My Visit to the ER, Rachelle's emailing again & Obsessed people

Visiting the 'ER'
I was in an emergency room last Tuesday, and I actually ended up on the operating table. Yep. I kid you not, and it was all because of the Phil Spector trial. Yep. The reason I was there was because of someone I met early on at the trial, and because of them I was on the operating table on Tuesday. Thankfully, I'm okay, but maybe that's because it was County General's ER, which is located on the Warner Brother's lot in Burbank. Maybe I should back up and start from the beginning.

You may remember me talking about two trial watchers I met early in June, Margaret and her son David. We met in the hallway outside 106, and we had lunch together several times, all of us in deep conversation discussing the merits of the case and the testimony of the day. Margaret and I have a lot in common. We both sew, adore kitties and love watching trials. Since Margaret didn't want to take the Metro Gold Line train by herself, her son David came with her to court several times in June and July. David was the one who overheard "W" say "You snooze, you lose," when she sat down beside him at the morning break on June 11th, trying to take an accredited reporter's seat, who had left to stretch their legs and/or call in to their office. (You can find that story in this entry, here.)

When we first had lunch, Margaret had mentioned that David was on "hiatus," and that's why he could come to court with her. When he had to go back to work, he emailed me through the blog, and we kept in touch. I remember him telling me that he worked on a TV show, but I couldn't remember which one. As we kept in touch, I found out that he worked on the NBC show ER, but I didn't know what his job/title was. When the trial was all over, he invited me to have lunch with him and Margaret, to catch up on what was happening and we worked out a day and time. It was then that I found out that lunch would be on the Warner Brothers lot. We had a last minute change of plans when the October 23rd hearing was moved to the 22nd, but fortunately that worked out fine.

David set a time for 1:00 pm, and told me at which street and gate a drive on pass would be waiting for me. When the guard asked to see my driver's license to verify that I was Betsy Ross, I had to say, "Because you need to make sure I'm the real one, correct?" The guard had given me a map with a red marker showing me the route to get to my assigned parking space. I'm sure I would have been lost without it. When I passed through the security gate, David was right there driving one of the four-seater golf carts everyone uses to get around the lot and Margret was with him. I show him my pass with the parking lot space assigned to me, and off we go, David leading the way. It's a good thing he did because even with the map, I realized I would have been totally lost. Once we get my car settled in, I got on board the golf cart, and away we went.

As we exchanged our hellos, I said to David, "I know you work on the show, but I don't know what it is you do." David tells me he's an associate producer, and he's worked on ER for five years. It's then that I tell him that ER is one of my most favorite shows, I've watched it ever since it debuted, and I never miss an episode. David replied, "That's great! Sometimes, when friends and relatives come in from out of state, they like to visit the lot but they aren't necessarily fans of the show. So you really know the story lines, and characters." "Oh yes, I really love the show," I replied. " I was watching the last episode and I was in a panic when at the end of the episode, they panned in on Abby really looking at that bottle of wine. I was, 'Oh no Abby! Don't drink it!' So, please don't tell me what happens!" David smiled and said, "Oh I won't!" On our way to the cafeteria, David points out various ER 'points of interest' sets. I get to see the "L" overhead train tracks, the set that is across the street, (for some reason the name of that particular set escapes me; I'm drawing a blank on that right now) and we stop at the exterior set for when ambulances are bringing in new patients. It was quite surreal for me to be walking around on the set of a show that I've watched and loved for over ten years. As you might have guessed, everything appears bigger on TV.

We then stop off at one of the sound stages where they are filming, and outside, David introduces me and his mother to John Stamos. He's very gracious, and greets each of us with a hug and a cheek to cheek kiss. Back on the cart, we weave through a maze of streets to get as near as we can to "Ashely Blvd." where the cafeteria and commissary are. We pass on the fine dining in the commissary, and head into the cafeteria. This is better than some restaurants; Warner Brothers studio, feeds their employees well. Inside, it's almost like what you might find in an upscale mall, with several different types of food/sections. There's Poquito Mas, a Pasta & Soup section (I can't remember what it's called), a grill, an exceptional salad bar, a desert section, and a drinks section. I head directly to the grill to get a burger sans bun with onion on romaine lettuce. I add a side salad of romaine from the salad bar, grab a vitamin water, and David pays for lunch for all of us at the cashier. (Thank you, David!) We find a table in the quietest area, and settle in to eat lunch. I give David and Margaret a detailed run down on everything that happened at the trial (and behind the scenes) from the middle of August until Judge Fidler ruled a mistrial on September 26th.

