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On the first day of the hearing, Eli was seated with Keiko and Marcia Ellis at a counsel table on one side, and an attorney named Arnold Michelson sat with Oates and Torres on the other. In an inquest, counselors are not designated as plaintiff or defense, but they were seated as though they were. Facing them at a table in the center of the room was the hearing officer, who is not a judge because it’s not a trial, but wields the same authority and calls all the shots. At an inquest, this role should be performed by the coroner, but instead of Sandoval, a severe-looking woman sat there. This was Judith Ferrara, his deputy, who would explain her being there in due course.
Nichols and Hughes sat by themselves, off to one side, near the referee’s table and the stenographer.
Spectators we
