Chinese Law and Medical Professors Attend Graf Trial

Although the courtroom was packed, mine was not one of the mugs you'd see in the Gregory Graf murder and abuse of corpse prosecution that got underway yesterday. Northampton County DA John Morganelli and defense Attorney Jack McMahon are two of the best courtroom presences in the state, so this would be a great case to watch. But the facts are too much for me. I get squeamish pretty easily, and don't think Judge Baratta would appreciate seeing me hurl in the middle of his courtroom.

While Morganelli and MacMahon were talking about sex toys and dead bodies upstairs, I visited the courthouse cafeteria, one of the best kept secrets in the Lehigh Valley. Not only is the food delicious, but the room - it used to be Judge McFadden's courtroom - is the most cheerful place in the building.

While waiting for my food, I saw Bethlehem City Council Solicitor Jack Spirk sitting at a table with two of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. I mouthed "Bastard!" at him and he smiled.

In order to really dig it in, he called me over to introduce me to his lovely companions, who were a lot prettier than Phil Lauer and Steve Kreglow at my table. They are visiting professors from China. One is a law professor, while the other is a physician who teaches at medical school in China. Jack himself is a criminal justice professor at Northampton Community College. His colleagues are visiting this country to see how our system works.

Now if I were any good as a reporter, I would have written down their names and tried to do a proper interview. But as most of you know, I'm a bottom-feeding blogger and we just make things like that up as we go along.

Spirk had arranged for them to meet with a fellow Chinese, Dr. Zhongxue Hua. He is the forensic pathologist who testified and probably represents everything that is right about our country.

He probably introduced me as an example of what can go wrong.

I will try to get an interview.