After lunch, we head off to meet David's brother Kevin, who is working on a new TV show. Many times at lunch during the trial, David and Margaret would jokingly call Kevin "the good son." The show Kevin is working on is called Moonlight. Kevin introduces his mother and myself to several of his coworkers, and shows us all the sets on the show. I'm quite fascinated by the two story high, back drop black curtains that surround the main set. On the other side of them is a continuous, full blown city skyline. It for when they are filming inside the set, it appears as if the actors are in a building up high, and you can see the skyline of the other buildings through the "windows" of the set. Margaret and are are totally blown away at the artistic design of the sets on Moonlight, and when we drop by one location, cast and crew are in deep conversation on one set, so we don't get to see that one up close. Kevin points out to us the gentleman who designed all the marvelous sets.

In the house/apartment of the female lead, I notice that there are quite a few Asian touches scattered throughout the set. I'm a big fan of anything Asian, ~my own home is entirely decorated in an Asian theme~ and I closely inspect two painted glass framed images of a royal looking man and woman hanging on the wall of living room set. Margaret makes the observation that it all looks like it could be easily lived in. Everything is quite "authentic" looking. That you could just walk onto the set, plop yourself down on a sofa, and think you were home. Several sets not in use had linen coverings with labels to note which piece of furniture they were for. I ask David if they were to keep people off of the furniture, and he said that the covers were basically just to keep everything clean, because people come through these sets all the time, and this just makes it easier.

After getting to see all the sets for this show, we head on over to where they are currently filming on ER. On the drive over, David mentions several films that he's worked on, and that he worked with O.J. Simpson on his last film, Navy Seals. So we talk about OJ a bit and his latest legal trouble. "He was the nicest guy," David said. "There was a time when my mom and dad were at this film industry event with me, and O.J. was in deep conversation with my dad about sports. This happened one month before Ron and Nicole were murdered." How forkin' spooky is that?

When we reach the sound stage we make doubly sure out phones are turned off because they are filming. The actors are set up in the area where there are several beds for patients. We are watching from a part of the set not being used, which is the waiting area. There are a ton of people walking around behind the scenes, and I recognize a few of the favorite characters who have been with the show for a long time like John and Chuny, and a recent actor J.P. Manoux, who plays the part of Dr. Hauschka, Neela's overbearing taskmaster.

Every bed is filled with someone in it, wearing a hospital gown, and John Stamos (Dr. Gates), Linda Cardenllini (RN Sam) and Chuny are working on a patient. The director is off in another part of the set that I can't directly see, and he's shouting out stage directors to Sam. There is a goof and they have to shoot it over again. David had asked someone earlier to bring him his camera out from his desk area, and John Stamos graciously gets his picture taken with all of us. David then leads us on a trip to other ER sets. We pass by small rooms that look like they are small rooms with the remains of treating a patient already on the floor, complete with fake blood. We get to another area, and David takes us to their set for the second floor, and OR1. Operating 1. And that's how I ended up on a real operating table with real equipment in there. David took my picture from the observation booth. I had the best time, and I hope we get together again soon. David said that if the writer's strike happens, he may be showing up at some of the Spector pretrial hearings until it is resolved.

Rachelle mass emails, again.
Last week I got a few emails at my blog from different people telling me that they received an email from Rachelle Spector, asking them to go look at her website and see how she's supporting her husband. You just have to shake your head with a heavy sigh and hope that we don't see as much, or hear as much from the current Mrs. Spector until round two.

Obsessed people.
I normally don't write about Internet crazies, but something reached a limit for me today and I thought I might as well share. I mean, Kim of The Darwin Exception has kept me totally entertained with her stories about the woman who calls her "Kimmer" and the neighbor lady without any heat. So I thought I might as well share with you the latest drama about this sad woman from Patasa, or some place out in the underdeveloped world like that, who just sees red when the word "Sprocket" crosses her path.

This sad little old lady has followed me from crime forum to crime forum, for gawd knows what reason, and trashes me up one side of the room and down the other. I have zero clue what I could have ever done to her, to cause her to have all this pent up animosity, directed towards me. She is a sad creature to be sure, and I would show her some kindness and/or pity if she wasn't just drop dead crazy as a loon. What I've often seen her do, is, when someone challenges her on why she hates me so much, she never answers the question. She doesn't have one. She changes the subject and starts waxing poetic about how sad her life is, and how terrible it is that most of her time and energy is spent on her crippled daughter. She recently posted over on the CTV forums that her daughter was in an automobile accident over a year ago, and now her ankle is fused and she will "never walk normally again, never run again, never dance again." And on and on the pity party goes about how sad it is about her daughter, and I'm still not getting it as to WTF that has to do with why she can't stand me, and has to trash me every place that I hang out.

