...We had been sitting there for about an hour and I could see activity with the prosecution team as they would go in an out of the courtroom. The hearing was scheduled to begin at 9:00am but it was way beyond that time. The prosecutor, Joe Khan, came up to give me the first of many updates I would be receiving that day. He said the defense team had been filing some motions and the judge was hearing them and Joe was arguing them. The end result was the hearing would now begin at Noon. As I stated in my last post I would be one of the last women to testify so I was in for a long day. Joe said they would go back to their offices and return before then and asked if I needed anything. Ever the planner I had brought a book and snacks to eat and drink so I decided to stay there and read. I was told in the days leading up to the hearing they didn't know how long we would be there so I made sure I had something to occupy my brain and stomach. I needed to keep as clear a head as possible and hunger would not be a good thing. Most everyone else left so I sat enjoying the quiet especially after what I had unexpectedly experienced earlier walking off the elevator onto the floor where the courtroom was.
At about 11:00 or 11:30 everyone started trickling back into the hallway and the busyness began again. Most of the prosecution team, all the detectives and media entered the courtroom while the victims and a few of Joe Khan's associates stayed out in the hall. There was a small room outside of each of the courtroom doors which were on both sides. It had a table and 4 chairs and was used by the attorneys to have private conversations with their clients prior to entering court. This was used throughout the day as a place where the victim and their family/friends were brought just prior to them testifying. One by one each victim would be called into the courtroom.
A few vivid memories of that day really stick out in my mind. #1 being how long it seemed that each victim stayed in there to testify. It seemed as if the other victims waiting, including myself, looked at their watch each time one of us went in and then would look at each other as time seemed to tick by as if it was taking too long. Almost as if we were trying to prepare ourselves but didn't know what was becoming obvious to us, that testifying wasn't going to go as quickly as we had hoped. Not only that but, vivid memory #2 was how dramatic and emotional the exit was of each victim leaving the courtroom. The doors seemed to be pushed open with as much force as humanly possible so as to get out of there as quickly as possible. They were each crying uncontrollably and being surrounded by their loved ones. Joe's associates would take them aside and do the best to console them. Which I can tell you from experience was kind words of support and how good we performed on the stand. I am not going to lie this was really getting scary. Not only that but time was ticking away and the clock was approaching 6:00pm which is unheard of for a court session. I would soon be given some devastating news...
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