James Tobin reacted to the first guilty verdict by shaking his head?
I missed that completely, but Kevin Wack did not.
Tobin left the courthouse with his arm around his wife? I raced home to Cambridge, but Judy Harrison hung out in the cold and came back with more of the story.
Real reporters provide more than just colorful detail. They turned each story into a standalone piece that included full background on NH phonejamming. They interviewed jurors, lawyers, political gurus. I was especially touched by the insight
Eric Moskowitz (Concord Monitor) gathered from one phone interview:
Afterward, foreman Laura Clement said the jury spent considerable time studying the language of the counts and weighing the evidence.
“It really came down to: Did the evidence support the facts, and could we agree that the government proved their case on each one of the counts?” she said, adding that the jury relied heavily on the instructions from Judge Steven McAuliffe.
Although there were differences at first, all the jurors emerged satisfied, Clement said. “If you get 12 people in a room, you get 12 people who all interpret something a little different,” she said, declining to discuss specifics about how they reached the verdict. “So the decisions didn’t come easy. But it was made, and we feel good about it, and that’s it.”
At least in NH, millions of dollars in fees to fancy lawyers won’t buy a free pass if you tamper with US democracy. Even more good news–political experts say this verdict will put a damper on dirty tricks in future elections.
And that’s good news for honest people of either party.