And then today, she sent me a threatening message, promising to send the police to my door, if I didn't STOP doing SOMETHING....some persecution, whatever, for some who knows what Genever-induced paranoid rambling perceptions she has, that are most likely self induced. Now I understand, that what happened to her daughter is sad, and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone, but give me a forkin' break. Whose life does not have challenges? Far worse things have happened to other people and they get over it and move on with life. They go on to live productive and happy lives. Besides, it's not like the kid is dead and buried and her killer has not been brought to trial yet five years down the road. This old lady should be grateful she's not standing in Mrs. Clarkson's shoes.

And that brings me back to the Phil Spector mistrial. How long is it going to take, to get a conviction, and justice for Lana's family? That's an injustice for you. Don't forget Lana. Go light a candle for her, as many times as you can.

Spector Goes Back To Court

Unedited draft entry.

I hardly slept last night. I had several things to do in the morning, and I didn't want to forget to do everything before I left the house. I had to find out where the library was closest to the court, so I could go write my story asap. And, I wanted to find out the name of the Judge in a case starting today in Van Nuys. Both tasks accomplished, I felt a bit better.

Mr. Sprocket fixed me a great breakfast, and I got out the door by 7:00 am. I wasn't sure what time the hearing would be, but I wanted to be there early just in case. As I enter the rear of the court building, there is a huge line all the way from the back, toward the entrance on Temple Street and there is only one scanner for the public. There's not the excitement I used to feel when I was going every day, and there was testimony. The line is going very slow, and I'm hoping there's not a crowd on the 9th floor.

As I round the second security checkpoint on the 9th floor, I see at the very end of the hall a familiar face. It's Dr. C. Carroll Adams, (CCA) and we give each other a big smile and a wave. He's still attending a trial in courtroom 107, and as he waits for that courtroom to start (promptly at 8:30 am), we chat a bit and get caught up.

I learn that it was District Attorney Cooley who over rode AJ's and PD's objections to accepting Juror #10 on the panel. Apparently, DA Cooley wanted to follow the advice of the jury consultant, who felt this Juror wouldn't be a problem. However, everyone, Cooley, the consultants, and our hard working guys AJ & PD totally misread Juror #1.CCA and I talk a bit about jury tampering, and whether or not this happened in the Spector case. There's no proof that any of the jurors were tampered with, and anything we think might have happened is just speculation.

CCA didn't know about Peter Y. Hong's transfer to the business section of the LA Times, and I'm hoping either Steven Mikulan or Ciaran McEvoy will show, so I can ask him if they know anything. CCA's courtroom finally opens, and he's off.

People approach this end of the hall but they all enter other courtrooms. The hallway is virtually empty. There are a few people on benches, waiting. Most have jury bades. Some swing their legs nervously, others pass the time reading. As some suits enter Fidler's courtroom, I try to guess which are attorneys and which might be DEA agents. When it get's to 9:00 am, I'm realizing that this thing isn't going to start until about 10:00 am.

A still photographer shows up, and Wendy, Fidler's clerk, tells him to set up in the jury box in the seat wher Juror #10 sat. It's 9:06 and I sit and wait. More attorneys enter the hallway, more potential jurors arrive but they are all for other courtrooms. A short, strange looking guy with short frizzy dirty blond hair, shows up wearing a T-shirt that says "Turkey Tournament 2006" on the back. His jeans are almost falling off of him, as he gets close to the courtroom door to read the notice left there from Spector round one. I try to think of a name to give him, and when I see his face I think that this could be a long lost Spector son because the guy has virtually no chin. I decide to call him chinman. He wanders off down towards the other end of the hall and I think maybe he was just wishfully lost.

Rod Lindbom, one of the family attorneys rounds the corner, as he comes down the hallway, and sees me he calls out "Sprocket!" His arms are open wide and he gives me a a big hug. It's really nice to see him and get such a warm welcome. We head into the courtroom and find out from the Bailiff that the hearing is at 10:00 am. I talk to him about who I've been told is still on the case beside Plourd, and he asks me if I want to go down on the elevator with him because everyone is in the cafeteria in one of the far corners. So we head down. John Taylor, Mrs. Clarkson, Fawn and one of Fawn's friends are all sitting at a table, and everyone gives me big warm greetings and asks how I'm doing. I reply that I am so sad that Mrs. Clarkson is still here. That that we are going to have to do a round two. They want to know what's going on the CTV message boards, and I reply, "Not much right now." I pass on my news of who I was told was still on the case, but it remains to be seen if they will be in court today. We all speculate on how long a rope Fidler is going to give Spector, and if anything will be accomplished today.

