JimHow wrote: ↑Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:07 am
Greetings from the great north!
Well, it’s been insane.
First a once in a lifetime ice storm pushed back jury selection to later this week, now it got pushed into next week because I got COVID. Cold symptoms for three days now but they seem to be subsiding.
We just had an “animated” hour long conference call with the judge, trying to get the case continued, but he is forcing us to trial on Monday.
This case is blowing my mind.
I’m not in Kansas anymore.
Damn, rough go Jim. Glad your symptoms are mild though. Hopefully you heal up and then have it out of the way. Maybe better to get it out of the way now than catching in the middle of the trial or something.
JimHow wrote: ↑Sat Jan 01, 2022 5:06 pm
Raaarrr.
Happy New Year!
Greetings from the Arctic Circle.
Stay safe and warm out there my friends!
Yikes. We actually have an infestation of harbor seals (!) that have swum 80 miles up the river delta to the area beyond our house. Maybe they are fleeing the polar bears. Where is all the global warming we've been promised?!
Omicron seems almost unavoidable. Both of us got it over the holidays; visited a friend on the 21st; got a call on the 24th that she tested positive; self-tested positive on the 25th, and promptly changed plans to spend Christmas at home isolating. The good news is that symptoms were mild - mine were like a mild head cold. Maybe the silver lining is that we are creating more people with increased immunity in all this.
Sorry Jim. Doesn't the judge have some responsibility to ensure the safety of all participants? We're desperately trying to avoid the omicron. N95s when I have to go out for food. The whole thing sucks!
Not a lot of fun Jim. So far we've been lucky but lots of people around us have had it with mostly mild to moderate flu like symptoms. My concern are the reports of 5-60% who had covid develop some lingering seemingly unrelated symptoms....Long-Covid that seems more concerning and could be a worse problem for the masses going forward after the mild symptoms have long resolved. Wish you all the best up north and speedy recovery.
Second day of jury selection scheduled for today, we should be completed by today. Opening statements scheduled for 8:30am Alaska time, 12:30pm eastern time on Wednesday.
Jury selected, 12 plus 4 alternates.
10 women, 6 men, we don’t know yet who the alternates are. I feel like we have an intelligent and thoughtful jury.
The rules on viewing Alaska court cases by live stream..
Good Afternoon Everyone,
Jury selection is complete and the trial is scheduled to begin, tomorrow, January 12, 2022 at 8:30 am.
The trial will be live streamed through the Alaska Court System website.
Homepage
YouTube Hearings
Fairbanks
Superior Court Judges – Temple, Thomas I.
At the next screen, when the court is on record, there will be a link to click that will bring you into the courtroom. When the court takes a break or when there is evidence being presented, that in order to preserve the privacy and dignity of the alleged victim, will not be shared with the public you will need to refresh the page to get back into the courtroom.
Recording of court hearings is prohibited. This includes screenshots.
Thank you,
JoAnn Tolman
Administrative Assistant to Judge Temple
907-452-9315
Good to hear on jury, seems like a nice positive from a tough start. I can't believe for something that is live streamed they expect to prohibit recording or screenshots...
Didn't get a chance to watch much yesterday but tuned in for a bit. Is court in session every day? Schedule?
Not sure how much i'll be able to watch but I'd definitely like to tune in for what will likely be the most crucial days/witnesses etc. If thats something you'll be able to share with us beforehand at all. No worries at all if not.
Jim,
if you can't get the trial completed, then what?
Surely the prosecutor can't get a conviction on a murder trial in those circumstances?
Sorry to hear you have got the dreaded Covid but at least you seem to be coping well.
This is an unmitigated disaster Claudius.
Back in November both the prosecution and defense jointly moved to continue this trial. We warned the judge that this was going to happen.
The judge denied our request.
We put in an incredible amount of work to get dozens of witnesses lined up under subpoena, move a team of four lawyers into Alaska, printers, computers, airfares, hotel accommodations, tens of thousands of dollars.
Jurors lives upended.
We’ve been here two weeks and we’ve gotten through exactly half of one witness.
It seems like an almost certain mistrial is on the near horizon.
My client has been in custody for three years.
The case will be continued until who knows when.
He’ll remain in custody until this is resolved.
This country is in total and complete chaos.
Our constitution basically no longer exists.
We have become a third world state.
Boy, I hope you’re back on track tomorrow. Hard to see how if any of the jurors tests positive or develops symptoms. Did you say they’re in a different room from the judge, witnesses and lawyers that we see on the live stream? But exposed to each other for hours at a time indoors, and I doubt they all have well-fit N95s that they keep on all the time.
