I've been given the daunting task of covering the upcoming Matthew Macon trial. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you probably have seen the coverage surrounding him. Police say he's the guy who murdered five women over the summer and sent the city into a panic. He's now about to be tried for two of the murders and one assault.
I was absolutely among the panicked masses over the summer, so it should be very interesting for me to cover this trial. When Ruth Hallman was murdered, I cried like it was my own grandmother that had been taken away from me. When Karen Delgado Yates died, I cried too. I'd met her on another story. This all might sound silly, oversensitive, lame, whatever you want to call it. Point is-- the murders over the summer shook me as bad as they shook anyone else. So to have to now see all the evidence I've never seen before-- and more-- and to have the details of the murders played out again will truly be a challenge for me.
Jury selection Friday, however, wasn't a challenge-- it was a complete wonder. I'd NEVER seen jury selection before and found myself rubbing my eyes in disbelief and laughing at some of the theatrics. I'd been called for jury duty once when I was 19 and had mono (I fell asleep twice) but they settled out of court. I couldn't believe the rapid-fire questions both the defense and prosecution threw at potential jurors. How do you feel about this? How do you feel about that? What's your job? How long? How many kids?
The way it was going, I was convinced we'd be there for days. But they proved me wrong; there is a method to the madness. In just three hours, they'd chosen the jury-- 11 men, 5 women-- 14 whites, 2 blacks. I was very surprised at the racial makeup of the jury. Was anyone else surprised?
Anyway, it was a good first day of the Macon proceedings. I'm wearing a dress today one certain anchor we'll call Cason Jolthorp and exec producer we'll call Preff Joctor say looks like a "British Airways stewardess" dress, so as they say, "I'll be your attendant for the trip. I hope you enjoy the flight."
I'll do my best to bring you the best coverage possible of what's bound to be a chilling trial. Drop me a line if you have any questions, complaints, comments, or if you just want your pillow fluffed... I think British Airways does that.
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