MBALibbyTrial

A former school teacher from North Carolina when asked if he had opinion about Vice President Cheney:

"I'm not sure I'd want to go duck hunting with him"

[note: the quote was a group effort in the Media Center to recollect exactly how he said that and the consensus was this was the correct version of the line]

There are a number of standard questions being asked of the prospective jurors about their ability to be fair and follow the law.

There are several questions that are particularly suggestive of where Libby's lawyers may be going with their defense.

Some of the more interesting exchanges have revolved around question number 17:

(17.) At this time, I want to ask you some questions about your beliefs or opinions about human memory:

(A.) Is there anyone who believes that everyone’s memory is like a tape recorder and therefore all individuals are able to remember exactly what they said and were told in the past?

(B.) Is there anyone who feels that a person could not honestly say something about a matter he or she truly believed to be the true when that person several months earlier actually said something totally different about that same matter?

(C.) Is there anyone who believes that it is impossible for a person to mistakenly believe that he or she was told something by one person when in fact the person was actually told the information by someone totally different several months earlier?

(D.) Is there anyone who believes that it is absolutely impossible for a person to believe very strongly that he or she has certain memories about something, even though it is determined that those memories are inaccurate?

There were two other questions - well really the WAY the questions were asked - that got me wondering whether we might be in for a bit of a surprsie.

(12.) Every defendant in a criminal case has the absolute right not to testify, and if a defendant decides not to testify, you cannot in any way hold that against him or consider his decision not to testify in deciding whether the government has proven that he is guilty. Is there anyone who could not accept and follow this principle of law?

(13.) A defendant is not required to call any witnesses. Would the decision by a defendant not to call witnesses cause you to conclude that he is guilty?

What are the odds that after all this hoopla and build up, Libby's lawyers don't put up a defense at all?

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Some of the folks I am sitting with in the Media Center are Matt Apuzzo from the AP, John Dickerson of Slate, Andy Sullivan of Reuters, Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News, David Shuster of MSNBC News, David Corn, a couple of folks from Court TV and another fellow from Bloomberg. Also, "Pachacutec" is here. Well, the real person who goes by that name and is blogging on FireDogLake is here. Since I can't spell well to begin with I am just going to write "Pach".

Matt is probably the busiest guy here and has two pieces up already today.

Finding Neutral Jurors Tough in CIA Case

I've been so swamped getting things set up here for everyone else that I've not had much time to process what is flying around here at the courthouse. I just had the chance to look through the witness/might be mentioned list. One odd thing is to see John Dickerson from Slate on this list because I was sitting next to him watching the voir dire all morning in the Media Center. I am going to have to ask him about that but presumeably he is NOT going to be a witness.

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A juror apparently just showed up at the courthouse - 4 hours late - because her boss did not believe that the judge had told her to come back again today. The woman said she "cleans homes" and that her supervisor gave her a hard time. The judge asked to speak to the supervisor and right then and there called the supervisor from the bench. Much to the dismay of the crowd in the Media Center the judge got a voice mail message.

UPDATE: The juror came back. Her boss now says she can be excused but she won't get paid. That boss is some kind of patriot. The judge asked her if that means she would not want to serve and, amazingly, she said "no", that she was still willing to serve. Informed that all she would get would be $35 a day as a juror she was still willing to serve. When pressed by the judge she acknowledged that she would not be able to afford transportion to the trial and be unable to pay her bills - but she was STILL willing to serve. This little drama turned into one of the most riveting moments of the voir dire and garned the full attention of the reporters in the media room. Finally, the judge asked if she would like to be excused due to financial hardship and she said "yes", much to the relief of most in the room.

Taped up all around the walls and doors of the First Floor Media Center are copies of the court order regarding media coverage of the Libby Trial. Judge Walton, who is sitting on United States of America v. I. Lewis Libby issued a ruling on January 10th that will govern our member bloggers in covering the trial. For their benefit, as well as readers who are wondering about such details, I share them here.

The plan has been to get through voir dire on Tuesday and Wednesday and select a jury before the end of the day, for the judge to give instructions to the jury on Thursday and give everyone Friday off. Under this plan the trial would start Monday.

By 11:30 AM, Judge Walton observed from the bench that he now expected jury selection to continue into tomorrow. No sense yet whether this means the expected start date will be pushed back but don't be surprised.

Robert Cox of Media Bloggers Association is interviewed on ABC News on covering the trial of Scooter Libby.

Text version is here<

Melissa McNamara wrote in CBS News' Blogophile But Can You Attend In Your PJs?

"Getting credentials for this case is a big, big deal. The media landscape shifts tectonically with every new landmark like this, and there is no question this is just the beginning,” he writes at Maine Web Report. “This is great news, as anybody who follows the business of blogging can easily recognize,” Jason Clarke adds. “I think this is a big first step toward elevating blogging,” Wendy Hoke at

Jennifer Duck wrote for ABC News Bloggers for 'Scooter' Wheel Into Town

"The idea of citizen journalists, of people coming in from everyday walks of life to start reporting on, or talking about, or discussing what's going on in the country, is something that is fundamentally good for our society and our democracy," said Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association and media credential holder for the trial.