So I thought I’d finally get to see the start of a normal jury trial today. After a long morning of taking notes for a case I can’t comment on, I went into a courtroom where they were hearing pre-trial motions and talking about bringing in 40 people to seat a 16 person jury. I came back after lunch to hear the motions all be dismissed for good reason, and then the defendant decided to waive his right to a jury trial. OK, one less thing to watch. I thought this was going to be an assault and kidnapping, but it was a rape of an older Lao woman by a door-to-door magazine salesman. Nothing I wanted to see. And the translator was possibly screwing up, according to two Lao speakers observing the trial. I sat and watched for some reason and as confused as the testimony was, I still believed her. I’m glad I’m not on that jury.

Traveling magazine salesmen. Just another thing to be worried about.