But the morning the Supreme Court sounded its verdict in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, everything changed — just as everything changed those many months before.
Nutritionist's Verdict: "Sounds wonderful, but there's nothing to support the claims".
However, these arguments assume that prosecutions can be brought, that trials will be fair, and the verdicts sound.
Verdict: Sounds like it came from placing a moral philosopher, Stephen Hawking and an emeritus professor of machine learning in a blender.
With his face adorned with curiously unsettling stubble, a plaster and a healthy dollop of figurative egg, Blatter's words after the verdict sounded just like that of a desperate mob boss; part threat, part commitment to his increasingly ludicrous story.
It sounded like a verdict on the system that had put Mr Khodorkovsky and Mr Lebedev in prison in 2003 and that had orchestrated a second trial to keep them there.The political nature of the case could not have been made more obvious in the closing days of the trial.
"Sometimes," said Sam Querrey's coach Craig Boynton after the 6-7 1-6 6-3 6-7 defeat of world number one Novak Djokovic, "even a blind squirrel finds a nut". If that sounds a cruel verdict when your charge has just pulled off the greatest single performance of his career, you could forgive the bewilderment.
The final verdict: "Sounds to me like they're looking for a boyfriend," Jean said.
"To me, this whole verdict sounds like it is subject to attack given the astronomical size of the award," said Theodore Boutrous, a Los Angeles lawyer who handles appeals for large companies but is not involved in the Medtronic case.
Question 4 - Verdict: Clegg sounded more reasonable, and Farage sounded hyperbolic, so I think Clegg edged this one.
