However today, Thursday, I started back into my routines. Went to Kiwanis this morning. The speaker was from CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates, a network of trained volunteers who reach out to neglected and abused children languishing in shelters and foster care; and in advocating for these children they give that child a voice, a chance for a better life.
This is just the kind of programme Kiwanis focuses on, whose Mission Statement is "changing the world, one child at a time".
I was glad to see the next few weeks are already booked with speakers, gives me a little time to sort out my photos which they want to see. At the moment I am feeling a little nervous as I haven't finished unpacking, and am not sure where they all are.
Went to Communion at 12. Afterwards 8 of us had lunch at an Asian diner, which is within walking distance of the church, but as I have now entered the ranks of the elderly and infirm, I drove. It was, as always, very pleasant.
The murder trial I wrote about before I went away is now entering what they call "the final phase", which means the jury had to decide if the victim was killed in a 'cruel, heinous, and depraved' manner. I don't think they had any problem, or needed any time, to agree that shooting, stabbing 27 times, slitting his throat, was all of that. Which made her eligible for the death penalty.
It has been calculated that it took the defendant two minutes to stab the victim 27 times, and the Prosecutor was silent for 2 minutes to enable the court to appreciate exactly how long she was stabbing him. The tension built up in the court, and it was reported that at least half the court, family members, journalists, some of the jury, were all in tears at the end of two minutes.
Two of the victim's family members (there were eight siblings altogether) stepped up and gave very emotional testimonies on the way their brother's death has impacted them. They had lost both their parents as children within a short time of each other, and had been brought up by their grandmother; the murdered brother had an important role in the family, keeping them strong and supporting them all in hard times. The defence counsel's earlier attempt to rubbish him was just totally washed away today in the face of the family's testimony.
One of the sisters said their grandmother died just as the case came to trial, the murder tipped her over the edge and she couldn't get over it.
There was a surprising turn of events at the end of the day - at least surprising to me, accustomed as I am to a much more straight forward legal system - the defence counsel told the judge they wanted nothing more to do with the case, and asked her to excuse them, but she said that after all these months of trial they couldn't throw the towel in now. So it was adjourned until Monday.
We're not told what prompted this throwing in the towel, but speculation has it that the defendant and her counsel can't agree on how to wind it up. Counsel are focused on trying to save her life, which is all they can do. Defendant however - and this is just rumoured - wants to take the stand and show the court her art work, and explain what kind of person she is. Which everyone would recognise is not going to cut any ice at all, with ANYONE.
Thought I'd post a few pictures from time to time, to brighten up the page.
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