I woke up early on the morning of August 11th, but not like I used to have to. 3:00 am was nothing compared to my old two day wait. I’ve sort of got a rhythm going with it anyway. I took my time getting ready, having breakfast, and getting dressed. I had plans to meet a production crew nearby and so we did some interview shots while I drove us to the courthouse.
Upon arriving at 100 Centre street, I was surprised by just how many members of the press there were on the opposite side of the street. You see, this is normally where newscasters set up to get those live shots you see on the news, with them speaking and the courthouse in the back. You’ll see them out here all lined up with their big shiny lights and fancy outfits. That is, fancier than the journalists that come inside the courtroom who mostly seem to dress in a toned down manner. Except for the odd few, like me. I wore a lot of green today.
I lined up, and there was no one there yet. Not even a cop in sight. Ashley joined me soon after, and we stood, chatting. I was grateful that I had brought a jacket as it was uncharacteristically chilly for an August morning. I felt like having a hot tea but hadn’t packed any. And the banana I brought for lunch had turned to mush in my computer bag. Great. I opted for a cough drop instead.
As the line started to develop behind us, there was not too much going on. It’s always pretty calm in the mornings. I wasn’t even really sure if I would be on the reserve list, aka the list of 86 journalists who get first dibs on seating for the trial. The OCA had announced overflow rooms, but hadn’t given too much more information. I had received email communications, however they were often vague or perhaps I did not understand them properly. However, I was ultimately included on the list. I am grateful to the OCA for being gracious and accommodating to that end.
Who I was not so grateful to today were the two male “journalists” who tried to boot Ashley and me out of our spots like a bunch of high school bullies. Everyone knows you stand in the same order upstairs in the hall that you do downstairs on the line. It’s always been that way, for the two years I’ve now been doing this. They denied this, refusing to let us back into our spots once we arrived to the thirteenth floor. They tried to claim they hadn’t seen us in front of them that morning, that we likely had lied to get on the reserve line, and we were missing some other ID card necessary to access it.
I protested, as I hadn’t gotten up early for nothing. They tried objecting to the court officers, who didn’t seem to care much. I did notice that after they alerted the Press Office to us (as they threatened they were going to,) no one else made much of a fuss. Coincidentally, the same person they alerted was the one who had just written numbers 1 and 2 next to Ashley and I’s names on the reserve list moments prior, and thanked us for being there early.
The legacy media claims to have so much respect for its craft but will resort to intimidation tactics and making up blatant lies they know won’t hold up. All just to have to quietly sit right next to me the whole hearing and have the same access as I do. But I digress.
We were finally escorted in around 8:30 am. It took around an hour of sitting around in wait before either team walked through the doors. It was quite muggy in the courtroom, and that’s when I noticed it was also really packed. It seemed like everyone showed up early today–except for Judge Carro, who came in ten minutes after the court photographers had finished capturing photographs of Luigi. Though when he did sit down, he immediately got after it. He began to scold the defense for their questioning of the press plan as he claimed that there “has never been a decision to exclude the public or press.” In fact, he even insisted that the court went overboard to accommodate. Marc Agnifilo began to state that the court had only done so after their objections, to Judge Carro’s immediate denial.
However, I have to say that I would agree. I believe overflow rooms not only could have been arranged in order to expand press and public access to this case from the start, but they absolutely should have been. Why couldn’t they have been arranged all along? Like in February, when 300+ people showed up. Or in December, when 40+ of us camped out in below freezing temperatures.
I also believe that if the defense wants for the trial to be live-streamed, then they should be allowed to arrange for that. I don’t see why not. I’ve seen plenty of other recent high-profile cases get live-streamed. However, Judge Carro seemed to feel pretty defensive about this, and so Agnifilo conceded, saying that they were simply “grateful.”
Judge Carro spared no one as he also seemed to admonish the prosecution, waving off their request that overflow rooms only contain audio and no video feed. He maintained that this is not the court’s first high-profile case so they know how to handle the management of said overflow rooms. He went on to explain that because of the high volume of interest in the trial, the reserve seating was expanded to 86 individuals from 68, meaning there will be much less room for the public. I think to remedy this, it would be preferable to set up several overflow rooms for those members of the public that do not get to make it inside.
As for the issue of who will get to cover jury selection, the court and press office maintained their initial statement that a rotating pool of 6 journalists will be chosen to spectate. How, is unclear. Not only that, but that the jury itself will be anonymous. I don’t mind at all if the jury wishes to stay anonymous. Why would anyone object to that? I’d probably wish for that too having experienced the media circus surrounding the pre-trial hearings. But to limit the amount of press allowed to view jury selection is disappointing, to say the least. I was really curious about the whole process and excited to spectate. And this feels like a lack of transparency, frankly.
Judge Carro moves on with a request to both sides to get their ducks in a row. He asks that they “come together and come to a decision about the questions they will use” for the jury questionnaire. I’m wondering how that’s going to happen, while there is a brief mention of a protective order, signed off by both sides. He then has them approach the bench, and we are stalled for quite some time. I could have sworn I saw Luigi mouth “what is taking so long” to his team. He seemed quite exhausted. His eyelids looked droopy and he appeared to be blinking a lot. I wondered what time he had been woken up for what would likely be a quick meeting. Maybe around the same time I had?
At a quarter past 10, Judge Carro dismisses everyone from the bench and we are adjourned shortly after for jury selection which is set to begin on September 8th.
My thoughts post hearing today are scrambled: I’m really pleased to have been given a spot on the reserve list. Yet I’m sad that more accommodations can’t be made, especially for the public to have a chance at being inside. While members of the public fight really hard to be in those rooms (see: my substacks last December,) these “journalists” that try to cut me in line and then follow me after hearings also show up late, report lazily, and won’t know the details like the members of the public will. Some of these individuals have spent days lining up to attend. These people know the case deeply and constantly reorganize their lives to be present. Commitment of that kind should not be treated as less deserving of access just because it doesn’t come with a press credential. Just as my access to cover this case shouldn’t be infringed upon just because I wasn’t born 20 years earlier and/or didn’t sell my soul to NBC Universal.
Lastly, I wish veteran journalists could have a little more respect for their craft. I understand allowing newcomers they do not relate to into their spaces seems daunting and intimidating. But sleazy tactics when all other attempts to humiliate or alienate me have failed may not work for too much longer. Did they ever, really? It just seems really embarrassing and tiring. I implore my journalist friends to relax and try to get used to me. I don’t bite, I promise! And I intend to cover as much of Luigi’s trial as I possibly can as I now have the access to do so.
This is very much the end of an era. I look forward to what is ahead.
Thank you for reading!
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