Jury Duty (Long and boring). . .

. . . just like my last two days. I have been on jury duty since yesterday morning. It is an infuriating system, designed, apparently, by and for idiots. Since 9:00 yesterday morning, I have done nothing.


I arrived at the court at 9:00 yesterday. We sat until 10:15. Then they showed us a video explaining what an honor it was to sit there for an hour and fifteen minutes doing nothing. Then they put on C-Span so we could watch the legislatative branch of government doing just as wonderful a job as the judicial branch.


At 11:45, we were called into the courtroom. The judge explained to us that we 80 some odd people were part of the jury pool, from which 12 jurors and 2 alternates would be chosen. At 12:01, he looked at his watch, said that lunch is an hour and a half, but since it is already past 12:00, to report back at 1:45. At 2:10 we were let back into the courtroom. He then bored us to death for another hour, at which time he declared a 15 minute break.


The 15 minute break lasted another half an hour. When we got back in, they called 12 people to sit in the jury box. Before the judge or either lawyer could ask any questions, one lawyer had to leave because a verdict was coming in on another case he was handling. We were told to come report this morning at 9:00.


We go into the courtroom at 9. The judge strolls in at 9:30. Then they start asking completely irrelevant questions of all the jurors. By the time we left today at 4:20 (they work long, arduous days), they had gotten though about 20 of us.


HOW CAN A SYSTEM WHICH ALLOWS PARTICIPANTS TO SELECT JURORS BE FAIR? Perhaps HDPM or some of the other lawyers who post or lurk here can explain it to me. How can they let lawyers have peremptory challenges? It's like playing a ball game and letting the opposing managers choose the umpires.


This trial will undoubtedly last until the year 3000. You all know my feelings about guns, but I'm beginning to see the light. If I had one, I'd shoot both lawyers and the judge. Through the heart, dead.


Where is the urgency to get things done? How can they be so slow, so unprofessional, so uncaring about other people's (and the taxpayers') money and time? Why do they get up to ask a question and have to shuffle through a hundred pieces of paper and ask the same question the judge just asked? Why do they have to go to a sidebar to whisper things 56 times an hour?


Why do all of us have to sit there while they talk to other prospective jurors? Why is there only one elevator in the building? Why was my car dinged in the parking lot? Why does it take 3 or 4 or 20 days to pick a jury? Why don't they work more than an hour at a time without having to take a break? People were sleeping in the jury box. They were the lucky ones. The judge told the rest of us we were not allowed to go to the bathroom while the proceedings were going on, to take care of our toilet needs before we went into the courtroom. He didn't count on us having to throw up when we saw those proceedings.


I feel sorry for the man on trial. With all due respect to you attorneys out there, the system is a joke, a sad, inefficient, travesty of a joke. Surely verly little justice can ensue from such a system.


This was the Los Angeles County Court House in Beverly Hills, CA.

Take lots of poker reading with you.


Alden Chase(tyro)

So you live in Beverly Hills, huh?


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Yes, and glad to see you read all the way to the end.


I just know I'm gonna have a nightmare tonight where they finally call my name and before I can get up Archie walks in, yells "big scramble", they re-shuffle the names, and mine goes on the bottom. . .

I can't give youe a very long response now because I'm typing on a borrowed computernin the hotel lobby in your favorite city- Boise. I will give you a fuller answer later. Let's just say I tried a whole case last week- picking the jury to getting the verdict- in less time than it took you to be picked. Not all places are totally screwed up.

I hope you get on a jury and go through an entire trial. Perhaps you'll change your mind. I was only on jury duty once and was selected to be on a jury within the first two hours I was there. People were more punctual than what you describe but the hours spent in court weren't excessive to say the least although I'm sure the lawyers and the judges spent time on cases out of court. I was fortunate that a person that I worked with (an odd coincidence) was also on a jury and occasionally we got to talk to each other. Obviously I couldn't talk to any of my fellow jurors during the case. He was serving on a jury in a very high publicity murder case as I was on a jury for a civil case. I came away with some definite opinions about the legal system which I wont' get into after the experience. One thing I will say is that I did come away with a much greater appreciation as to how important and how significant juries are in our legal system. I'd serve on a jury again in a heart beat.

Jury duty does seem like a rather awful process to go through, I have to go in May, but I have an idea: I am gonna go dressed totally punked out. I'm gonna look like a total gutter punk- thick spiked hair, cutoff pants with safety pins through the hems, and some patches either sewed on real sloppy or hell just use more safety pins, maybe I'll die my hair some unnatural color again like my hi school days. Oh yeah I'll wear one of my more blasphemous shirts too, that'll encourage them to get me out of their courtroom real quick. Hopefully no lawyer will want me on their jury then, and almost for sure no DA will. I dunno but I think it'll work.


Kris

boise..the progressive city..gl

Is the judge elected or appointed? Civil or criminal trial?


If this was a criminal trial in front of an elected judge, send a copy of your post to the judge and DA. Tell them that for wasting your time, you will be working for their defeat in the next election.


The jury system is the best thing America has going for it, and they're pissing on it.

The Canadian system is apparently much different with juries. I am not sure about criminal trials but I have conducted several civil jury trials and I can tell ya that things move a lot quicker here. Here, we don't get to ask the jurors any questions. We have a list which gives us their name and occupation. We see them stroll up when their names get called. That's our opportunity to size 'em up. We then say "challenge" or "content" as the case may be. Each side only has a limited number of challenges that they can use. That's it as far as jury selection goes.


Normally, the jury is empanelled with an hour.


One thing here that bites is that jurors cannot be questioned at any time as to what discussions took place during their deliberations. After doing a trial (win or lose), I sure would have liked the opportunity to get to talk to them and find out what led them to their verdict, what evidence they found persuasive, whether they liked my tie etc.