It gets closer to 10:00 am, and we head back to the 9th floor. I head on into the courtroom, and see Steven Mikulan sitting in his old spot. I go sit next to him. The Judge is on the bench but it is a hearing for another case. Spector, Child Bride Rachelle Short and Plourd are all sitting in the front row. A single bodyguard (I think it's Horace) is in the back row, sitting next to another black man, but he doesn't look like the type of security guard that Spector hires. He's not large enough. The attorney I was told would be still on the case is not here. Better go recheck with my source on that. Maybe the attorney was fired again. Sandi Gibbons, spokesperson from the DA's office comes in a few minutes later. Steven and I are the only ones covering the hearing, and Sandi thinks the fire kept most away. Last she heard, Linda Deutsch was supposed to cover this, but she isn't here yet. Ciran McEvoy shows up and talks to Rod. It's, almost like old home week, except Dominick isn't here. Last I heard, he was still in London, but he might be back in New York by now.

Pat Dixon walks in and he's got a fresh haircut. He looks handsome and stately as always. Rick Ocampo is already here and will be sitting second chair. AJ is not at this hearing today, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's still on a sabbitical. I've heard he's been traveling. Looking around the courtroom I see Meredith from the Court's Public Relations Office sitting by the door. Right at 10:00 am the clerk Wendy calls out, "Ready for the Judge?" Someone whispers, "What does it say when there are more lawyers here for the family than there are for Spector." It is noticably empty in the courtroom, even more so on the defense side of the room.

Plourd stands up and tells the Judge that there are two declarations. One from Spector himself, documenting his efforts to sign up a new attorney, and one from the potential attorney that has not been signed yet. He wants these to be submitted exparte and sealed, and Dixon objects. Dixon doesn't think there's anything in there that needs to be sealed. I look on over at Rachelle and notice that her hair straight down, not fixed and overly streaked again. Her outfit was unremarkable for once. Just black slacks and a half sleeve type of jacket/top. I didn't even see what Spector was wearing.

As the Judge is reading the documents, Linda Deutsch arrives. After reading the first document, the Judge grants the exparte and sealing of the document stating that it deals with financial arrangements Mr. Spector is going to get to obtain counsel. After he reads the second document, he grants the exparte on that one also. The Judge mentions that he does want Mr. Spector to have counsel that he feels comfortable and confident with, and with the sealing of the documents, Mr. Spector is not ready to reveal who his new counsel might be, and since the counsel still hasn't signed the document yet anyway. Dixon asks if the counsel will remain "Mr. X?" And someone replies, I didn't catch who, "Or Mrs. X." Plourd asks that a continuance be given until November 6th, and the Judge grants the motion. The Judge then says, "10:00 am, November 6th, oh-sixty." After he leaves the bench, all three of us turn to Sandi Gibbons for an explaination of the oh-sixty. She says that it's a straight waiver, and a set up of "sixty days from November 6th." That means that Spector has the right to a speedy trial in 60 days from November 6th. Sandi indicated that this would be the first of many continuances.

As I walk towards the elevators, I see Linda Deutsch in deep conversation in the middle of the hall with Chris Plourd. Ciaran and Steven and I all catch an elevator together, and Steven asks if we all have time to get coffee. Ciaran has to go to his office to follow up on this, but he can in a bit. I can't; I have to go shop for fabric, so we say our goodbyes until November. It's going to be more of the same, throughout the rest of the year.

I'll update this with a bit more info when I get home tonight.

The Polo Lounge, Legal hirings and things in the mail

On the bookshelf: Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, by Mick Brown, and Diana, by Tina Brown.

On the CD Player: Field Commander Cohen, Leonard Cohen, 1979 UK World Tour.

It's been reported that Phil Spector recently had lunch at the Polo Lounge, located in the Beverly Hills Hotel, accompanied by two women and two bodyguards. Did he leave the little child bride at home or was she one of the luncheon ladies? It is unknown at this point. Let's hope Spector is letting Rachelle out of that run down wreck of a castle once in a while, so she doesn't get treated the same way he treated Ronnie. I mean, a young bride has to show off her shoes every once in a while.

Meanwhile, Spector has been hiring and firing, and hiring again a member of his defense team from round one. I'm happy to report that it is NOT Linda Kenney Baden, and I'm sure there are many reporters out there who are relieved about that as well. Ms. Baden is a competent attorney, but her courtroom presence did grate the nerves of many people sitting in the gallery as well as those watching on the telly at home. It will be interesting to find out if the individual is still on board come October 22nd, the new date for the next pretrial hearing where all parties have been ordered back to Judge Fidler's courtroom, or if they will be fired again before that date.

