Some years ago – back at the time of the Simpson trial – I overheard someone say “voir dire … isn’t that Latin for jury tampering?”
I have been around a while now, in that time I’ve received notices for jury duty about once every 10 years. Okay, perhaps a bit less – I forget if I’ve had 4 or 5, counting the one I just got. Of those 4-5, only one actually got to the point of me showing up in the court room. All the other times if there was actually a case involved the defendant plead or a deal was struck before I ever got there. But that one time …
It was maybe 18 years ago, I was living in El Paso, Texas at the time. First of all, you have to understand it’s not like what you see on TV – sort of. That is, each state is different. Maybe what they show on TV is correct for California or New York, but I’ve never seen a TV show that accurately presented what Texas was like. Some of the differences can be rather drastic … and in a sense, that’s why I had to show up in court that time.
You see, even there the defendant had decided to plead guilty. But in Texas it is the jury that decides the punishment (within the range set down by law) rather than the judge, there are none of these “If your client pleads guilty to x, I’ll agree to only y years” type deals because the lawyers would have to convince 12 jurors to agree. We were going to have to consider any mitigating circumstances (factors such as “It was his first offense,” “he is a responsible husband and father,” and whatever else) or aggravating circumstances (callous behavior, multiple previous arrests, whatever) … well, whichever people from the jury pool were selected as actual jurors.
But that’s about where things went off the tracks. They did tell us that it was a drunk driving case with a fatality, then both lawyers interviewed the prospective jurors trying to see who might be sympathetic to their side (without overtly asking of course). I guess neither side was happy with what they heard – they couldn’t find enough people in the pool to fill a jury (there are 12 jurors).
So even though I have been in court once as a prospective juror, I have never actually heard a case. I’m sort of hoping my average holds up – the week in question this time happens to include my birthday … I can think of much better things to be doing that day.
российский суд – самый гуманный суд в мире. No pasarán!
Steve, as a retired trial attorney (for a while a prosecutor, for a while a defense attorney, etc.) and law professor, I hear your mathematician’s description of voir dire as fairly typical. Most friends and family who inevitably corner me at holiday gatherings to vent about the inefficiencies and foibles of legal systems seem as frustrated as you with how the systems operate. All I can offer in defense is this: We do our best with what we’ve got to work with.
Let’s hope you never get called to serve on another jury, and if you ever wish to talk about how to ensure your ineligibility, let me know.
I’ve only been summoned 3 times for jury duty. Out of those 3 times, I only made it into the stage of getting to hear a case once. Ahhh, but that only lasted for about 15 minutes. We were then mysteriously sent on a break. After we came back, we were informed that we were DONE! Case closed. Case thrown out or whatever because the girl making the accusation of assault or rape (I forget which one it was) never showed up.
Quote from Hamilton.Jerry:
[quote]Let’s hope you never get called to serve on another jury, and if you ever wish to talk about how to ensure your ineligibility, let me know.[/quote]
I was last summoned for jury duty this past November. All of us prospective jurors were waiting there in an auditorium, sitting in different groups. Some judge, whom I guess was supposed to be some hotshot because he even came in with an entourage and was introduced … proceeded to give a big speech to his group regarding everyone always wanting to be exempt from jury duty.
While the speech was theoretically only directed at his group, the whole auditorium could hear him, which was probably his goal anyway. Anyway, I remember thinking, “And why are you giving US this speech? We made it here. We didn’t seek an exemption.” I don’t know. I guess maybe he wanted us to then go and sermon everyone, family, friends, co-workers, Etc. on that they shouldn’t seek exemptions from jury duty. [img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2V7xuwJLXKM/Unumax9VYGI/AAAAAAAAAD8/tnuBof7kFrU/s1600/Got_Me.gif[/img] [img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-er4qVwx2b9s/UnwHw6Z44pI/AAAAAAAAAL8/fW8lyn4_-bQ/s1600/LOL.gif[/img]
Steve, there where you live, do they have a setup like we have here whereby you can check Online the status of whether you still have to show up or whether the case on which you were a prospective juror has been canceled?
Here people can check on the Juror website after 5:00PM the day before their scheduled jury duty date. There you’ll find out whether it’s still Game On and you still have to report … or whether your case has been canceled and you don’t have to report.
Then again, this past November, I checked my status on that website as late as around 8:30PM the night before and it still said I had to report. Yet the next morning, my group there at the auditorium was let go because the case was canceled.
Everyone in our group was of course [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nBeQSzhignk/UnvA0KnyHSI/AAAAAAAAAFY/exeTtZeWrgM/s1600/Whew.gif[/img] that we had been let go. And as a bonus, we were informed that since we did make it there … that counted as having SERVED. So, I’m not supposed to be bugged … Uhhh, I mean, summoned until another 18 months or thereabouts.
No idea yet, as there may not even be a case. The cover letter said “if there is a case before the court during that week, we will call you.
Why would I want to avoid jury duty? The company I work for compensates us (whereas the court only pays $10/day), so it isn’t like I’ll be losing money.
Why? Because we live in a nation of people who do not want to be inconvenienced in the slightest way. One’s duty is to oneself.
I had a beef with and disagreed with something that judge said during that speech in the auditorium. He was engaged in an industrial strength guilt trip. He was laying it on thick.
He started out fine, making sense. He said the reason WE and everyone that gets summoned for jury duty SHOULD go without trying feverishly and desperately to get out of it is because one day, WE will need people like us to serve on a jury to go, “Ahhh, you are right … and that prosecution attorney, that accuser and those witnesses are wrong.” Nothing wrong with that. Makes sense.
However, then after a couple more truckloads of guilt trip, that judge then went, “You all HAVE to be here when you get summoned because it is YOU and ONLY YOU who determines whether someone goes free or whether they get sent to prison for 40 years. It is not going to be me or the 2 attorneys who decide. It is all going to be in YOUR hands.”
That’s when I thought, “Whoa Whoa WHOA there, buddy! Back it up, judge dude. That is just not true. Don’t try to wash your and the 2 attorneys hands from having anything to do with deciding whether someone goes free or gets sent to prison for 40 years.”
The 2 attorneys might not directly have a say so in the outcome because they obviously don’t vote in the jury. However, they most definitely have a HUGE impact on the outcome since the jurors will vote based on the 2 attorneys doings during the case.
So, IMO … if someone gets sent to prison for 40 years, most definitely the 2 attorneys were up to their elbows involved in the outcome.
After that comment by the judge, I sooo wanted to stand up and go, “Uhhh, excuse me. I’m sorry, but I’m gonna have to disagree with you.” [img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mgVHX8PvCB8/UnwJIQRLdTI/AAAAAAAAAM0/uzsRPrheWAA/s1600/Norris.gif[/img] [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/–9ySJk6JJp4/UnwD_qo6riI/AAAAAAAAALQ/8d7UDDjwSSw/s1600/Insane.gif[/img] I could secretly envision myself doing that. Of course, with that being a judge, us being in Legal World Territory and me not knowing the rules of conduct for where we were … I had to leave at at just envisioning myself standing up to that judge and telling him that IMO, he was wrong. [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm_ryCecwV4/UnupSl6gLKI/AAAAAAAAAEw/Xwjpo3nxAPE/s1600/Mischief+&+Muscles.gif[/img]
Going to work is an inconvenience. But we do it anyway. If I can get paid for not going to work, why wouldn’t I? Admittedly if someone only had the court’s measly $10/day that isn’t going to cover it – if you’re some contractor or some other job and only get paid when you show up, you’re probably losing $100-$200 a day on jury duty. Major companies will reimburse you though.