Our pro per (defendant insists on defending himself instead of thru an attorney) criminal trial is killing me. I want to gouge my own eyes out, which, incidentally, is what the defendant is charged with. (He gouged out the eye of another inmate in a local state mental hospital.)

And our jurors! The foreperson’s being a total witch, she’s causing problems, and she refuses to sign the request forms. She’d better not refuse to sign the verdicts!!

And she requested readback of testimony of EVERY WITNESS in the trial. What the hell was she doing when they were testifying?! The other jurors don’t want that kind of readback, but she’s just this controlling bossy cranky lady.

Everyone I’ve run into in the building (other DAs, other judges, other clerks, other bailiffs) have been sympathetically asking about our trial or saying they heard we have a nightmare case. Word gets around fast.