No Rock And Roll Fun

JUDGE STOPS PISSING ABOUT: It's possible Judge Melville woke up yesterday morning, and, over his bowl of Breakfast Boulders and cup of coffee, thought "I really don't want to be doing this for the rest of my life." Something, clearly, made the guy turn up at the Jackson trial with a new, get-things-done attitude, as he slapped down time limits on how much questioning potential jurors could be given, and so the jury selection process was finished yesterday. Instead of the "sometime in a few weeks" that everyone was expecting.

We hope that he takes the same attitude with the trial proper - "okay, counsellor, you've got thirty seconds..." We could have a result by Friday teatime; mid-morning if he makes them watch the Bashir documentary on fast forward.

Four men, eight women, the youngest is 20, the oldest 79:

Among the jurors were a woman who said her grandson was required to register as a sexual offender because of a crime; a 20-year-old man who likes "The Simpsons" TV show; and a man who likes Western art and country music.

One of the jurors had been asked during selection if he recognized celebrity witnesses in the case including self-help guru Deepak Chopra. He responded, "I think he's a rapper."

The defence had poll reports which suggested that black jurors would be less inclined to believe the Jackson allegations, and court reports that jackson looked quite upset when two back women were kicked off the shortlist. One of them suggested it was all a fix:

"Just look around us. A jury of his peers would be people of his age and people of color, mixed diversity," she said. "How diverse is this jury looking to you right now?"

No, you're confusing "a jury of his cousins" with "a jury of his peers." We also like her suggestion that the way to achieved "mixed diversity" (as opposed to that modern singular diversity?) is to have a jury without any white people on it.

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