Meanwhile, back at home, I got a delightful surprise in the mail on Saturday. This is very special for me, since I'm the one who often gives presents to people I meet, and it's usually something I've made on my sewing machine. Mick Brown was kind enough to send me an autographed copy of another one of his books I expressed an interest in, The Spiritual Tourist, A Personal Odyssey Through the Outer Reaches of Belief. I think I will have to put Diana by Tina Brown aside for now, and delve into this next.

For those of you who are interested in ordering from my collection of things I make, (or just want to write to me to say hello) please email me your inquiries here at the blog. You can a link to my email addy, here, on my profile page. The link is in the top left corner, and says "email."

Steve Huff: True Crime Weblog

On the Bookshelf: Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, by Mick Brown, & The Diana Chronicles, by Tina Brown. (I ususally read 2 or more books at once.)

On Sound: Jennifer Warnes sings Leonard Cohen. (Famous Blue Raincoat)Boy, do I have some catching up to do! Several months ago, Steve Huff stopped posting at his True Crime Blog, and went back to his roots of posting on a variety of topics at a new blog, Random Lunatic News. I read that blog faithfully. Imagine my surprise to realize today that Steve has been posting like mad about crime at a new url, True Crime Weblog for well over a month! Typing in his old blogspot url will redirect you to the new place.

If you are interested in following crime news on the net, and you don't know who Steve Huff is, you should. He is (imho), the best out there in blogging about crime, often the first to find Internet writings or MySpaces pages on a particular suspect or murdered victim in the news. I'll be reading Steve for the next week or more, catching up.

Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo on YouTube

Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo's several videos are now available on YouTube. Read his latest blog entry to catch the buzz.

The complete library of BTD films can be found on this YouTube channel. Please watch the video on lectins. It's packed full of information.

If you are dealing with a health issue that the main stream medical profession has not been able to address successfully, what do you have to lose by reading up at Dr. D'Adamo's site, or picking up his book, Live Right 4 Your Type? His latest book, The GenoType Diet ~taking blood type diet science to a whole new level~ will be released December 26th, 2007.

Juror #10 on Court TV Phil Spector Forum

Updated!
Earlier this evening, a new thread (with the title "Judgemental") was started by a poster named "Juror 10." Here is what they posted:

Judgemental

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking here since after the mistrial, and understand that many of you have questions for me. I will try and answer some if you feel so inclined as to ask.

Respectfully,

Juror 10

Several people asked him questions. Some didn't believe that it was him, until another poster said they had contacted the forum moderator who verified that it was Juror #10. I didn't get that email from the moderator, so, I'm actually not going to say that it's been verified. The poster never answers one question that was put to him, so that first post was quite misleading to say the least.

A few hours later, "Juror #10" comes back on and makes the following post:

Juror 10
Member

Registered: Oct 2007
Location:
Posts: 2

Just wanted to see how my experiment would work. The title of this thread is self explainatory. Most of you posters have proven it. Why any of you feel you need an explaination for anything that happened with this jury is beyond me. Get over yourselves. This case was not proven. End of story.


For those of you who kept an open mind about the outcome of this trial, you are appreciated greatly. Thank you for your fairness. The world needs more people like you.


I will not be back.


Juror 10

That was one of the most classic displays of passive aggressive behavior I've seen in a long time. Whoever it was, they sure must be enjoying themselves, lol!
You can be anyone you want on Internet message boards, where it's pretty easy to pretend to be someone else. Maybe even Brad Paisley, lol!

Does anyone have any comments about this manipulative event that just happened on the Court TV Phil Spector Forum?

Update: 11:55 pm
Oh, they always come back for more attention, lol!

Juror 10
Member

Registered: Oct 2007
Location: Fooling you all
Posts: 3

Venting LMAO,

So do you all feel better now that you got to get rid of some of your frustration? Or did I make it worse?

I am NOT juror 10.

Just someone who thought you needed to be shown how bad and judgemental some of you really are. Have a good night.


Sorry if I cause any of you lovely, sincere people (you know who you are) any cause for embarassment.


Peace Out
What did I tell ya. Just another chain yanker. Some people have too much time on their hands. Really, lol! That and a propensity for their brains to turn into melted cheese. Maybe it's "Chelle." Rachelle must be locked up in the Castle, because you know, Spector locked up those kids and he locked up Ronnie. And he has to threaten women with a gun who decide they've had enough of entertainment with Phil. Poor Rachelle. With no where to go, no clubs to go to, maybe this is how she passes the long hours in her wing of the castle. Making death threats to Judges and impersonating a juror. What a sad life that must be. "Chelle" all dressed up in Christian Laboutin shoes and no trial to go to every day so she can display them.

A Few Topics

On the bookshelf: Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, by Mick Brown & Too Late To Say Goodbye, by Anne Rule. I'm reading both at once.

