[Original Post by DS: 6/7/2011 03:50PM PST]
Almost a routine court business day:
Today was a jury selection day.
In the morning the courtroom was filled with jurors, and observers were not initially able to go in, as the courtroom was filled to capacity (about 70 prospective jurors). I’m not sure what exactly the process was, but mostly the business today was weeding out hardship excuses, probably through the juror questionnaire mentioned yesterday, and leaving those who were still qualified for more extensive questioning during voir dire on Wednesday afternoon. In the afternoon, at 2pm, the same process was slated to happen with another set of jurors. (I have confirmation that at 2pm another set of 70 jurors went into the courtroom.) This process could presumably continue through tomorrow morning.
As I mentioned yesterday, at 1PM PST on Wednesday, voir dire of the jurors will begin, after which, they’ll have their jury. It should be noted that seating will not be available for public (and public will be barred from the courtroom) until the point that enough of the jurors have been dismissed that seating becomes available.
Also as mentioned yesterday, ayres will be required to be present in the courtroom for voir dire at that point. On Monday, McDougall noted the 977 waiver allowing ayres to miss everything up until voir dire.
Here’s what wasn’t so routine:
william ayres and his vacuous wife Solveig showed up in the courtroom in the morning! ayres had his usual prop walker, but appeared to be clean, healthy and alert; beard neatly trimmed, and apparently has possibly even shed a few pounds.
As McDougall walked in, and walked past them sitting there, he whispered something to them. Something along the line of: You didn’t need to be here, or You shouldn’t be here, or You’re not supposed to be here. He also mentioned that they had the 977 waiver.
This would seem to me to be just another sign that ayres is as arrogant as ever, and that his attorney has little, if any ability to exert control over the notorious control freak. It is very likely that the last thing McDougall wanted was for ayres to be seen anywhere near the courthouse, let alone in the courtroom all day, before he was absolutely required by law to be there.
When McDougall presents his case that his client is so demented that he can’t even dress himself to get to the courthouse except when absolutely required by law, the jurors will all recollect him sitting there all day, even though his 977 waiver permitted him to be absent.
I have confirmation that ayres was present for the afternoon group of jurors too.
I don't know if: "My client is too fucking stupid and/or arrogant to follow instructions" counts as "dementia" or not, but I'm guessing probably not.
During the first civil molestation suit against Ayres in 2005, when Ayres refused to pay up on deadline to the victim, his lawyer Don Putterman told the victim's lawyer Jean Starcevich that he was having "client control issues."
ReplyDeleteWho cares whether his beard is neatly trimmed?
ReplyDeleteHe's still a rapist.
The jury might care. This trial is not about ayres' molestations. It is about conning 12 people into believing that ayres can't take care of himself. His arrogant tidiness and insistence on appearing may just be his undoing.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous June 7 at 7:19 pm:
ReplyDeleteIt is weird that he is suddenly looking clean and tidy, as many of his colleagues who attended annual meetings at the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with him have described him as "fat and sloppy"; "slovenly"; "messy" and not someone who looked presentable enough to have headed up that orgnaization.
Even if this blog didn't exist, do you actually think that jurors aren't going home and Googling the case? Don't let the inept San Mateo D.A's office bully you...
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous @June 8, 2011 11:04 AM:
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that it is possible that some prospective jurors might do that. I also think that its likely that some won't.
This site does exist, and because the news agencies are doing such a poor job of coverage of the story, if they DO google the case, they will end up here.
The real question is: "Why is the news ignoring this story, reporting only a brief status with precious little investigation of any of the more cloying aspects of the case."
Is it because the story is too disturbing for people to handle? I don't think that's it... People seem to have a fascination with all manner of prurient interests.
Is it because the story is damaging to the County, and the story has been downplayed or flagged by county officials as something that should not be reported? Perhaps... Hard to know.
For the record: No one has done any bullying.
I don't even know if the judge in the case has even issued a warning about ""vicious" blog posts" or other sources of information.
I put up the warning of my own volition. There were NO requests from anyone, and I think it is the right thing to do.
I want ayres found competent, and I want him to stand trial for molestation. I don't want a decision to be overturned because some dumb-ass juror complains that one of the panel looked at blog postings.
Yes there is information out there for jurors to find. If they find it here, they have been warned. That's not a service that the newspapers will provide.
I don't intend to hold back information or opinion just because there is a warning posted on the first page.
And frankly, the court and the defense attorneys are arrogant to expect information to be hidden from the public.