Witness Statements in Raye's First Appeal 2

I was present every day of the trial. I was called for jury duty, but my name was never called by the judge and I did not sit on the jury panel. I chose to stay and observe the trial proceedings once jury selection had concluded. It only took a half day to pick the jury.

The news media camped out every day on the front lawn of the courthouse just a few feet from the front entrance to the courthouse, which is on the west side. Every day, the media was positioned at these front doors with their cameras in place just waiting for someone involved with the trial to enter or leave the building. The Smith family kept to themselves at the other end of the courthouse. The Briggs family, however, mingled with the crowd and used every opportunity available to speak with the news media. The Briggs family was very willing to talk to the media, but of course, the news media was more than willing to seek them out as well.

Lance, the biological father, was interviewed several times by the news media at the front entrance of the courthouse. Jay Sigman, who I believe was a step-grandfather to Kelsey, was interviewed several times as well. At each break, Jay would come out and talk to the news media first thing. It seemed that the news reporters would always turn to him for comments.

Each day, there were approximately 50 people inside the courtroom watching the proceedings. Lance was present at least one day with several young girls.

Satellite trucks, i.e. tractor trailer rigs, from at least four different television channels were parked in the parking lot. There were also several vans parked there with their respective channels advertised on their sides.

Everyone was allowed to leave for lunch at the same time, including the trial jurors. I do not remember seeing any jurors at lunch, but I normally ate at the Pizza Hut and I believe that most people ate elsewhere.

One morning, as I was driving up to the courthouse, I saw Raye Dawn and her mother being escorted into the courthouse into the courthouse through the back door on the east end. I observed the news reporters flock and run from the west end of the courthouse to the east end, where Raye Dawn and her mother were, in an effort to capture video, pictures or possible comments. I was in my car, so I did not hear what was being said. Some members of the jury would take smoke breaks on this east end of the courthouse. Each day, court would break once in the morning, at lunch and once in the afternoon.

The final day of trial was certainly a media frenzy. While everyone was waiting for the verdict to be returned, the news media was on edge. The news reporters and cameramen stationed at the front entrance would race to the other side of the courthouse if they saw anyone leaving the building. After the verdict was handed down, the news media again raced to the back entrance to catch video of Raye Dawn leaving the courthouse with the sheriff's deputies.