A sign up front said we weren’t allowed to bring in cameras or “electronic equipment”. No one complained about my laptop though. I’m not sure if the officer even bothered to look at the image from the X-ray machine when I came in. Airport-level security it’s not. I expect there are more than a few camera phones in here. I probably could have gotten in with a Canon EOS 40D if I really wanted to.
They’re about two hundred of us in a large room at 320 Jay Street. They’re showing us an Ed Bradley video about Judge Roy Bean, of all folks (a Confederate and Justice of the Peace with 3 months of formal education). He selected his jurors from his saloon and fined them if they didn’t vote the way he wanted them too. There’s a brief history of juries and grand juries. What they omit (the early history of American grand juries and private prosecutions) is more interesting than what they include.
Now Ed Bradley’s been replaced by Sam Waterston (i.e. Hang ‘em High Mccoy from Law and Order). The foreperson is chosen by the court. We can ask questions of the prosecutors and we can ask to speak to a judge. It’s not clear if we can ask questions of witnesses directly, or call our own witnesses. We are forbidden to seek or receive legal advice from any other source. (No googling for case law I guess.) The accused may appear if they wish to, and they may ask us to hear other witnesses. The accused may have an attorney present for advice, but the attorney may not participate. The proceedings are confidential. (Damn. No live blogging about the case. ) We deliberate alone. 12/23 is required to indict, and 16 are required for a quorum. We can redirect some cases to family court or lower court, but the prosecutor has to tell us when we can do this.
You can get out of this if you:
Served on a jury less than four years ago
Don’t work fulltime and have childcare issues
Have a felony conviction
Are not a U.S. citizen.
Documented illnesses may also get you out. If you can’t communicate in English, you can also get out. At least a dozen people stood up for this one. Of course, the announcement was made in English, so one does wonder how they understood it.
They’re picking three 10-day juries. They need about 80 jurors. They won’t take everyone today (Yay, may get out of this yet) but if we don’t get selected today we have to come back in 2-6 months anyway (Damn!) Still January would work better for me than now. It’s possible we won’t have to work all day, all ten (or eleven) days. That would be very helpful. I really need to put in at least half a day at work early next week. Then again we may be here till 6:00 or 6:30 P.M.
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