Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Help! I'm being held prisoner in the courthouse, or, Jury Duty - Day 2
The worst part about jury duty on a criminal case is not being able to talk about it. It's so hard to sit through that stuff every day and not be able to debrief at the end. I am so glad I decided against law school a long, long time ago. I wouldn't have liked corporate or non-litigation law and being in criminal courts all the time would have driven me to suicide.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Jury Duty
I don't know what's wrong with me. I have a face that prosecutors and defense attorneys both seem to love.
I have been called for jury duty three times, empanelled three times (that's when you get put in the large pool from which the jury will eventually be selected) , and PICKED three times, the last time just today.
The first time was a criminal trial, aggravated sexual assault of a child. The second time was a civil trial, and I think the judge just used us to intimidate the plaintiff and defendant because all we did was hang around in the hall outside the courtroom until we were let in and the judge told us the parties had settled. This time is another criminal trial, a felony, and I think that's all I'll say about the case until it's over.
What is the deal with the people who set up jury duty? They take something that 99.99999% of the population doesn't want to do anyway, and then make it as hard and unpleasant as possible. First we had to be downtown at the courthouse at 7:30 a.m. today. I don't know why, and I doubt they do either. Then when we got there, could we go into the Central Jury Room and sit down? Of course not! We had to line up in the hall and wait until 7:45 a.m., at which time somebody came out and took the jury questionnaires we were supposed to have filled out ahead of time (and which, of course, a whole bunch of us hadn't filled out.) THEN we got to go in and sit down and a judge came in and harangued us for at least 45 minutes. After that we got to mill around until they started calling jury pools. At least I got called early and didn't have to spend the whole day in the Central Jury Room.
Here's the thing: jury duty is supremely important. It's the basis of our entire justice system. Wouldn't you think the people in charge of it would want citizens to WANT to be there? Given that any of us might at some time be unlucky enough to be up against the courts, wouldn't you want the people judging your case to be as at ease and unstressed as possible? Why start them out grouchy from the very beginning?
Once you get into the courtroom, it gets a little more interesting. The prosecutor tells you in general about the case, and the names of the defendant and (in this case) victim, in case anybody in the jury pool knows any of them. Then they start questioning the potential jurors individually about their ideas about the justice system in general. This is called voir dire (French for to speak the truth) and includes questions about things like would you be able to disregard evidence if the judge tells you to, and, if you find the defendant guilty, would you be able to consider the entire range of potential sentences? Since this is a felony case, people were also asked if they or a relative or close friend had had anything similar happen to them. To be sure that nobody is biased, they also ask if you know any police officers, or, of course, the defendant or any of the lawyers.
During the whole process, the judge and both sets of attorneys tell you REPEATEDLY that if there is any reason you should be excused (exclusive caregiver of a small child or disabled person, etc.) or don't think you can follow the law, you should let them know. They DON'T WANT YOU under those circumstances. Once we got picked, it was pretty late in the day, so the judge told us we were excused until tomorrow, but we had to go into the jury room and give them our names and phone numbers. At that point, one of my fellow jurors asked the bailiff, " So we don't get a choice? We have to come back tomorrow?" I'm not sure what she thought we had been doing all day.
I have been called for jury duty three times, empanelled three times (that's when you get put in the large pool from which the jury will eventually be selected) , and PICKED three times, the last time just today.
The first time was a criminal trial, aggravated sexual assault of a child. The second time was a civil trial, and I think the judge just used us to intimidate the plaintiff and defendant because all we did was hang around in the hall outside the courtroom until we were let in and the judge told us the parties had settled. This time is another criminal trial, a felony, and I think that's all I'll say about the case until it's over.
What is the deal with the people who set up jury duty? They take something that 99.99999% of the population doesn't want to do anyway, and then make it as hard and unpleasant as possible. First we had to be downtown at the courthouse at 7:30 a.m. today. I don't know why, and I doubt they do either. Then when we got there, could we go into the Central Jury Room and sit down? Of course not! We had to line up in the hall and wait until 7:45 a.m., at which time somebody came out and took the jury questionnaires we were supposed to have filled out ahead of time (and which, of course, a whole bunch of us hadn't filled out.) THEN we got to go in and sit down and a judge came in and harangued us for at least 45 minutes. After that we got to mill around until they started calling jury pools. At least I got called early and didn't have to spend the whole day in the Central Jury Room.
Here's the thing: jury duty is supremely important. It's the basis of our entire justice system. Wouldn't you think the people in charge of it would want citizens to WANT to be there? Given that any of us might at some time be unlucky enough to be up against the courts, wouldn't you want the people judging your case to be as at ease and unstressed as possible? Why start them out grouchy from the very beginning?
Once you get into the courtroom, it gets a little more interesting. The prosecutor tells you in general about the case, and the names of the defendant and (in this case) victim, in case anybody in the jury pool knows any of them. Then they start questioning the potential jurors individually about their ideas about the justice system in general. This is called voir dire (French for to speak the truth) and includes questions about things like would you be able to disregard evidence if the judge tells you to, and, if you find the defendant guilty, would you be able to consider the entire range of potential sentences? Since this is a felony case, people were also asked if they or a relative or close friend had had anything similar happen to them. To be sure that nobody is biased, they also ask if you know any police officers, or, of course, the defendant or any of the lawyers.
During the whole process, the judge and both sets of attorneys tell you REPEATEDLY that if there is any reason you should be excused (exclusive caregiver of a small child or disabled person, etc.) or don't think you can follow the law, you should let them know. They DON'T WANT YOU under those circumstances. Once we got picked, it was pretty late in the day, so the judge told us we were excused until tomorrow, but we had to go into the jury room and give them our names and phone numbers. At that point, one of my fellow jurors asked the bailiff, " So we don't get a choice? We have to come back tomorrow?" I'm not sure what she thought we had been doing all day.
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