Music Playing: Leonard Cohen's "Live Songs," track 1, Dance Me to the End of Love

Leonard Cohen
A reader recently emailed me their thoughts on the Leonard Cohen album that Spector produced, Death of a Ladies Man, thinking that the songs on that album were very dark; "blood chilling" were their words. They felt that these lyrics somehow related to Spector. I disagreed. Cohen has been writing about dark subjects long before he was introduced to Phil Spector. I'm a long time Cohen fan, dating back to my late teens when I was introduced to his music via a boyfriend. Back then, (over 30 years ago) I played Cohen's albums endlessly, specifically Songs of Love and Hate, Songs From a Room and Songs of Leonard Cohen. The lyrics are what spoke to my soul at that time in my life, seeing as how I viewed myself as a poet with a tortured heart. (Is there a young teen aged girl who hasn't gone through unrequited love at that time of her life? It's a rite of passage.) Even now, I can put on virtually any Cohen album and the lyrics will come back to me instantly. To me, there are some lyrics on these early albums that rival those on the Spector produced album. What comes to mind are the words to songs like Dress Rehearsal Rag, The Master Song, Seems So Long Ago, Nancy, and Diamonds in the Mine. The lyrics in some of these songs touch on suicide, degradation as well as subjugation by another person. In fact, I really like the song True Love Leaves No Traces on the Spector produced album as well as Fingerprints.

Barbara Payton
A Court TV poster sent me this link to a Crime Magazine story about Barbara Payton, the actress who starred with James Cagney in Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye. The poster (I'll call them "L") did a lot of Internet research on Payton, and felt this online article was the most comprehensive one they came across. Payton's life story is a sad one. She had a rocky career in Hollywood, starring in other noteworthy films such as Trapped, Flo and Dallas. Payton lived life on the edge, and Hollywood, rejecting her behavior, pushed her out. According to the linked story, she was a wild character, often had romances with her leading men, and when she did have a sugar daddy ~a man 22 years her senior~ she cheated on him. She eventually ended up on skid row, penniless, her movie career life destroyed years earlier.

L's thought was, that the Spector defense tried to present Lana to this jury in a similar light. That the story of Payton's life was the playbook they used, and they tried to sell to the jury a similar story about Lana. I don't think the defense team succeeded, (seeing as how Madam Gibson and Raul Julia Levy were prevented from "testilying") but it is a very interesting read none the less.

Bloggers vs Internet Forums
It amazes me that occasionally Internet Forum and message board posters still look down on Bloggers as if they are an inferior life form. As if their Internet ramblings on various topics are somehow superior than someone who maintains a blog. The logic of that astounds me. What many of these literary Einsteins don't realize is, that the MSM (mainstream media) often lumps everyone all in together (Bloggers and message board posters alike) calling them "Bloggers" when there is a noteworthy story involving the Internet. Blogging is something that's been around for a while now, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of new blogs started on a daily basis. I've even been told that some colleges are even offering Blogging classes in their curriculum's, although I don't know if that's just a rumor or not.

I think Bloggers have made an important impact on how people communicate and relate to each other. Just look at MySpace, (That place is sporkin' huge!) or some of the other networking sites that are MySpace competitors. Blogging is a part of our 21st century lifestyle, and one thing it reflects is our very human need to express ourselves, and the hope that there is someone out there, listening. One of the Bloggers I really admire is Steve Huff, and I make sure to check his blog on a regular basis to see if he has a new entry up. Back when Steve was blogging almost exclusively about crime, he was the one who beat the MSM in finding child molester/murder Joseph Duncan's MySpace page and other Internet postings. Steve is well known for his ability to find stuff on the net that others miss. He is often the first to find any Internet postings by the latest high profile murder suspect in the news. Just look at his archives. They are chock full of stories that he broke due to his unique Internet searching skills.

Real Life, Sewing and Bodywork
I'm finally getting back into a regular schedule with my bodywork clients. Just yesterday a client called me and said, "I heard that trial was over with, so I thought it would be safe to call you and be able to get an appointment during the week." Last night I finally put some time aside to plant the pots in the front of the house. They've been empty, ever since the trial started.





I still have the pots in the back yard to do, and other flower beds that need serious attention. I'm also knee deep in getting back into sewing. I have quite a few back orders to work on. I had a handbag alteration request (by the mother of a Star Wars princess) that literally hung on a hanger for months while I attended the trial. I finally got that finished at 2 in the morning two days ago. And, I've got some presents that I started but are half finished.

