Oh, say, can you see.... or hear ...?

I was in Judge Meyer's courtroom this morning to see and hear the next round between Zane Seipler and Sheriff Nygren, and they finally got to it at 10:58AM.

First of all, I would like to thank those attorneys who, when not in front of Judge Meyer, remained seated and quiet in the courtroom. Now, to the others... Does the bailiff have some orders not to quiet the attorneys who stand behind the lawyers' tables and gab away? Wouldn't it be nice if he directed them to the hallway all the way outside the courtroom and vestibule or motioned them to the side or rear of the courtroom, so that they didn't interfere with the sight or hearing of the "common people" in the courtroom?

Zane's attorney, Blake Horwitz from Chicago, was late this morning, so the case was delayed when called twice. Cal Skinner, Pete Gonigam, Sara Sutschek (from the Northwest Herald) and I were there to hear what was said this morning.

And I'm still waiting to find out what, for the most part, was said. Guess I'll have to read it on McHenry County Blog, in FirstElectricNewspaper or in the Northwest Herald.

Several things interfered with my hearing what was said. The attorneys who were talking in front of me were a problem. But the big problem was the voice levels up at Judge Meyer's desk. When he called all the cases this morning, he spoke up in a normal voice. Normal voice levels, I can hear. No problem.

But after the lawyers get to the bench, voice volume drops about 60%. Sometimes, more. Earlier in the morning, they were sometimes so low that Judge Meyer himself had to lean forward to hear what a lawyer was saying.

Zane's business before the Court this morning was a Motion to Re-consider; i.e., to for the judge to re-consider his decision given recently not to appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate Sheriff Nygren.

Assistant State's Attorney Don Leist (pronounced "Lie-st", not "Leest") argued that Blake had not presented any new evidence or any new case law in his Motion. I couldn't hear very much of what Blake said. What I do think is that a lawyer, especially an experienced trial lawyer never, Never, NEVER says anything in court that he doesn't intend to say. And so he got a rise out of Don Leist when he mispronounced his name (more than once, I think), and Liest "bit".

In any event, Liest prevailed today, and Judge Meyer again denied the Motion. But it's not over yet, because Judge Meyer gave Horwitz 14 more days to present another Motion.

Is Judge Meyer looking for a reason to appoint a Special Prosecutor? So it seems to me.

Judge Meyer runs a good courtroom. It would be nice, though, if he spoke up so that he could be heard all the time. He doesn't have to yell - just use the same voice he uses, when he calls a case. And require the lawyers to speak up.