For engaging and compelling, there's nothing like courtroom drama for me – in reports, books, movies, plays, and television, fiction and non-fiction (including embellished reconstructions), criminal and tort, dramatic and comedic – except for when I was in a jury box and on a witness stand (both are stressful) and I didn't watch one second of the OJ trial and have avoided the all the “Judge Judy” type TV fare.

(An aside on the death of Chadwick Boseman, he was excellent in “Marshall.” Perhaps now more people will bother to see it. He was also very good in “42.”)

This leads to Craig Murray's reports on Julian Assange's extradition hearing. Day6 is a bit of a slog to read because it was procedural. However, he exposes the massive limitations imposed on what should be a public hearing. Of equal, if not more importance, he exposes Magistrate Baraitser as the corrupt and rather incompetent judge that she is. She's almost a parody of a corrupt judge but without any comedic value.

Day 7 is when the action begins. The first witness for the defence, Clive Stafford Smith, is like a breath of fresh air. Wouldn't be surprising for those familiar with Stafford Smith:

Founder of Reprieve, one of the few worthwhile non-profit organisations around these days. From Clive Stafford Smith's resume

In total, Clive has represented over 300 prisoners facing the death penalty in the southern United States. While he only took on the cases of those who could not afford a lawyer – he has never been paid by a client – and always the most despised, he prevented the death penalty in all but six cases (a 98% “victory” rate). Few lawyers ever take a case to the US Supreme Court – Clive has taken five, and every one of these people prevailed.
…
To date, Clive has helped secure the release of 69 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay (including every British prisoner), and still acts for 15 more. This is a phenomenal number – far more than any other lawyer or law firm – and demonstrates Clive’s peerless ability in his field. More recently, Clive has turned a strategic eye to other secret detention sites, including Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan and the British island of Diego Garcia.
...

From Craig Murray:

…Mr Stafford Smith’s 30 minutes was now up. You can read his full statement here. There could not have been a clearer example from the first witness of why so much time yesterday was taken up with trying to block the evidence of defence witnesses from being heard. Stafford Smith’s evidence was breathtaking stuff and clearly illustrated the purpose of the time guillotine on defence evidence. This is not material governments wish to be widely aired.

The prosecutor, James Lewis QC, is not limited to thirty minutes. He in fact droned on for most of two hours during his cross of the second defence witness, Professor Mark Feldstein.

From the MSM reports on Feldstein's testimony, one wouldn't know that he was an excellent witness. Lewis badgered Feldstein to make irrelevant points and threw in some “gotchas” that Feldstein couldn't have known. Probably played well with the MSM and magistrate, but from my experience as a badgered witness, jurors can see through this, not that there is a jury for this hearing. (Repulsive was Lewis approvingly quoting from Lying Luke Harding.)

The drama yesterday was real. And fascinating. The decision is probably canned in Baraitser's laptop (and written by a clerk). Still read Murray's reports or at least read Day 7.

Update

Day 8 is now up. Starts out with editorial comments:

The great question after yesterday’s hearing was whether prosecution counsel James Lewis QC would continue to charge at defence witnesses like a deranged berserker (spoiler – he would), and more importantly, why?

QC’s representing governments usually seek to radiate calm control, and treat defence arguments as almost beneath their notice, certainly as no conceivable threat to the majestic thinking of the state. Lewis instead resembled a starving terrier kept away from a prime sausage by a steel fence whose manufacture and appearance was far beyond his comprehension.