They say the only thing more scary than a jury of your “peers” is a trial by a judge! How about fruits and nuts? Today was jury selection day and it was by no means boring. The judge gives potential jurors forms to fill out and answer as to any kind of a conflict. This is also a potential way for some to come up with a wacky thought or two to get off being on a jury, and I hope that was what I saw today. Just short of lunatics were a few of these people, and I always get a shooting pain when I hear the words, “of your peers.” Bullshit! I had absolutely nothing in common with 75% of the 50 or so that showed up in the jury selection pool today.
One guy kept calling himself a “determinist,” as in I think he was determined not to get selected! He could not come to any conclusion for any reason, and no matter what the evidence he did not think that he could make a decision one way or another. Another woman had “irritable bowel syndrome” and wanted to tell us all more, but Judge Fischer had the answer: she would have the woman seated on the end of the box, closer to the toilet in the event of a mudslide. Not to be outdone, another guy said that he had “sleep apnea” and could doze off in seconds…again the Judge told him that she would put him between two wide-awake jurors who could keep him awake with “jabs.” I doubt a more strange bunch could have been found in Central Casting. And with all due respect, I am sure all of the lawyers and the judge must all see this too.
We cannot seem to get away from material for DESPERATEEXES.COM: throughout the prospective juror “ramblings” several people spoke about how disappointed some were with their DIVORCE proceedings and felt that the courts and the lawyers gave them the crappy end of the stick. With that said, a few admitted to using P.I.s and how they loved them and the work that they had done. How about that — hate the lawyers, the courts and love Mr. P.I. — go figure that one, they must have been so desperate to try and find something worthwhile that they zeroed in on their P.I.
This trial is going to take 8-10 weeks and has 5 defendants and over 100 witnesses! And some celebrities, too! How exciting — it is going to be a grand meeting of the “Liars Club,” oh I cannot wait. During jury selection all sides got to throw people off the jury for whatever reason they deemed necessary. The prosecution gets to tell up to 11 to take a hike and the defense gets to tell 20 to blow off, and then what is left is The Jury. And that was done before lunch on the first day! They had to come back and pick 6 alternate jurors and that too was completed very efficiently…this judge is not fooling around!
A couple of the defense lawyers addressed the potential jury with thoughts and wisdom, and one that jumped at me was Adam Braun, Esquire. This guy planted the seed and will be cultivating it and watering it throughout the trial. Mr. Braun is not playing around, he is going to win this big and when you listen closely, you realized that his client Mr. Kachikian had no idea that Anthony was going to go and tap phones. As Mr. Braun stated, lawful things can be used for unlawful purposes and that is the whole thing in a few words. Mr. Kachikian had no idea what was going on and was more or less indicted so as to put pressure on him to give up a “code” or something that the government could use to break the codes in what they seized from Pellicano…he himself had nothing and here he sits!
Abner Nicherie was present in the same clothes he had on the day before, and of course where you see this nitwit you see his mother — bleach blonde and looking sooooo tired. This guy I am going to watch closely, as he is one that should be found guilty, if nothing else of being stupid in public! Amazing when you consider what he has been accused of…I would not give this creep two cents never mind millions.
Things got funny and light-hearted when it came out that one of the juror stated his occupation as “agricultural inspector.” I said loud enough for a few to hear that this was good, as with the number or fruits and nuts on this panel he would be busy. Then I thought again out loud that I was sure he could find any “bad apples” if they were in the room.
Anthony Pelicano addressed the jurors and made a statement to the effect that had any of them seen any rendition of P.I.s on television, and was it bad to bend the law to get any information. He made mention that the U.S. government wiretaps and gets people’s information from phone companies. He also mentioned background checks, and again it was obvious that he was going to be going places in the days and weeks ahead.
Talk about funny, the Duo from the New York Times was present, and if my memory serves me right was it not one of them that left all of their notes at the house of someone that at one time was friendly with Mr. Pellicano? Yup, it was! This is the same guy that told me that he was not going to use my name in any story of his as he was not going to “advertise” for me! Mr. I-left-my notes-at-someones-house can kiss my *%#!
Anthony is a little gaunt and not himself, he was looking better the last time I saw him in court, however I have to say he still has the voice and the sense about him that everything will be fine. To some degree I have always thought he was full of BS, but I have never said anything negative about him and nor will I. I am not impressed by these bozos from Israel who make statements about Mr. Pellicano while he is incarcerated and for others to talk crap about him; all I will say is that they would not do it if he was sitting next to them. This guy has a certain amount of honor about him and his person, and who can deny it? If he had flipped months, years ago he would be out and eating good red sauce and clams; he is not and that too speaks volumes.
Other defendants were present too, and who cares? What happens to them will be covered too in future reports but this story is about Anthony Pellicano and not some corrupt cops who wanted to rub elbows with the rich and silly…god how they must feel, while in custody Pellicano has a certain “respect,” former dirty cops, not so good!