* This message forwarded from private area of Rich Woods
  * Original message dated 27 May 97  23:05:06, from Jury Rights Project
 
 Apparently-to: rich.woods@realpix.ronly.org
From: Jury Rights Project 
Subject: The best defense.....
     "The best defense is a good crowd of friends."
              by the Jury Rights Project
                    May 28, 1997
     Below is a part of the transcript of the first day of the
trial of Laura Kriho.  Kriho was tried for contempt of court
after she was the lone holdout on a jury in a drug possession
case in Gilpin County, Colorado.
     This partial transcript is presented not just because of its
remarkable entertainment value (it is high comedy:), but as a
lesson:  WHEN YOU GO TO COURT, TAKE SOME FRIENDS WITH YOU.
Friends can:
     - give moral support to the defendant,
     - give an audience for the defense attorney,
     - attract media coverage,
     and, most importantly, they can effectively
     UNNERVE AND DISTRACT THE PROSECUTOR
     just by their mere presence.
          CAST OF CHARACTERS:
THE COURT:  Former prosecutor and Colorado First Judicial
District Chief Judge Henry Nieto
MR. STANLEY: Deputy D.A. Jim Stanley
MR. GRANT: Paul Grant, defense counsel for Laura Kriho
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Gilpin County Sheriff's Deputy
LAURA KRIHO: Defendant, on trial of contempt of court based on
evidence of "improper" jury room deliberations.
AUDIENCE:  Over 70 different supporters of Laura Kriho plus many 
news media representatives.
        The events described below happened in the Judge's chambers
after the Judge had denied several media requests for video and audio
coverage of the trial.
*****************BEGIN TRANSCRIPT***************************
District Court, Gilpin County, State of Colorado
Case No. 96-CR-91
---------------------------------------------------------------
REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT
---------------------------------------------------------------
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF COLORADO,
Plaintiff,
V.
LAURA KRIHO
Defendant.
Day 1 of the Trial Proceedings
October 1, 1996
Page 8 
(Following proceedings held in Chambers.)
THE COURT:  We'll return to the People versus Kriho; 96 CR 91. 
Record should reflect we are in Chambers.  Deputy DA and a Gilpin
Sheriff's Department deputy are present.  Mr. Grant and his
client are present.  Mr. Stanley, you've indicated you wished to
have some matter on the record here.
MR. STANLEY: Yes, Judge, thank you.  During the short open court
session that we just had, the initial first session on this case
where there was nothing more than, you know, certainly no
testimony but there were comments, brief arguments and positions
stated by both litigants and then rulings stated by Your Honor,
what happened in the back of the courtroom what I experienced,
and what the deputy sheriff, the acting bailiff who was standing
at the side, and I'm sorry, you're Deputy --
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Stevens.
MR. STANLEY:  -- observed and supports the concern I had earlier
this morning, Your Honor, I heard various different levels of
what I will characterize as just general commotion and
description of sighs, grunts, escalated whispering and all of
this in the wake of the Court making a ruling, or some comment
being made that clearly was not appreciated by one or more people
in the audience.  And I turned and looked out there, I could see
exactly -- what I anticipated and what I expressed to the Court
this morning I saw people rolling their eyes, doing the back head
gestures, arms up in the air, quick turnarounds, the obvious
major head turning with a sole purpose for the people in the
front of the courtroom, the people, litigants, possibly Your
Honor, I don't know, to see this.  It's clear that these people
want to express however subtle or to what ever degree, their
views and their opinions about this proceeding and this contempt
citation and this court process.
     Deputy, you also overheard some comments, did you not?
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Yes, sir.
MR. STANLEY: Deputy, your full name?
DEPUTY STEVENS: My name is Richard Joseph Stevens, Jr.
MR. STANLEY: You're a deputy sheriff with Gilpin County, sir?
DEPUTY STEVENS: Yes, sir.
MR. STANLEY: You were in court just now?
DEPUTY STEVENS: Yes, sir.
MR. STANLEY:  Would you please tell the Judge what you -- either
what you overheard or heard during the proceeding?
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Yes, sir.  I heard numerous acts of commotion
but also after Your Honor made the decision on the cameras, I
observed and heard a gentlemen in the front row say -- excuse my
language, -- fucking asshole.  I heard "asshole" very well.  The
first part of that was a little bit more mumbled.  That's what I
felt he said.
