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Public Defense

: Of a Public Defender's Life

How NOT To Get Off A Jury

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Jurors.

They are the people our clients entrust with their lives and futures. In theory, they are our client's peers, but for the most part? They can be a real bunch of tools and are mostly out of touch with the lives many of our clients live.

As investigators, sometimes we have an attorney's ear AND the time and resources to sit through what is commonly called Voir Dire which is legalspeak for what regular people like you and me call Jury Selection. Sometimes Jury Selection takes one day and sometimes it can go a week (depending on the seriousness of the case).

In the private world, there are people who get paid a good amount of money to help an attorney pick the "right jury" for a trial. Unfortunately, you can have the best Jury expert in the country but you still have to deal with the local Jury Pool which can run from a few real good potential jurors to what can amount to a sleepy chimpanzee in blue jeans sitting on your jury.

Yeah, it sucks.

The purpose of all this is to tell you about a news story I've been saving. Mainly I saved it because I found it amusing but its also short and to the point. I'm going to print the whole story in case the link dies down the road:

Marshals Eject Prospective Juror
A prospective Shasta County juror was released from jury duty Tuesday after he reportedly was seen fondling himself while in the jury assembly room at the Shasta County Courthouse. Court Executive Officer Melissa Fowler-Bradley said Wednesday that the prospective juror, who did not expose himself, was escorted from the courthouse by Shasta County marshals. She said they did so after another male prospective juror complained about the man's behavior.
The man, whose identity was not released, was not arrested, she said.

Whatever happened to people saying they had plane tickets for a two week vacation purchased, or they were taking care of a dying family member? The lesson to potential jurors? Apparently its okay to fondle yourself over your clothes in Shasta County while in court waiting to be picked to be on a jury.

Yes, I did mention that I was going to be posting more investigations stories but I haven't had time. Budget cuts are hitting everywhere including my very own office. More on that later.

Full post as published by Of a Public Defender's Life on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).