Right now, I'm in the beginning stages of Market Bag and Market Tote production. (Check out my sewing blog or my photobucket account for images of the Market Line bags.) This is a tedious and boring process of hand bonding sheets of glue onto yards and yards and yards of heavy canvas (also known as duck cloth). The 50 yard roll is quite heavy and hard to maneuver on my large cutting board. I roll a bit out, iron on the glue, cut off a long 20" x 60" strip, roll out the canvas some more, iron on more glue, and then cut off another strip. Those strips of canvas are then cut into 20" squares that the cotton print will be ironed/bonded to. So if you are interested in a Market Bag or a Market Tote, I recommend you email me (link can be found on my profile page) now and place an order. Once I stop this initial production process, I won't be making anything in the Market Line until after the new year; I'll be moving onto another item. Here are some Market Bags Market Totes, and Mini Market Purses.

The Florida Jury Selection Blog

There is an excellent entry at The Florida Jury Selection Blog, about Erin, the blogging juror. This is a blog I drop in on from time to time.

Here is an excerpt:
Meet Erin - the blogging juror. Right now she is serving on a jury somewhere. Or at least she was last Tuesday and Wednesday. Erin has a blog, and she posted her thoughts about jury duty on her blog last week while she was on the jury: “yeah somebody actually put me on a jury. I guess I will probably be juror number eight, blowing everybody’s minds with charisma and excessive knowledge of forensic psychology. remember the movie? twelve angry men? god i hope i get to be the foreman of this stupid jury. MADAM FOREWOMAN OF THE JURY! i can’t wait to decide the lives and deaths of men tomorrow.” Erin refers to herself as the “oak park mastermind,” and you can read more of Erin’s thoughts about her civic service (”the stupid jury isn’t over yet”) by visiting her blog.

Steven Mikulan's Latest Article

Steven Mikulan, staff writer for the LA Weekly has a new piece up in the aftermath of the Spector non-verdict. If you don't know by now, I'm a huge fan of Mikulan's writing. He interviewed Juror #9 (I got that connection for him), and his piece is titled Spector's Dark Victory. Check it out.

Light A Candle for Lana

I'm not sure who started it, and I hope whoever did will send me an email so I can give them credit.

There is a website, gratefulness.org where you can light candles for friends, or other people you want to remember. I believe a Court TV poster started a candle lighting group for Lana.

Click on an unlit candle in Lana's group and follow the directions. Lets keep those candles lit for her.

Scheduling Spector Murder Trial Round Two

Updated!
I had planned to go to this hearing today. I got out the door just a little late but then got hung up in nightmare traffic. Thirty minutes later and I still wasn't out of the San Fernando Valley. When I heard on KFWB that there was a bomb threat, streets were closed off, and that the suspicious item was at either the Federal Court Building or the Criminal Court Building, I turned around and headed home.

KTLA reported on the hearing via their Internet live streaming, but alas, I can't seem to get it to load. Thanks to all the great posters at the Court TV Phil Spector forum, I was able to find out what Judge Fidler's rulings were.

All parties are ordered back on October 23rd, at 9:00 am and Spector must be in attendance. Rosen, Brunon, and Kenney-Baden have all been released from their representation of Spector. Riardon and Plourd are left. I find it interesting the Plourd is left because from my accredited sources, Spector tried to fire Plourd after the "AHA" moment by Baden, but in an incamera hearing, Judge Fidler would not let him. Plourd is not necessarily a "bad" attorney, he's just boring at hell.

From what I can gather from the Court TV postings, Fidler is ordering the retrial to occur no later than 120 days from this date. Counsel needs to be ready, and if they can't meet that deadline, too bad. On the outside limit, that would put the retrial on the anniversary of Lana's death, February 3rd, five years later. Prayers for the Clarkson family and their friends, that Lana finally gets justice.

Update: October 4th, 9:15 am

Other reports on the hearing yesterday.

Harriet Ryan of Court TV.

The Darwin Exception.

Los Angeles Times.

And Alan Jackson's new look at the hearing.

Jury room deliberations, Mormons, and what is reasonable behavior

I just got off the phone with Juror #9. He said he tried to register at the Court TV message boards under the hat name "Juror #9," but his membership application was rejected. I've put in an email to the moderator on his behalf, and hope that will correct things. We'll see what happens.

This entry had been percolating in my mind for several days, especially when I saw that Juror #10's personal information had somehow been appearing on the Internet. That really disappointed me. It's my understanding that the main stream media found out his full name, since it was reported on KFI on the John and Ken show. I don't know if this information was initially revealed by Juror #10 or not. There also has been a lot of discussion on the Court TV message boards about Juror #10 being a Mormon, and an inference that his religion played a significant role in how he "judged" Lana. I believe there also might have been some inference that Juror #10 was associated with some of the fringe offshoots of the main LDS Church. I spoke with a dear Internet friend this morning, a devout Mormon, to get her perspective on Juror #10, and learn a bit more about the structure and teachings of the church.

