Judge Roland Steinle
Live from the courtroom: Judge Roland Steinle revealed this morning that Serial Shooter suspect Dale Hausner and his attorney have written a letter to him complaining about the prosecutors in Hausner’s ongoing eight-count murder trial. The letter, Steinle said, complained about “facial gestures and things” by the prosecutors.
This complaint, Steinle told the attorneys, is extraordinary coming from Hausner and his defense team. You “constantly shake your head no no no when a witness says something you don’t like,” Steinle told Hausner. “We have lawyers rolling their eyes.”
Hausner has been increasingly active and squirrelly sitting in the defendant’s chair. Throughout the trial, he has often waved at witnesses, shaken his head in disagreement, given thumbs up to the gallery, been accused of giving the finger to victims and most recently, heard dropping an expletive when he didn’t like what a witness was saying.
“When a witness is testifying, nobody will make facial gestures, agreeing or disagreeing,” Stienle said. “I expect everybody to be on their best behavior.”
Lastly, Steinle reminded all the attorneys involved, this trial has such a high profile that it includes an audience of journalists, victims and spectators every day. “Quite frankly,” he said, “they’re watching everybody in the courtroom.”