quote:

Originally posted by BB61:
I know a state court judge who was called to serve on a federal jury. He only lasted during jury selection to the part where he stood up and told the federal judge what he did. OTOH, I know a state court judge who served on a state jury in his district. I still haven't figured that one out. This was about two years ago so no historical nonsense involved.

There is a Federal District Court Judge in this district, David Hittner, who is so proud of his service on a state court jury that he framed his juror badge and hung it over the jury box in his own courtroom. I think it is a nice gesture to remind jurors that nearly everyone is eligible and should serve on a jury.

Now, putting a sitting federal trial judge on your jury takes big balls. He is bound to have a lot of pull on the panel. If he is for you, great. If he is against you, though . . .

I was down there too on Monday but didn't get picked.

Good for you for serving. But dang, jury for a traffic case! In Florida just MM's and up. I would think you would see a lot of NG's in traffic court.

I had Jury Duty this week, but never got past web/telephone standby. Last Friday they said check Monday afternoon, Monday afternoon they said check Tuesday, Tuesday they said check Wednesday, Wednesday they said, “This concludes your service we won’t call you for another year.”

The closest I ever got was two away from the last alternate chair before they filled the jury.

Maybe one of these days...

quote:

Originally posted by Southflorida-law:
Good for you for serving. But dang, jury for a traffic case! In Florida just MM's and up. I would think you would see a lot of NG's in traffic court.

Texas, like my home state, makes all traffic offenses misdemeanors. Here, though, you pay an extra fee for a jury trial if convicted.

I got called many years ago to Circuit Court and was in two jury pools.

The first trial was for attempted murder and felony firearm. Started with 120 people in the gallery and got down to me and five others left when both sides said they were satisfied and the jury was officially seated. I was very relieved as the judge had informed us that the trial would last an estimated two to four weeks.

Second one was drunk and disorderly, public urination and assaulting a LEO. Seems the defendant stumbled out of a local bar into the alley and proceeded to relieve himself at the first opportunity. A female officer rolled into the alley and pointed her squad car at him with a full array of lit spotlights. The genius proceeds to do an about face so he is pointing his tool at her as he concludes business. When she approaches, he gets very belligerent and ends up hitting her with a closed fist. Jury selection was still in full swing when we came back from lunch and the judge announced a plea agreement had been reached and we were all excused.

That last one kind of bummed me out. I was thinking the testimony might be pretty entertaining.

I've been called twice, the most recent about 30 years ago. Served both times and ended up making some friends. Funny thing is how the attorneys treat you when they see you on the street or in the elevator. You have a disease, and its like the plague or ebola. If you spend enough time on a panel, things just stand out to you.

On a personal injury case, I was in the back row. The trial was beyond boring and even the judge had trouble staying awake. That means lots of short breaks. So the trial was never ending it seemed. After lunch we needed a break and the plaintiff was testifying. She took the stand and was reminded she was still under oath. As she was sitting down she swept her jacket back to reveal all the wires for her Tens device dangling. Only two of us saw it, but both of us gasped. Time stood still and the entire courtroom looked at us as we blushed. Both of us figured we'd be spending the night in jail for our "outburst". But we looked down and didn't look at each other or up. After the longest 20 or so seconds the trial resumed. We paid particular interest to the plaintiff lady's testimony. She was well rehearsed to say the least. She never went from her story.

So at the end of the day we were released back to the jury room to get our coats. But waiting for us in the hall was the judge. With a polite "can I see you two for a minute". Simple instructions I will want to hear what you saw, but not a word now or until after the trial. Not to me or any other juror, or to each other.

She was nice enough looking that I went to lunch with her and that group. But we were good kids and kept silent. So the case ended and we got the instructions. We'd made enough of a scene that everyone wanted to know. It killed the case for the lady. Didn't matter that we'd already pegged her as a liar and just someone trying to cash in. Didn't hear from her attorney. We did give her a minimal amount of damages, but no where near what she wanted (a life of leisure). And instead of going to the jury room, we were ushered into the judges chambers. He was a bit shocked at what we told him, but we told him it didn't make a big difference because everyone pretty much felt it was just a money grab. Given the good job of witness prep her lawyer had done, he missed the idea we were bored and looking at everything.

Another case I was on was a murder case. The criminal wasn't denying much. He admitted most of it. Of interest was the "murder weapon" was a Smith M39. When we got that case we didn't get the gun at first. Out went a note that we wanted the guns. It took a while, but finally the deputy knocked and handed the guns in. Even the non-gun people were interested. Yeah, we field stripped them (making sure the guns were empty), then handed them all around the room. 'bout wore them out, too. Explained the guns to the women on the jury. The dead guy had a Lorcin. No one looked at it.

So we found him guilty. Then it was explained to us that he'd plead guilty at his first appearance, but then withdrew it, making the trial necessary. The problem was with the prosecutor not correctly explaining the sentence guidelines. He didn't want life, and we didn't recommend it. Could have been a Texas case, he needed killin'. Guidelines for what he originally plead to would have made that possible. Here in KY, the jury decided guilt or innocence, then recommends a sentence.

At that time the murder charge called for a 20 year to life sentence. We recommended 10 years. Both parties were pieces of work. The dead guy actually did shoot first, but missed. Both showed their guns, then the fireworks started. If either had any sense at all, they'd have stopped. Lesson: The guy with the better gun won the fight, but spent time. The guy didn't plead self defense. It might have been well received by our jury. No idea why.