Well, it was great to go to the trial… Played heck getting in there and had to practically dis-robe to get in! Holy Crap the security was really tight!! Anyways, watched the defense’s testimony in the a.m. - basically trying to show that the defendant delivered products she sold at all times of the day AND NIGHT, trying to dis-prove the fact that she delivered product to Shanda on June 19th at 11:00 p.m. She sold Avon, Tupperware and Scentsy products. Their actual defense? Naivety – she didn’t know she was selling a Schedule I Class Drug – she thought she was really selling incense; salts to put in your bath or scouring powder. Yah, okay…… Broke for lunch – went downtown C. R. and ate a sub… debated on whether to go back for jury instructions and closing arguments. Figured I had nothing to learn or gain by going back, so decided not to go back and just come home to Waterloo. However!! Something all of a sudden told me to go back for the afternoon session and I am sooo glad I did! (There are no such things as coincidences) … I got some great pictures of the new Federal Courthouse for Brandon and then low and behold…who comes by and walks her last steps of freedom up to the courthouse? Yep, you guessing it – the defendant! I got three really good pics of her for Brandon. So, back in the courtroom at 1:00 p.m. Instructions to the jury by the judge took about 1 ½ hrs. Really boring, repetitive… long… but necessary. In the a.m. session I had sat on the far right side of the courtroom, so after lunch I returned to the same side (you know how you always pick the same seat?). LOL After the judge’s instructions I saw the prosecution cue up the overhead projector located on the far right, and knew I had to move in order to see it. I got up and moved to dead center of the courtroom… Unusual? Yes… “who IS this woman at my trial???” Then started the closing arguments by the United States of America vs. The Defendant. FIVE Counts against her. Count #2 involved Shanda. As he started going through each count, when he got to Count 2, he told his assistant to cue up the video. They showed a small Windows Media Screen (with the play, stop, fast forward button) but there was no video. I wondered what they were going to show on video??? As it turned out, when they hit PLAY - it was my daughter Shanda’s voice on the June 19th Sting Operation played AGAIN / in repeat from yesterday’s testimony that I had not get to hear! When I realized what it was, I know my eyeballs were bugging out of my head and I did not blink nor take my eyes off the screen. There was nothing to see other than a straight line moving with the audio noises… I didn’t care… My actions spoke louder than words and the jurors and all should have realized right then and there who I was – the mother or related to the confidential informant being played (again) to the Jury. I sat and listened to the United States of America (prosecution) go through all of their closing arguments. When he got all through, the defense was going to present their rebuttal and then, since it is the prosecution who brought the case, they were going to get to do yet another rebuttal against the defense. Well, the SECOND the prosecution got done with their first closing argument, I stood straight up – head held high – turned on one heel – and walked directly OUT of the courtroom. I did not stick around to hear ANY of the defense’s closing arguments and then after that, the consequential prosecution’s rebuttal. Her guilt was apparent to me and I wanted everyone in that courtroom to know it by MY OWN demeanor. They HAD to have known this was the reason I got up and left! I didn’t want to cause a mis-trial, but I was not going to sit there and listen to a bunch of lies about selling Avon after midnight to losers in the Quad Cities…. Unreal… Here are the pictures I got… AND I met with the Gazette Reporter, gave her an outline of events. She has already called me wanting more information for the article…. I have so much gratification at this point in time… totally… All in all, I am so thankful I got to go and it gave me GREAT comfort and SOME closure – not TOTAL closure, but some and that’s more than I had before I went.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 23:40:44 +0000