First off, I don't believe there is any verification out there that Juror #10 is involved in a fringe sect or the Fundamentalist cult offshoot of the Mormon faith, led by Warren Jeffs. There's quite a bit of stuff you can read about the Mormon church online at LDS.org. You can even do a search of their entire website, and pull up a particular teaching, just using a phrase. According to my friend, "We're not like Jehovah Witnesses or other groups that do shunning or judging. We are taught just the opposite. And, it doesn't matter where Mormon's are located in the world, we are all taught the same thing. We are always taught to love everyone and have service to help change them." And she went onto imply, that meant change them into better people. She also said that the title of 'Elder' "...is the lowest ranking for a grown man. It doesn't mean you are 'high up,' in the church. Now, if it was a Bishopric, that would be high up, or if he was part of the Elder's Quorum, that would be higher up."

My friend also said that in the Mormon faith, they are taught that the "laws of the land" come before the laws of the religion. That they are taught to, "Follow the law of the land." And I did some searches of the LDS site using that phrase "laws of the land," and "judging," and it was pretty interesting reading the Mormon Scriptures, and other entries from their Gospel library.

Juror #9 and I talked a bit about Asperger's and Juror #10. At first, #9 felt that there was nothing "wrong" with #10, because he didn't sense anything "wrong" with #10. In fact, Juror #9 said he easily bonded with #10, because they had a few things in common, and he really liked him as a person. He was surprised that people perceived #10 as having a "flat affect." However, after we talked, there were some things that stood out.

The 13 notebooks. You know how the steno notebooks the jurors are provided have a line down the middle? Well, Juror #10 only wrote on the right side of that page line when he took his notes. And Juror #10 took detailed notes all during deliberations. So that note taking was not as much as people originally thought, but only writing on one side of the page, in my opinion is another unusual characteristic, as well as the taking notes during deliberations.

#9 said, "Every doubt was reasonable." This was not limited to Juror #10, but was also felt by other jurors, including Juror #1. To me, this tells us that some of the jurors lacked the ability to come to conclusions about behavior, and what type of behavior was more reasonable than other behavior.

Juror #9 said that #10 was wrong when he said, "We had discounted the forensics." Not true. He said they never came to a consensus on that. It was more along the lines of, "Let's say they were inconclusive." And #9 disagrees with #10's statement that #1 was at one point guilty. Juror #9 said #1 "Definitely was." (Another interesting point, Juror #11 was always wanting all the jurors to agree to the same thing, or agree that something occurred a specific way.)

Juror #9 thought it was possible that Juror #1 was jealous of Lana. Juror #1 said, "I'm a strong Mexican woman, and I don't understand why Lana would allow anyone to put anything in her mouth." Juror #1 said that she would never let anyone put a gun in her mouth. I find this interesting that, because this juror felt that "she" would never let something like that happen to her, she didn't have the ability to perceive that someone else could be terrified in the same situation, or that the gun was possibly forced inside Lana's mouth when she opened it to possibly scream. My thoughts on this are, did Juror #1 see Lana as a weak woman, and that she was stronger, or possibly morally superior to Lana?

Juror #9 has said that one juror had difficulty articulating their position, as well as understanding the definition of malice, as it was outlined by the court. He also said that Juror #2, would not be doing interviews, a show for Dateline, or write a book. In his own words, (via Juror #9), #2 said, "I don't want people to perceive a conflict of interest." Juror #9 called #2, "An honorable guy."

Juror #1 was looking through her notebooks and reading quite a few of Lana's emails and always focusing on the negative to support her position, no matter how tiny or insignificant the point would be. And, Juror #1 made this statement about Spector, "He's old." And the inference that Juror #9 got from that was, as if we should let him go. Juror #9 had to keep pointing out the jury instruction that they were not allowed to consider the consequences of their verdict.

I don't know if Juror #1 was jealous of Lana, and I don't know if Juror #10 has a form of Asperber's Syndrome or not. Certainly a "diagnosis" of Asperger's is all speculation to explain Juror #10's vote, as well as his flat affect in front of the camera and his odd answers to questions on Ashleigh Banfield's show. I do find it interesting that even with the information (that did not come into evidence) that Ms. Banfield gave him, he was still able to say that he could basically argue that information both ways.

Taking that into consideration with everything else we have learned about Juror #10, my impression is that #10 was not able to evaluate the information that was presented, and put "weights" to the evidence. He weighed all things equally, and kept them equally in his mind. He was unable to put an emotional weight to proposed behavior and take one side or another and determine if a behavior was reasonable or not. Having been presented with several different possibilities, he thought all were possible and was unable to reject any and pick a specific one. In that respect it is my opinion that he failed as a juror on this trial.