OK, I've been subpoenaed to court

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Originally posted by rburg:
.But I relearned what I already knew. All the black people are the defendants. They bring along multiple wives, chillin', and anyone else for the moral support they need. Then the judge throws all the folks who have screaming kids out.

Yes, there was one babe. She was some kind of court official, she ran the entire mess. Finding papers, running outside to drag people inside, you name it. The judge kind of reminded me of the Gov. in Blazing Saddles. She told him what to do, and he did it.

Defense attorneys all look like they slept in their suits. Or maybe they live under a bridge, who knows.

DIck-you nailed it!!!!!!!!

and as far as your comment about the defense lawyers, I'll let you in on a little secret-the only times we wear our good suits is when we are doing an actual jury trial or in Federal Court-the rest of the time it's the blue blazer, Chinos and a tie-like who do we need to impress?? The Judge-the prosecutor?? the clients in jumpsuits and chains?? (hell, I take my old blazers and ties and leave them in the various judges chambers so if I am called out in an emergenct, I can always "suit up" and preserve the dignity of the COurt.

)
I also love your take on the judges-that's exactly the way it is here-unless there is a good gun that needs confiscating-then a few of them perk up.

 

[Bucco]

I was a juror on a murder case a few years ago. As it turned out, I was an alternate. What a relief. After several weeks of trial, I was convinced, in my mind, that the defendant was guilty, and that was the ultimate outcome, however, I'm glad I did not have to vote on it. It's really agonizing (to me, anyway) to know that someone else's fate is in your hands. I hope I never get called again - for a capital offense.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

Jury duty can be pretty bad also.

Frequently they pull a jury and send them to court just to intimidate the defendant into a plea.

If they had some kind of time standard on pleas, the court could save thousands of dollars a year on juror fees.

A lot of continuance motions are about keeping a defendant out of prison for as long as possible.

I wrote the Jury selection software for a parish in Louisiana. I had to testify in a murder trial that was sent back on appeal on a technicality. They were trying to find some fault with the jury selection process. This hearing was more about delaying the conclusion of the case than trying to try the case on the facts of the crime. Our appellate system has allowed minor technicalities to get in the way of a swift trial.

 

[straightshooter1]

Joe, I think I understand you, but....

As to bringing a jury into court... "to intimidate a defendant into a plea," yes and no.

The jury would only be there IF it was the time for the trial. If the defendant didn't want to plead, then the jury would hear the case, right?

As to time periods for pleas, our Circuit has had mixed results with that. At one time, if a defendant did not plead guilty or nolo at a period before trial, then he could only plead later or on the day of trial if he pled "straight up" which means with no plea agreement or understanding. Sometimes this is called an open plea.

Unfortunately, with an increase in cases, that became impossible to enforce and judges began to allow pleas with caps on the amount of time the defendant would serve on the day of trial. In other words, with a plea agreement either with the state or with the court.

As to continuances, sometimes they are abused. I have had more than one defense attorney confide that, especially in capital cases, he will move to continue every time the case is set for trial until the judge finally refuses the continuance and then try to use the denial of the continuance as one basis for an appeal if there is a conviction.

The state has little reason to continue a case-unlike fine wine, cases generally don't get better with age as witnesses forget, die, become uncooperative, etc. OTOH, delays tend to work out better for the defense for those same reasons.

It is a fact that continuances happen for many valid reasons. It is also true that there are abuses.

Bob

 

[Forester]

I have been called for jury duty a couple of times. Only selected for one jury. It was a kidnapping/assault. Guy thought he could keep his girlfriend from breaking up with him if he just didn't let her leave.

Anyway, we the jury, showed up for the start of the trial and waited. And waited some more. Was supposed to start at 9 but by lunchtime we were still waiting. Judge finally came in and said, to paraphrase, that Mr. X has decided to come to his senses and accept a plea bargain. We were free to go.

I don't know how it works everywhere but the two times I have been called in my county was both for the month of December. You are on the hook for selection every Monday, for all the trials being held that week. December is a great time to be called. The only schedule trials for the first or second week. No one wants to be there around the holidays.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

One of the better approaches that the clerk of court decided to do with the system that I wrote was to implement a one day, one trial system. Pools had to show up for only one day and if assigned to a case, could leave at the conclusion of the case. If they were sent back to the pool as a result of being struck from the jury, they would be eligible to be pulled for another jury for the duration of that day of duty.

I agree with straightshooter1's comments. I was trying to point out that jurys are sometimes the victims of abuses of the system.

 

[feralmerril]

The devil must have seen me post on this thread!
Yesterday I got my jury notice for US district court out of salt lake city for 4 months!
Salt lake is 260 miles and a 4 hour drive!
I belive I should be able to get disqualified as I cant sit long without getting up and walking as I had a pulmanary embolisim and am on blood thinner. Pray for me!

 

[Pilgrim]

The jury would only be there IF it was the time for the trial. If the defendant didn't want to plead, then the jury would hear the case, right?

I've been called for jury duty several times. All but once I sat in a back room waiting to be empaneled before I was told to go home as I wasn't needed....along with EVERYONE else in the room.

Once I was called with some others, into the court room and seated in the jury box. We sat there for about 15 minutes while the judge and the lawyers talked quietly.

Soon the judge told us that they had reached an agreement and that we could all go home.


So, yes you can be seated on a jury, in the court room and never hear a word of testimony.

The judge is God in that room and do whatever he wants.