First of two parts
The bellowing was so insistently loud that it must have torn through the courtroom walls, and out into the corridor where a chastened but unrepentant and very resilient brother of the homicide victim was sitting.
In a starkly bizarre departure from courtroom etiquette, Judge James R. Dabney and the opposing attorneys, Joe Markus for the prosecution and Nan Whitfield for the defense, all were hollering simultaneously.
The lawyers, who are definite don’t-invite-’ems, had been wearing out the judge’s patience, arguing over the assertion that the defense allegedly has been responsible for delaying the start of the trial.
No one has been following the winding, twisting trail leading up to the murder trial of National Guard veteran Scott A. Ansman the last 19 months than Gerald Bennett.
He presents a tall and commanding appearance. Hardly anyone has seen his natural pleasantness break through since the family learned his sister, JoAnn Crystal Harris, had been whacked to death at the Culver City National Guard Armory minutes before Fiesta La Ballona began on an August afternoon in 2007.
Mr. Bennett was out of the courtroom, but not necessarily hearing range, because when the prosecutor lowered a rhetorical boom on the defense attorney, he broken into immediate — some would say understandable because of his long-pent up feelings — applause.
Instantly, Mr. Bennett was warned that he had just beached etiquette.
He promptly walked out of the courtroom, causing him to miss the following outburst:
With the lawyers not only pushing the envelope but wadding it up and throwing it away, Judge Dabney sounded like a frustrated father who had walked into a playroom only to find two strident siblings acerbically quarreling with each other.
Normally a gentle, easygoing soul, Judge Dabney did not seem to have enough vocal weapons at his call to effectively restore peace.
“Counsel! Counsel!” he screamed.
“I am not going to have this. Both of you stop it. Hey! I said stop it! Stop it!
“Listen. This is how it’s going to go. “
Understand, he was speaking in a roar.
Striking at each word as if he were wielding a sledgehammer, Judge Dabney said in his finest two- or three-room voice:
“And…if…you…don’t…do…this…you…are… going…to…be…in…contempt.
“I will ask to hear from you.
“You will have an opportunity to be heard.
“I will then ask to hear from the other party.
“You will have an opportunity to respond.
“Do not talk over each other.
“Do not argue with each other.
“You talk to me when I ask for your input. And not before.
“Is that clear, Ms. Whitfield?
“Is that clear Mr. Markus?”
In both cases, counsels’ affirmative response escaped all ears in the courtroom.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bennett, out in the corridor, even more frustrated than when the pre-trial hearing had started, spoke to a visitor who greeted him.
[To be continued]