How the heck did they get exposed? I guess they’re not sequestered and were exposed outside the court? Would COVID exposure risk be a valid reason for sequestration? Maybe too late if anyone already has it. I suppose if the jurors knew that one side asked for sequestration, they might be biased against that side.
We are probably too technologically advanced and too rich to be called a third world state.
Maybe a banana republic?
A confederacy of dunces?
I shouldn’t joke. It’s a travesty.
We have 16 jurors spread out throughout the entire courtroom, David, outside the view of the camera.
When I give my opening and closing from the podium I'm talking to folks to my right, center, and most to my left, where the audience would normally sit.
The problem is that the court didn't give us the Covid protocols until the second day after the trial actually started.
There are different rules for jurors and participants who have been "exposed" (more than 15 minutes of contact within 6 feet) to someone with covid if they have not been vaccinated, partially vaccinated, fully vaccinated, and boostered.
Many of the jurors have children and that has been the issue so far.
You're darned tooting that neither side wants to be perceived as the "bad guy" in querying individual jurors about symptoms, exposure to family members, etc.
We thought about sequestration as well but it's likely too late at this point.
When we pick jurors, we make a bunch of inquiries about their availability for such a long trial of 4-7 weeks, whether they can get away from work, have child care issues, etc.
I doubt we could get most of the jurors to agree to sequestration at this point.
The biggest problem we are running into now is a race against time.
Everyone, including the state, defense, the jurors, etc., committed to seven weeks tops.
We are now in week three and have basically not even started.
Witnesses who were flown in by piper planes from remote areas of Alaska last week for what they thought were going to be one or two nights have now been stranded here in Fairbanks for 5 days. The list of logistical nightmares is long. Oh, and I have a trial to prep for as well.
Jim
I did not ever think it would be that bad. I am horrified to be honest.
The world in a COVID environment is crazy.
Over here in Singapore all the local nations are in a state of fear due to the unabashed power and aggression of China. Seriously, it is much worse than most Westerners think.
Xi is pushing every boundary and testing the fortitude of every nation in the region.
One day it is China encroaching borders with India, Vietnam, Bhutan, Russia, Whatever.
Next day it is skirmishes in the South China Sea, which China sees as its own territory.
Then next day, Taiwan is threatened, HK has already been destroyed and Xinjiang and Tibet are police states copying Stalin’s Gulag Archipelago.
The world is at a very dangerous point and I have never been so alarmed.
I have previously written that Xi won’t invade Taiwan and drive WW3 but local politicians and analysts now think that if he does attack then there is no guarantee that the Western world will react. The fundamental issue is that Xi isn’t not scared of military conflict. On the contrary his rhetoric is that such conflict is a normal part of change. Militarisation continues whilst anyone disagreeing - from Jack Ma to tennis players - is silenced.
I also feel sorry for your client.
Someone who has never been convicted is left to rot in prison and nobody is in a hurry to change that.
Seems like a legal filibuster that isn’t easy to resolve.
If that is justice then Huston we have a problem.
I just hope you and your team can somehow resolve this.
The trial is progressing along, I think we've done over 25 witnesses.
It could be done in about a week or week and a half.
The State has moved into the forensic part of their case.
JimHow wrote: ↑Fri Jan 28, 2022 2:23 am
No, but I can see why people like it here.
It’s an interesting place.
Looks like I won't make it up in time to catch you. The people are certainly very friendly up there and extremely self sufficient. Hard to match the natural beauty and outdoor activities if that is your thing. I was definitely having a hard time watching people fish for salmon last year without having any gear to hit the water myself.
It’s been colder the last couple days Mike but for the most part it’s been hovering around zero, which is actually quite comfortable what with no wind, and it’s very dry.
JimHow wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 1:51 am
Thanks Chris, all the evidence is in, closing arguments now pushed off to Monday. Tonight is a wine night at Lavelle’s!
I understand that most of the job is done? Is it finally the 1999 Yquen night at Lavelle?
Wishing you a satisfying ending to that trial, but we want you back on BWE.
Won’t be long now, Nic.
Closing arguments start on Monday at 8:30am Alaska time, that’s 12:30pm eastern US time. I would not anticipate a verdict on Monday but I expect we could have a verdict as early as Tuesday.
Good luck Jim. Peggy and I have enjoyed watching. The prosecutor scored some points attempting to undermine your DNA expert but from my perspective there’s still enough reasonable doubt to sail an armada through. Not that I’m biased… but I hope the jury sees it that way. The last 5 years have taught me not to be surprised at how disparately seemingly rational people can interpret (or ignore) any given set of facts.