MR. STANLEY:  And was this in the wake of the Judge's ruling?
DEPUTY STEVENS: Yes, sir, it was.
MR. STANLEY:  Was it clear to you that the term, fucking asshole,
was directed to the Court, to the Judge.
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Yes, sir.
MR. STANLEY:  Was there anything else that you heard?
DEPUTY STEVENS:  No, sir.  Just some grunts.
MR. STANLEY:  Did you see the movements and the various grunts?
DEPUTY STEVENS:  Yes, sir, I did.
MR. STANLEY:  Judge, my concern here is, here is a person out in
the back of the courtroom calling Your Honor a fucking asshole,
and we haven't even started the trial yet.  Your Honor, we have
not even started.  This is substantive and the information that
clearly is going to be stuff these people don't want to hear, and
I'm concerned about this.  I think this is only the tip of what's
going to happen through the entire process, if we don't get this
nipped in the bud.
THE COURT:  Mr. Grant?
MR. GRANT:  Judge, Mr. Stanley has more sensitive ears than I.
I heard some noise at the ruling, and I didn't hear any words.
I heard some noise, some mumbling, muttering, whatever, and I'm
sure there was some movement in the audience.  And part of the
reason why we have public trials is so that the public can hear
these things and yet not be disruptive and clearly we don't want
to encourage that and we don't mind -- I mean we don't have a
problem with the Court admonishing them -- the audience -- to
behave properly and that disruptive behavior won't be tolerated.
     On the other hand, if somebody rolls their eyes that's
certainly their prerogative, if they're not disrupting the Court. 
People can't sit there stone gazed if they have a strong reaction
and there was a very, very important ruling there on the right of
the public to see this trial, so somebody was concerned.  I can
understand if somebody was offensive and obnoxious and
disruptive, I don't support that at all, so I don't have a
problem with the Court advising the people in the courtroom that
that's disruptive behavior and is not going to be tolerated and
additionally I have a request.  I understand the purpose of
Deputy Stevens being in the courtroom but I would ask if he could
find another location for him.  He is a huge man, and he is
armed, and he's standing right next to the defendant and that
makes her uncomfortable, so if we can find a better place.
THE COURT:  I'm not going to direct the deputy on how to conduct
the security on where he chooses to be.  
...
I will briefly and mildly admonish this group.  I did not hear
the comments and I don't intend to take any action on comments
that I did not hear.
*****************END TRANSCRIPT***************************
     When the court was reconvened in the courtroom, Mr. Grant
again stated that his client was uncomfortable with an armed
deputy standing only a few feet behind her.  Grant asked Judge
Nieto if the defense could switch tables with the prosecution. 
Stanley objected vehemently, "I don't understand how the presence
of a peace officer could be a problem for someone...  It just
doesn't make any sense to me."
     Judge Nieto ordered Stanley to switch tables with the
defense.  
     That was one of the few rulings won by the defense over the
next two days.  Kriho's trial had begun: an inquisition into the
private deliberation processes of Ms. Kriho and nine of the other
jurors who served with her.
     The courtroom was packed during both days of Kriho's trial. 
Prosecutor Jim Stanley continued to be agitated and flustered by
the whispering, eye-rolling, and "back head gestures" he
perceived from the audience.  However, the judge saw no problems
and did not give in to Stanley's desire to have the courtroom
cleared.
     Laura said later that having the courtroom packed with
people helped enormously.  She only wished her friends could have
been with her in chambers to witness the prosecutor and deputy
say "fucking asshole" to the judge.
     Thanks to all the people who attended Laura's trial!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Presented as a Public Service by the:
	    Jury Rights Project (jrights@welcomehome.org)
          Background info.:  http://www.execpc.com/~doreen
         To be added to or removed from the JRP mailing list,
   send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title.
Donations are requested for the court appeals to overturn the conviction
of former juror Laura Kriho, convicted of contempt of court for failing to
volunteer information about her political beliefs during jury selection:
	      -- Laura Kriho Legal Defense Fund --
	       c/o Paul Grant (defense attorney)
	          Box 1272, Parker, Colo. 80134
                 Email: pkgrant@ix.netcom.com
---
--- DLG Pro v1.16/DLGMail v2.63
(1:209/245)
---------------