Celis Watch

Friday I was on "Celis watch," which meant it was my turn to stake out the court room for the trial of the year in Nueces County. It wasn't my first trip over, but it ended up being the last day of the trial. These are a few Celis portraits I liked over the course of the two-week Celis Circus.


There's a lot of back story to this, but in this trial Mauricio Celis was tried and convicted of falsely holding himself out as a lawyer. He faces a range of other charges stemming from some bizarre incidents last year. He's become this infamous figure in Corpus Christi, and the newspaper's daily blog covering his trial got thousands of hits and more than a hundred comments each day.

I don't cover many court cases, but I've done enough to know its nothing like Law and Order or anything you see in the movies, unfortunately. No one was held in contempt. No lawyers screaming "Objection!" No gasps in the courtroom before the judge pounded the gavel yelling "Order in the court!"

As a bonus challenge, Celis was also very aware of the camera. It seemed like every time he heard that click of the shutter he would look my way and then sit up straight or adjust his suit or something. The guy hired a spokesperson for the trial, so I guess it shouldn't have surprise that he was concerned with his image.