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Friday 6 June 2008

The Longest Day

As each day goes by it's becoming ever more clear that Judge Diane Kottmyer's desire to seat a jury for Neil Entwistle’s trial in one day was wildly optimistic.


The painstaking and complex process, alien to the British press assembling each day in the public gallery, is now entering its fourth day.


My own assumption that two notebooks would be enough for covering the three-week case is also proving wildly optimistic, with one already half full of notes on jurors, statements given outside court and endless calculations of how and when the jury box will eventually be filled.


Yesterday even Judge Diane Kottmyer appeared to be growing tired of the process.


As one juror entered the courtroom shortly before 11am, she greeted him with "Good afternoon, sir," before quickly correcting herself.


Shortly afterwards she said to another: "Good morning, is it still morning? Yes it is. Good morning."


There were repeated sighs and shaking heads in the public gallery – both from Entwistle’s family and the press – as juror after juror admitted they were biased by what they had seen or heard in the media about the case.


At the beginning of the week many had hoped the case might be underway by now.


But as strange as the jury selection process appears to those of us who are used to the British system, there has to be a method of countering the amount of freedom given to the press before a trial in the US.


It seems the drawn out process now continuing at Middlesex Superior Court is the only way of ensuring Entwistle, who faces the prospect of seeing out the rest of his days behind bars if convicted, receives the fair trial he is entitled to.

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