Something for us Libby trial addicts to read while we await the GUILTY verdict: Lengthy and highly recommended analysis of the social dynamics between the main players in the trial and how they might impact the outcome, by Pachacutec at FDL.
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.
Here's the thing: in my view, the three dominant personalities in the room - Pat Fitzgerald, Reggie Walton and Ted Wells - are all engaged in a complex game of "who's your daddy?," both among themselves and, perhaps most especially, for the jury and the media. Think of it as an alpha male American Idol for the jury and the public, where the ultimate prize is the jurors' trust and confidence, with public perception a very close second.
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/01/28/libby-trial-whos-your-daddy/
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