Degrading Comments Continue After Testimony Ends

After a long, tedious week in the largest US cover up trial in history, the leading figures are spending the weekend in various ways. The jurors face a long bus ride, the lawyers and defendants prepare to work all weekend, and the accused returns to prison.

As he prepared to bring to a close the days proceedings, district judge commands them to leave the witness stand immediately and exit the courtroom so that no other attorneys come up with any further questioning at the end of hours and hours of dense testimony. A smile, not often seen, crossed the defendant's face.

His exhaustion is evident. He's spent the week answering questions without emotion or tonal inflection.

Because he is serving a one to four-year sentence for obstruction of justice, he'll be escorted back to his correctional facility. The marshals wait patiently to do that.

The judge bid the jury a good weekend. He instructed them to relax, take some time off and enjoy their bus ride.

Sequestered in a motel for the duration of the trial, the jurors will be treated to a picnic or trip sometime during the weekend. Then the judge gives the lawyers a few choice words. He is tired of their continued arguing, which they've insisted on doing even after he has warned them to stop.

"Each of you has done a fairly good job getting the accused to admit his participation in the alleged cover up," the judge stated. His testimony has been delivered, and the jury must now determine if he can be believed. Following a recess, then, he says he doesn't want the court influencing the jury.

The affect the accused had on the jury will be seen later, but his testimony was very similar and just as strong as the one he'd given during televised committee hearings previously. The prosecutor caught him in some discrepancies on certain dates and times. Spectators, who had waited in long lines to be present in the courtroom, enjoyed the legal wrangling between the judge and the lawyers far more than the testimony.

Once the jurors and the defendant had been dismissed for the day, the attorneys had another fiery exchange regarding the fact that the government had not provided them with the identity of the witness slated to testify after one slated for Monday.

The chief prosecutor claimed to be unable to provide a name because he didn't have one. He also said the government had only promised to provide names one day prior to their testimony. Avoiding an argument was good enough reason to provide the witness name, he said.

As before, the district attorney attempted to bring the parties to mutual agreement. He stated that he wanted to have record of his disagreement with the manner the case had been prosecuted. They are withholding materials for months at a time.

They don't give us the witness names so that we are less effective during cross examination. We've given them enough pages of transcript to fill a library and they've given us a match cover's worth.

The district attorney sighed heavily and claimed that things had been going so well between the two of them up until this point. The courtroom erupted with laughter. The judge, who had by this point signaled he was ready to leave by standing, said he had enough trouble just trying to control the lawyers.