This week I will be playing the part of Dominick Dunne at the Los Angeles Superior Court.  I am sitting in the gallery of a trial in support of one of my best friends. He is one of the toughest guys I know, but this is very hard on him and his family.  Family and friends have come together in support for him in ways that can only be the expression of unconditional love.  I wish each juror had the experience of knowing this guy for 30 years like some of us.  If they did, this judicial process would not be necessary.   I'm not sure why a select few have decided to betray him.

I have always tried to get out of jury duty and thought of it as a tremendous waste of my time.  However, as they selected the jury yesterday I began to hope that the people that were chosen had a better attitude toward their duty than I have in the past.  When your friend's reputation and possible freedom is on the line you really want the best possible people in that jury room.

The courtroom process is antique, slow and surprisingly hap-hazard in Van Nuys.  That is the reason for the extensive appeals process, the possibility for mistakes is obvious and plentiful.

I'm not sure how much I can report on what I see except in general terms.  I am way too close to this trial to even talk about it.  If I can find a way to express my experience in the broadest of terms without the necessity of specific trial details I will.  

But for now my creative juices are on hold as I watch this very odd judicial process play out.  It is interesting and entertaining when it is a drama on television.  However, it is nothing like that in real life and the emotional drain of the reality is exhausting.

As you were,

Jay