[ Home | Contents | Search | Post | Reply | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Jasper
Date: 10/24/03
Time: 5:37:43 PM
Remote Name: 68.73.204.176
Charlie,
Neither the defense nor the prosecution cared what time Garvey said the recital ended. Whether or not Juditha could have called the Mezzaluna at 9:37 was not an issue then.
The prosecution had witnesses at Mezzaluna who said that the Brown party had reservations for 6:30 and arrived about 15 minutes late. Marcia established with those witnesses that it was late enough to notice but not late enough to note the precise time. That’s all she needed to do.
If the Brown’s had been an hour late the server (Gavin), the assistant manager (Crawford) and the Manager (DeBello) would have noted the precise time, especially if the Brown’s had preordered their meal so they wouldn’t have to wait. They would have wondered out loud if they were coming at all and talked among each other about why Nicole or someone else in her party didn’t call the restaurant to cancel the reservation.
I think the defense stressed Gravy’s time estimate to plant a subtle hint in the jury’s mind that she was not a good observer and all of her observations should be taken with a grain of salt. I think it shows exactly that. –Jasper