Update from Jason’s lawyers, July 24th 2008

This afternoon [7/24/08] before the hearing got started we gave the new prosecutor a letter detailing all the items we’ve received so far and all the items that we’ve yet received and to which we feel we are entitled.  (Both state and federal law requires a prosecutor to turn over any and all evidence to a defendant if it may prove at all helpful to the defendant’s case.)  We also asked the prosecutor to agree to drop the curfew that was originally imposed on Jason in February and amended in April.  After providing her with a letter from Jason’s employer, she agreed to do so.  Given the fact that she is new to the case, she asked that we continue the actual pre-trial hearing until 9/8, which we agreed to do.
 
Once the judge arrived we informed the judge of what we’d agreed to and we gave the agreements his blessing.
 
Between now and 9/8/08 the prosecutor will be working to find the items we’ve requested, and we’ll be working on preparing for the 9/8/08 hearing.  On that date, we’ll report to the court on the state of discovery (i.e. the process by which evidence to be used at trial is generated), and tell the court what pre-trial motions, if any, we plan to file.
 
Of course, the big news from today [7/24/08] is the turnout. The fact that Jason’s supporters managed to fill up the old courtroom [150+ people] will be the buzz in the courthouse for the next week.  Although it’s impossible to quantify the impact of such a turnout, I think it’s important to give you one example of how it matters.  Courts are busy places and an understandable goal of the judges and clerks is to move cases.  When you fill up the courtroom with supporters, judges and clerks not only take notice.  They literally have to stop, if only for a few seconds, when those supporters exit en masse at the conclusion of a hearing.  The message it sends to the court is, “this is not just another hearing because this is not just another case.”