Saturday: Tomorrow is the first anniversary of the
death of Anita Zaffke.
The
day after tomorrow, trial begins for Lora Hunt (detailed below) in
Today,
$2 million of motorcycles retraced the route that Hunt took, from her
daughter’s home in Delavan,
Media-savvy
and supremely motivated Greg Zaffke II is Anita’s son.
Terrible
as it must be to lose a mother that way, how terrible it must be to lose a wife
that way.
Greg2’s
fiancée and her father.
Russ. No relation to me or them.
And
others.
Restrooms
were in that far-away building…
…so
Bogie gave her a ride across the vast parking lot.
His wife gave him a helmet-cam.
“Zaffke
himself wasn't a cyclist like his mother at the time of her death. Now he rides
an all-black Harley-Davison Sportster bike.
“‘It's
my statement,’ he said. ‘No matter what I
wear, no matter what color my bike is, no matter how reflective my helmet is,
they should still see me. I have a headlight and turn signals and taillights
like any other vehicle on the road.
“‘The
truth is that when people say they didn't see a motorcyclist, they weren't
looking. It's as simple as that.’"
Monday, the First Day, jury selection: The
courthouse lobby has computer screens like those you find in the baggage area
at O’Hare. Instead of telling you where
the bags for your flight may be found, they tell you in which courtroom a
defendant may be found. There it was:
Hunt, Lora, courtroom 204 at 9:00.
At
9:20 there were only a few people in the room when the judge walked in and we
began. Sort of. There were many brief, unrelated matters and
there were no Zaffkes nor Hunts anywhere to be seen.
At
9:55 we had a 5 minute recess. Then the
court handled a number of additional brief, unrelated matters. Then we recessed again.
At
10:45 the lawyers were at their respective tables. Lora Hunt was seated with her attorneys, Jeff
Tomczak and Ragan Freitag. Mr. Hunt and
their daughter sat in the back row. The
Zaffkes did not attend this day. Not
counting myself, the only person there for Anita was ASA Mike Mermel.
In limine
is Latin for “at the threshold”. The
first order of business was a motion in
limine regarding evidence that may or that may not be presented to the
jury. Jury selection would follow – the
manner of questions to be put forth in the selection process generated
energetic argument.
“Distracted
driving is not against the law in
Tomczak
wanted that asserted by the judge in the course of questioning the prospective
jurors. Mermel waved his finger in the
air as he said such imprimatur
(Latin: let it be printed) is tantamount to the court’s endorsement of
distraction as a defense. He railed
against such a straw man because Hunt is charged with recklessness, not
distraction.
Mermel
noted that Hunt confessed that she had seen the yellow light and then looked back at her nails.
Mermel
noted that kids who drag race on the streets do not take their eyes off the
street, and in that sense are not as reckless as Hunt.
Mermel
noted that yellow means stop before it goes red; it does not mean speed-up
before it goes red. He said that any
suggestion that Zaffke is somehow responsible for her own death because she
stopped for a changing traffic signal offers relative negligence as a red
herring. He was precisely on point and
forceful.
At
10:45 we began looking at jurors. One
question each would be asked by the judge was, “Have you ever applied makeup
while driving?”
Juror
222, a female, said “occasionally” but in subsequent questioning said “only
lipstick” and “only when stationary”.
She would be accepted.
Juror
131, a female and a manicurist, said “no” as most who followed would say. Each juror was asked many questions by the
judge and Mermel and Tomczak. But 131
would be excused from service in the Hunt trial.
Jurors
216 and 149, both females, both said “no” and would both be accepted. (149 later qualified saying sometimes
lipstick when stopped.) Then the first
“panel” of four jurors were addressed jointly.
Tomczak said (paraphrasing) “You are going to be called on to make a
judgment about Lora Hunt. My client,
sitting right over there, Lora Hunt, wants to know if you will promise to bring
your common sense and life experience into that judgment.”
He
would ask that of each panel. It sounds
to me very close to jury nullification.
It sounds to me like he is saying, “Sure she was a little bit reckless. But we are all a little bit reckless from time
to time. It could have happened to any
of us. This wasn’t criminal; it was just
bad luck.”
Juror
176 was a male and, in a silly attempt at even-handedness, was the first male
to be asked if he applied makeup while driving.
“Never.” There were giggles
throughout the courtroom. He would be
excused.
Juror
143 was also male and the makeup question was changed to “personal
grooming”. We established that he might
comb his hair but would not shave while driving. And that concluded the first panel.
We broke
for lunch at 12:20 and began again at 1:20.
When
the 50 prospective jurors were first brought into the room, the public was
asked to sit in chairs along the back wall.
The public consisted of three people:
Mr. Hunt, their daughter and me. Circumstances
had me sitting next to Lora’s husband.
We sat in silence as the six jurors were interviewed to fill the first
panel of four. Then:
Mr.
Hunt: “Are you Mr. Zaffke?”
Me: “No.
Don Russ.”
(We
shake hands.)
(There
was a pause.)
Me: “Did you see the hundreds of motorcycles
Saturday?”
Mr.
Hunt: “No, but I heard about them.”
(Another
pause.)
Me: “They gave me a patch.”
(I
take the patch from my wallet (it is the first image at the top of this page)
and show it to him.
Mr.
Hunt looks up from the patch but not at me.
He nods. Our conversation ends.)
I had
been favorably impressed on January 5th when I saw the Hunts huddle
to pray together in the hall outside the courtroom. Now I learn that Mr. Hunt cannot even recognize Mr. Zaffke and realize in
retrospection that I had misinterpreted that prayer. They weren’t praying about the terrible thing
that happened to the Zaffke family on Route 12; their only concern was the
terrible thing that was happening to the Hunt family in Courtroom 204.
Narcissists
can be Christian too.
I
have believed from the beginning that Lora Hunt should plead guilty, apologize
and ask for mercy. The court would have
given her mercy, and probably the Zaffkes would too. I believed that would have been entirely consistent
with a woman who, most forthrightly, gushes to the cops that she was doing her
nails, saw the yellow, looked back at her nails and did not touch the brake
until after she hit the biker. Why
wouldn’t she just come clean?
Tomczak
and Freitag are paid to be callous. It
would be unprofessional for them to concern themselves with Anita Zaffke or her
surviving family. Mark and Lora Hunt are
gratuitously callous.
After
lunch we considered 116, female (makeup:
No); 169, male (personal grooming:
No); 171, female (makeup: Yes, while stopped); and 288,male (personal
grooming: No). 169 and 288 were excused so we began to
consider 260, male (personal grooming:
Brush hair, not shave) and 246, female (Makeup: Occasionally while driving, only
lipstick). I left to meet my grandson’s
school bus. More tomorrow.
Media
reports on Day One:
“her
killer's life shouldn't go back to normal”
“distracted
driving is not against the law”
“Zaffke
was the mother of five and a grandmother of six”
On to
my report of Day Two.
Original
post, a year ago.
January
Fifth.
January
Twentieth.
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