Peck for Justice

There's a lot of sadness going around at the Richard E. Gersten Justice Center in Miami this week; the Jessica Lundsford murder trial is well underway. The state and the defense rested their cases Tuesday afternoon. Accused killer John Couey declined to take the stand; jurors are shaken by the trial's horrific details.

There was a bit of levity outside the courthouse, however, something that could only happen in Miami. At around 2 p.m., on a postage-stamp-sized patch of grass, a plump, white rooster with a red crest happily snacked on bread crumbs as suited-up lawyers and thug-looking defendants paraded by.

"It's a fat one," remarked a woman in Spanish. "Good for soup!" She then tossed him part of an arepa.

The white rooster eventually crossed the street and foraged under a bush, with two other handsome, green roosters. Courthouse veterans say the roosters are frequent visitors to the justice building's entrance. --Tamara Lush