I’m looking for a few people who would be interested helping me report on the Mike Miske case by sitting in on virtual court hearings and taking notes on the proceedings. Due to restrictions cause by Covid-19, hearings in federal court are being held via an AT&T telephone conference system. You call in, enter a session code, mute your phone, and listen. You can join in from anywhere, although time differences could pose some scheduling problems.

I’ve been sitting in these virtual hearings for the past year. With 11 defendants, and a variety of issues that come up to be settled by a judge, there can be several hearings each month, sometimes several in the same week. These hearings rarely last more than an hour, and most are wrapped up within 30 minutes.

Federal court rules prohibit recording court sessions, so I take notes on what’s being said. I do the best I can, and capture much of it, either direct quotes or by summarizing what’s being argued. But I know that I miss a lot which I try to recreate by memory after a hearing is over.

So…it occurred to me that if several of us listen in, and then combine our notes, it’s likely that together we’ll capture more of the fine points. At least that’s my hope.

If you’re interested in getting more of an inside feel for how the case is moving forward towards a trial sometime next year, and would like to try your hand at listening in, please email me, ian@ilind.net.