It should be noted, I’m not a lawyer and I have only covered extremely edgecase, high profile cases, in Minnesota, so I’m not well-versed in courtroom norms.
That said, what I saw on the first day of EliHartsMom murder trial for murdering her 6 year-old son, was alarming enough for me to write this post.
With Derek Chauvin appealing his murder conviction citing legal and procedural errors, Hennepin County courts ought to be on their best behavior.
What I saw in court yesterday was not even close to best behavior for a high profile trial, especially in a county where high profile trials are becoming a weekly norm.
Full Disclosure:
I have no interest in this criminal trial. I attended simply to offer my support, observations, and condolences.
Eli is dead.
Dakota County Social Services (DC S.S.) awarded full custody to a woman who ended up with Eli’s brain matter in her hair, who was witnessed throwing his skull fragments into a dumpster, and washing her blood covered hands in a gas station mud puddle.
Regardless of who pulled the trigger, Dakota County S.S. has a LOT to answer for.
That aside, what I saw in Hennepin County the first day of this trial is worth noting, yet no attorneys or media seemed to be mentioning it.
I saw at least 5 highly irregular things, weird enough to warrant documentation.
1) They’re not utilizing the two rear courtroom exits.
Most courtrooms I’ve seen in the US have two rear exits. Typically, the Jury exits one door to the Court, Jury room, and ultimately the building. The Defendant and bailiff will typically use the other door.
In Hennepin County, they’re then often shuffled to a secure elevator bank to cordon them off from the general population.
In this trial, however, the Jury is being paraded through the gallery, where the media, the public, and County Employees are all mixed and commingled, by design.
I talked to some veteran journalists, off the record, and this seems to be some new post-Covid standard.
Some seasoned lawyers I talked to yesterday said it’s “highly unusual” to seat the Jury in the lobby, in FRONT of the courtroom.
Neither lawyers nor journalists seem to be publicly questioning the wisdom of this scheme.
The Court literally left the Dunkin Donuts the judge bought for the jury outside the courtroom all day. They’re basically using the public LOBBY as the “Jury” room.
One attorney online said, “This is some Third World shit.”
2) They usually block electronic devices on the whole floor during high profile cases.
In this case, they’re:
- Allowing cameras and laptops in the lobby which is now the Jury Room
- Not credentialing media
- Allowing unchecked laptops and phones (read: cameras and recording devices) on both the floor and inside the courtroom
I applaud the increased transparency, which is great for citizen journalists, but what impact could that have on the outcome of a trial?
Anyone with a phone could take photos of the jury, who have literally been seated, by the Court, in the hallway.
Anyone could record trial audio with a phone or their laptop. I have no idea how this might affect the fairness of a trial.
Suppose, for example, someone clandestinely recorded the judge’s decision on motions the jury was not supposed to consider, then played it back for a juror. They’ve set this up to be super easy to do.
Why?
This is not my wheelhouse, but it seems an obvious trap for mistrial or grounds for appeal. What would be the motivation for a Minnesota County to want to do that?
3) Allowing Jurors to lunch in the main Atrium and/or wander the Courthouse.
During our increasingly frequent, high profile cases, the main atrium of the Hennepin County Courthouse becomes an ad hoc TV studio for local and national networks.
I saw one cameraman with the camera focused on the revolving door that jurors and witnesses are forced through in order to exit a secure area. The judge took a side door that the public is directed, by signage, not to take.
Was the camera recording? I don’t know. What I do know is jurors I recognized from the trial, were sitting together in the main cafeteria in the lunch area. This happens to be right next to where the media shoots their news spots.
It’s Minnesota, it’s cold. You can’t really shoot spots outside, also, the atrium is where you get the best light. So now, rather than feed jurors lunch in the Jury Room, when they go to lunch/break the jurors are:
- In the lobby outside the courtroom
- In the atrium in an ad hoc TV news studio
- Elsewhere in the Hennepin County Govt. Center
After lunch, the Judge literally went on record telling the Public and the Media not to discuss the case on the floor.
That’s great, but the juries are on EVERY floor, not only the Jury Room.
They’re in the elevators with everyone else, or they’re in the main Atrium which, again, is a news studio.
We’re telling Jurors not to read the newspapers or research online when the TV news reporters are recording their spots right as jurors enjoy a tuna wrap with their lentil soup?
Worse, who knows what implications a case like this might have on any number of county departments? Do you think this trial isn’t being discussed in the Govt. Center?
Really?
4) Traffic in and out of the Courtroom
I’ve never seen so much traffic in and out of a court proceeding. I get it, people go to the bathroom, people need to sneeze, they leave, they have other things to do.
This is not what I’m talking about.
Journalists, the Public, and concerningly, credentialled County employees were in and out of that room, constantly, all day, with their laptops and mobile devices.
Which Hennepin County Employees? In what capacity? How do we know who and what they may or may not be recording? What are their official interests in the outcome of the trial?
If this were ANY county other than Hennepin County, I might not even question it.
But it IS Hennepin County, and their track record for impropriety is storied.
5) The most disturbing thing on my list, I’ve never seen nor heard of this before.
The County assigned a masked Minder to shuffle Eli’s family members out of the Courtroom in a panicked rush each time before the jury was excused.
The family are therefore not hearing any motions or decisions filed after the jury leaves.
This minder situation does not look like something that was planned out with the family in advance. It looks like something the Court concluded was a good idea after someone started talking about their irregularities.
Something stinks in Hennepin County.
