I was just reading the February 14th, 2007, edition of The Onion and came across their “Infographic” column with highlights of the Scooter Libby trial. The second item is:
Jurors show up one day all wearing the same sweater
Iterestingliy, in the February 15th edition of The New York Times was this news snippet in the midst of their coverage of the previous day’s proceedings:
Before the jurors departed on Wednesday afternoon, they filed into the courtroom, all but one wearing bright red T-shirts with a white valentine heart over their clothes, to the uncertain laughter of many in the courtroom.
But as one juror, a retired North Carolina schoolteacher, rose to speak, Judge Walton became visibly anxious that the juror might say something inappropriate that could threaten the trial. Jurors are not supposed to speak and are supposed to make any concerns known through notes to the bench.
The juror said they were wearing the shirts to express their fondness for the judge and the court staff on Valentine’s Day. He then added, to the judge’s growing discomfort, that they were unanimous in this sentiment, but they would all be independent in judging the evidence in the Libby case.
The sole juror who apparently declined to wear the shirt was a woman who had been a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I will note that this is not the first time The Onion has proved precient in their supposedly satirical coverage. Back in January of 2001 they ran the forward looking headline “Bush To Nation: Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over.” Oh how true that turned out to be.
