the juror's statement, the attorneys nervously and politely clapped...and the judge sheepishly thanked the panel for being "a very attentive jury." Then, the judge moved on...
What does it mean that one juror, who seemed particularly cantankerous during jury selection, refused to go along with the rest and wear the bright red t-shirt? Could it be that she is the only one on the panel with any sartorial taste? Or does it mean something more serious for jury deliberations next week? The issue was noted by attorneys on both sides of the case outside in the hallway.
And guess who got kicked off the island? Cranky McElderly!
The woman who was dismissed from the jury is an art history expert and scholar who formerly served as a curator of prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She was also the only juror who did not wear a red T-shirt as part of the jury's Valentine's Day greeting to the court.
An Interesting Side Note [firedoglake]