It seems that one of the jurors in the Scooter Libby case in Washington has been dismissed due to exposure over the weekend to media trial coverage. Fair enough, you can’t be too careful when a man’s liberty is at stake. The MSNBC report goes on to tell us about the juror:
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.
T-shirts?Valentine’s Day? Dude, as I believe the Americans like to say, WTF?
Blogger firedoglake fills in the detail:
When the jurors came in 45 minutes ago for the final evidence presented in this case, 13 of the 14 juros (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… A man on the jury, who is a retired school teacher originally from north carolina, then read a statement to the court. …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.
It is almost redundant to say that this is mind-bogglingly inappropriate, but the story is intriguing. One longs to have been a fly on the wall on the morning of the 14th, as our print-curating heroine tried in vain to persuade her fellow jurors that the whole thing was a bad idea before, outvoted, harrumphing “well, I’ll have no part in it”. In this light, it seems clear that she deliberately disqualified herself from further service , a desperate maneuvre by a woman who couldn’t spend one more second locked in a room with these morons. Few would blame her.
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Scorsese and Neil Jordan are collaborating on a new movie based on this, taking a template from 12 Angry Men. The working title is “11 freakin’ gobshites and a smart bird”. Bono apparently came up with the title over cocktails at the Oscars.
then again, it just proves Libby is being tried by a jury of his peers.
That is nuts.
The most bewildering aspect of it concerns the particular “special day” they chose to honour. Isn’t Valentine’s Day (as shit as it is) supposed to be exclusively about expressions of love for one’s sweetheart (plus chocolates and a fancy dinner)?
Who in their right mind, then, indiscriminately wishes a “Happy Valentine’s Day” to a group of people? It’s not bloody Christmas!
This coming March 18th I think that I’ll great all my friends/colleagues with a hearty “Happy Mother’s Day!” That’ll throw ‘em.
Well, it looks like the Valentines prank was a precursor to that other thing that follows romance, dinner and a movie.
And, now that Fústar mentions it, I’m somewhat disturbed by a group of people wishing a unilateral Happy Val’s to another group of people…
“Bailiff, bring out the bowl for the car keys and let’s see who gets lucky.”