Three Foot Johnson Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 I hope it's something interesting, and I'm not giving up my day off for some idiot protesting a traffic ticket or some damn thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKFOOT SASS #11947 Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Just think about all of that extra money you will make!! Blackfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I have been on JD for about 2 weeks now and we still havent even seated a jury. We have gone thru 2 full panels and are going to get another one to finish up. (the lawyers still have 8-9 exceptions each.) This is gonna be a big deal murder trial, and is supposed to take at least 25 court days.this thing might wrap up sometime by Cmas. the cool thing about it is now that I am retired I get to keep all the money I make. All $5 per day. curley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 I got to be "that guy" today - the sole holdout. After 4 1/2 hours of deliberations, I convinced 'em or wore 'em down or something, and we all went home after 12 hours in the courtroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curley Cole, SASS #56849 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Actually Mr. B I tell my staff (well that waz when I was still workin) that JD was the only place that your single voice would be heard...think about it, voting you just don't mean much..but in a jury room you can hold out if you believe...(it may get over turned in appeal, but at least you did what you believe) anyways my jury has a ways to go to get where you are.. curley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Curley and J Bar: Professional curiosity... What was good and what was bad about the experience? Were the lawyers prepared? Was the judge in control and apparently fair? At the end of the day, did you feel that the process was fair and just? What would you have liked to have seen done differently? Curley - you'll probably want to hold your comments until you're finished; but come back later and let us know, if you can. Much obliged. LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seldom Seen #16162 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I have been on JD for about 2 weeks now and we still havent even seated a jury. We have gone thru 2 full panels and are going to get another one to finish up. (the lawyers still have 8-9 exceptions each.) This is gonna be a big deal murder trial, and is supposed to take at least 25 court days.this thing might wrap up sometime by Cmas. the cool thing about it is now that I am retired I get to keep all the money I make. All $5 per day. curley A long time ago I was selected for duty on a high profile murder case. Fortunately it only took three days for the lawyers to fire all of us and send us home. Then a couple of years ago I sat on a civil case. All I am going to say is liberal minds work really, really strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Curley and J Bar: Professional curiosity... What was good and what was bad about the experience? Well, it was my day off... that was bad! Were the lawyers prepared? Was the judge in control and apparently fair? The defense lawyer was young, perhaps early 30's, and from out of town, but he was extremely well prepared, well groomed, well dressed, his overall presentation was very professional and impressive. Overall, he lost this one, but I think his overall losses in his career are going to be few. (4 charges; 3 guilty/1 not guilty) The State's prosecutor... well, it's a job to him, and his job is to convict, period. The defense attorney ALWAYS stood when he addressed either the Judge or the Jury, ALWAYS requested permission to approach the bench, the witness stand, use the chalkboard, etc. The State prosecutor never stood up to address the witness or the Judge, and even made an open comment during one of his replies that he was tired and hoped it wouldn't take too much longer. At the end of the day, did you feel that the process was fair and just? Absolutely What would you have liked to have seen done differently? Hold it on one of my work days. Curley - you'll probably want to hold your comments until you're finished; but come back later and let us know, if you can. Much obliged. LL This was the first application of the law in a criminal case relating to the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act of 2005. A local tavern owner was charged with allowing smoking in an enclosed area of her bar. A great part of the verdict hinged on what constituted an enclosed area. The original legal description said, "Open to the outside air with walls that do not extend from floor to ceiling". The owner had 8" tall open vents installed along both gable ends of the smoking shelter area, and along one entire wall. My fellow jurors called this an enclosed area, which would be hard to argue, except it met the description of the current law at the time. These large vents were certainly open to the outside air, and the walls most certainly stopped 8" shy of the ceiling. The contractor testified that the State inspector was on site with him and approved installation of the vents... the State inspector testified she had never met the man before the trial. A week after the first citation, the regulation was "clarified" to say at least two sides of such a shelter would be completely open to the outside air. A mass mailing was sent out to all business owners in the area about the clarification, but the owner of this establishment claimed she never received any such notification, and continued to operate the "enclosed smoking area" for the next two years, resulting in three more "out of compliance" citations. After the first one, she was just challenging the law, and ultimately lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pulp, SASS#28319 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I've never been called. I've always kinda wanted to, just out of curiosity I suppose. It would probably be one of those things that I'm "glad I did it, hope to never do it again." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Tell us potential jury Okie, do you think you can be fair and impartial? If you mean by fair, not guilty, YES! We have way too many laws. Besides, I hate all minorities, love those killing machine guns, think dope should be legalized, and you, Mr. Prosecutor, would benefit from a visit to a plastic surgeon. Excused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Foot Johnson Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 I'm in my 57th year, and was called the first time just three years ago; a medical malpractice suit that lasted six days. This is only my second time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I once had to suffer what I called the "Grand Mal" of jury sentences... 'Twas back in the 80's when I received a summons to report for jury duty to the Federal courthouse in San Francisco. Seems they were assembling a few Grand Juries. Okay... well... this might be innerestin'... It wasn't. As I recall, they were seating three juries - for the first two, which would hear multiple cases, we were told to expect to serve approximately one month. Well, I was saved from serving on either of those. Then came numbah three... and I was the last person seated before a half-dozen alternates were selected. Half a dozen??? That was my first clue that this might not be fun... Second clue was when we were told that, although the first two juries were told to expect to serve for up to a month, WE were to hear a single case and the U S Attorney in charge expected it to last SIX MONTHS! Sheesh... Third and deciding clue was when we were told the nature of the case - Antitrust. Now, if there's a more boring, mind numbing subject I wouldn't even want to imagine what it might be... So we'd meet the last week of every month (unless a holiday required re-scheduling), and suffer through as the Justice Department investigated possible price fixing in the Seafood Industry. It was soooo boring that it was common to see jurors napping during testimony - we sorta programmed ourselves to come alert at the "meaty" subjects. Heck, once or twice the witness had to wake the foreman to dismiss us for lunch! And then... at the end of our six-month sentence... the U S Attorney stood and gave a li'l speech, announcing that the court had their own "Stop-loss policy," and we were being extended for a SECOND six-month period. Okay... we stoically gritted our teeth and resigned ourselves to it. But when at the end of a year the U S Attorney stood and delivered the same speech again there were tears in the jury box. We were there so long that one of the attorneys met a guy, had a decent courtship, married, and started a family. And how did it end...? After a year and a half of listening to testimony, the U S Attorneys decided that there was insufficent evidence to request an indictment. Ya see... and this is my personal take on it... the so-called "Price Fixing" was nothing more that hard-working, blue-collared commercial fishermen chatting in the donut shop before heading out in the wee hours - "So Fred, whatcha thing crabs are gonna bring today?" "Dangit Bob... I dunno, but if I can't get fifty cents a pound I'm gonna take mine back out and turn 'em loose!" "Good idea - Me too!" Oh! Such DASTARDLY behavior! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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