Hearing Notes - 6/29
I arrived at the courthouse just before 10:00 AM on the 29th. A queue of about 15 to 20 people had already formed; many held some form of identification pass, though not for the press. The actual press corps was stationed right in front of the public line.
I noticed the crowd skewed heavily toward preppy Gen Zers and late Millennials, all dressed up as if it were their first day of law school—which was cute, at first. They sounded like interns, eagerly debating the relative advantages of attending Columbia versus NYU versus Cardozo.
The line-cutting began almost immediately. A well-dressed blonde ahead of me let two of her colleagues slide in front of us. It was mildly irritating, especially since seating inside the main courtroom is so limited, and the rest of us had shown up early specifically hoping to secure a spot.
As it turned out, their maneuvering didn't help them. Once we made it up the stairs, security redirected everyone to a side entrance down the block, effectively putting the front-runners and line-cutters at the very back of the queue.
Inside, after surrendering our phones and clearing security, we made our way to Room 110, where a separate press line was already waiting. I recognized two of the "Mangionistas" in the press queue, as well as a reporter from Schepps Media. Shortly after, Luigi’s lawyers walked in; the female attorney was wearing an outfit vaguely reminiscent of Jackie O.
When they finally began letting people inside, I anxiously counted the heads in front of me, wondering if I’d make the cut for the main courtroom. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of the lucky few this time. The cutoff missed me by just six or seven people. My group—including the line-cutters—was escorted to the overflow viewing room instead.
The alternate room had two screens mounted on either side. A friendly security officer, a Hispanic woman in her 50s, politely asked the more talkative members of the crowd to tone it down and maintain proper courtroom etiquette. Before long, the room grew quite chilly; I quickly regretted not bringing a sweater.
A sudden hush fell over the room when Luigi, dressed in light army green, walked in and took his seat. On the monitors, you could see almost every head in the courtroom pivot slightly in his direction—though a few people were far less subtle.
Outside, it was a brilliantly sunny morning. At one point, the person sitting next to me nudged me and pointed to the screen. The morning light streaming through the courtroom windows was reflecting so intensely off a bald man's head that he seemed entirely bathed in a bright white glow. "Is he an angel?" they whispered.
The focus was on clarifying the timing and schedules for the two cases. The judge mentioned specific dates in September and January.
The discussion then turned to selecting six alternate jurors in the event that any members of the initial panel needed to be removed. The judge noted that the high-profile nature of the case made this selection process particularly unique.
Throughout the proceedings, Luigi appeared highly focused, listening intently to his team.