12:58 p.m. The fingernail-clicking, knuckle-cracking guy just sat behind me to eat his lunch. He’s not clicking his fingernails or cracking his knuckles, but he is eating very, very loudly and talking on his cellphone at the same time. Potato chips and conversation do not go together.
Yesterday, Merle, the county commissioner of jurors, told everyone they had better be on time or else you know what. A trial cannot start without all the jurors, he explained. Being late for trial can lead to a charge of contempt of court, ten days in jail and a fine of $50. “One of our judges has fined himself four times,” Merle warned. “If he does that to himself, imagine what he will do to a juror who is late.”
We don’t need no stinking letters. We do our work while we wait in the jury pool room and when we get home at night.Source: http://www.beckerfilms.com/Treasure.gif
Despite his warnings and despite not needing to be in the jury pool assembly room until 9:30 this morning, people were still late. I was sitting in the back next to the secretary who was scanning everyone in to take attendance. At 9:45, when one lady asked where she could get a replacement letter with her bar code, I asked the secretary if it was always like this. “Every single week,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It’s like they don’t hear a word Mr Merle says.”
They must have heard Merle’s warnings about the dress code, though, because he didn’t send anyone home to change clothes. “No shorts,” Merle told us. “Any item of clothing that is put on one leg at a time must cover your ankles. I don’t understand this one myself, because if miniskirts are allowed, shorts should be OK, but I’m not the one making these rules.”
Merle spent a lot of time on how to get a letters for employers proving that one has been at jury duty. Apparently, some employers will not pay people until they have proof they have been on duty. There are about ten of us at the desks in the back of the room with our laptops and cellphones who roll our eyes every time this issue is mentioned. Our employers expect us to get our work done whether we are on jury duty or not.
I’ve actually been able to get a lot done because I’ve had no phone or email interruptions this morning, but if I get on a trial, it will be harder. I spent two hours doing email last night and that was only the email I could do. Monday next week will be busy.
The trial yesterday for which I was a prospective juror was about a homeowner’s claim against an insurance company – let’s call it “Your neighbor’s good hands” company. The lady filing the claim wanted NGH to pay for her house and its contents (about $70,000 total), which had been destroyed in a fire a few years ago. NGH said that because she lied on her application – she said she had “no losses” before the application even though $100 had been stolen from her house and apparently reported to the police – the policy was invalid.
I really wanted to hear the rest of the case because I was convinced there was a lot more to the story, but I suspect that my having worked for an insurance company might have been a strike against me had the lawyers and the judge actually questioned me.
Indeed, prospective juror #3 was a property and casualty insurance agent. The judge asked him if he could be an impartial juror and #3 said Oh yes sir, he could, but I thought, you’re GONE. The plaintiff’s lawyer does not want you on this jury. I was so right. The first round of peremptory strikes, #3 was cut.
Another prospective juror told the judge he didn’t think he could be fair and impartial. I think he just didn’t want to be on jury duty. Yes, the lady who is a legal assistant at a law firm that handled a case similar to this one was probably telling the truth that she couldn’t be impartial, but this guy decided he couldn’t be fair after three other prospective jurors had said that they could not and gave really good reasons. He didn’t give a reason. I am suspicious.
Despite Merle’s warnings, I haven’t seen any wild domino or card games develop here in the pool room. He said it’s OK to play, but not to get too noisy. He said that blackjack or anything involving gambling, even if it was for paper clips, really wasn’t allowed in government buildings.
1:13. The knuckle-cracker has finished his lunch and has started playing a noisy electronic game. Why me?
0 comments:
Post a Comment