Struck From the Jury
60I had always felt a bit cheated. Everyone in my family except me had been called on for jury duty at one time or another, and some had been called on several times. They would complain about the call to duty, while I longed for the chance to be called upon.
Finally the day came that a summons for jury duty arrived! For twenty-eight days I would be in a pool of potential jurors for the Superior Court of the State of Washington!
Upon arrival, we were given instructions and put into groups. We were to call a number each evening to see if our group was required to show up the next day. If so, we were to show up, and sit and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait some more.
One day our number was called. Each of us was given a questionaire to fill out. From the questions on the form, it was obvious that we were going to hear a case involving child molestation. There were many questions on a couple of pages. I answered each as honestly and thoroughly as possible.
We were taken to a courtroom, and seated in the audience section. The prosecutor, a lady, and a child sat at a table to the front and left of us. The defense attorney and the defendant sat at a table to the front and right of us. The judge sat in the jury box to the left of the prosecutor. I was juror seventeen of thirty!
We were told that each side was going to be able to ask us questions. We were to answer the questions under the penalty of perjury. Each side could strike some of the jurors for no reason at all. The prosecutor would ask questions first, and, after a break, the defense would ask questions of the remaining jurors.
The prosecutor began asking some of my fellow jurors some questions. It seemed he was going in order, and had no questions for me. However, after asking questions of jurors with higher numbers than mine, he came back to me.
"Juror seventeen," he began, "you answered the question 'Can a sexual abuser be rehabilitated?' with 'I am not qualified to answer this.' What do you mean you are not qualified?"
"It means I have had no formal training in rehabilitation of sexual abusers," I said. "I presume that time proves whether someone was truly rehabilitated based on whether or not they reoffend."
"Do you believe in the 'Three Strikes and You're Out' law," he asked.
"I suppose so," I answered, "provided the convictions are for violent crimes."
He then asked, "How about 'Two Strikes and You're Out' when it comes to child molestation?"
I replied, "All I can say is, if it is my child, it's one strike and you better hope the cops catch you."
"Interesting," he said. "You also answered 'Have you ever had a bad experience with the justice system?' with 'Yes.' Would you explain what happened?"
"About eight years ago I broke up a fight between my cousin and one of his kids, and was cited for domestic violence," I told him. "I wouldn't accept a plea bargain, so the prosecutor tried me."
He asked, "Were you found innocent?"
"No. I was found guilty because I had a lousy lawyer," I said.
"Who was your lawyer?"
"Me. I defended myself because I was innocent and didn't qualify for free counsel."
"Well, if you had a trial and were found guilty, what was your problem with the justice system?" he asked.
I told him, "Before that experience, I always thought that prosecutors were interested in truth and justice. However, I learned from that experience that prosecutors are merely lawyers who try to win cases regardless of the truth. So, despite that the assailant in that case was the defendant, and that my cousin who actually fought with his child was found innocent, I was found guilty despite that nobody was hit once I arrived and broke up the fight."
He asked, "Did you regret not taking the plea agreement afterward?"
"No," I said. "The judge's sentence was less than what I was offered in the plea bargain, and he chewed out the prosecutor for even trying me. He also suggested I appeal the decision, but I didn't since it was only a misdemeanor."
He seemed to be egging me on with, "So, you didn't hire an attorney, you got convicted, and you didn't appeal the decision, and you consider that a bad experience with the justice system? Was I the prosecutor in that case?"
"No," I said. "It was some other asshole."
The judge grinned, and then excused us.
When we returned, six jurors were excused, including me. I've not been called for jury duty again.
Go figure!
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LOL!! I've sat on one case - 2nd degree incest. It was the roughest thing I've ever had to listen to and not be able to discuss it with anyone. I've been called 3 other times, but never got to trial. Loved your answers, and loved the judge's grin..they do have a sense of humor! You missed out on being served lunches in the 'hot house' living out the movie "12 angry men". Maybe next time!!
I agree with Candie, I loved your answers and when the judge grinned! Great story, you had me laughing by the end. :D
Ivorwen, a fellow Heliumite I see! Thank you for the comment. May you continue to be fortunate, from your perspective, as they continue to call you to duty!
Hi Candie! I'm not sure how I would have fared through testimony and evidence, but I'm certain I would have been fair. I feel like I missed out on more than the lunches, and first-hand 12 angry men experience. Thank you for the hope for next time!
K@ri, my dear! I'm happy I made you laugh! I wanted to be on the jury, but the damn prosecutor had to go and piss me off!
Very funny, Tom. However, not so funny when we find out that the justice system is skewed and that prosecutors are not out for the truth, but for the win. Ironic that the juror is supposed to be fair, but the prosecutor is not and justice is not always.....
Well, Connie, it's about time you showed up! I wrote this just to keep my promise to you, and I expected you to be waiting by your keyboard for a week to read it!
Seriously, though, it's a shame when a scoundrel like Governor Ryan is more concerned about justice than are prosecutors.
I don't know which side struck me since both would have reasons to do it. I prefer to think of it as balance, since I was the subject!
Sorry to disappoint you, Tom....though I do spend an inordinate time lurking around Hubpages, I think I was sleeping (for a change) when this was first published. As always, I enjoy your work and find that, not only are you a man of depth and reason, you are quite funny to boot!
Fab article Tom, and pleased you were so honest throughout, (enough to get your point across brilliantly). Luckily for me, living in Guernsey I am very unlikely to ever get called for Jury duty as we have no really serious crimes warranting a Jury.
Loved your story! Thanks for sharing!
I've always wanted to serve on a jury, but was called once many years ago, but we were dismissed because one of the sides wasn't ready. Back in early April I received a summons instructing me that I would be on a 3 month pool. I was instructed to call every weekend. They got close to my number, but I was never called. Today was the final day of my 3 month term. *sigh* maybe next time.
You are never a disappointment, Connie. Now I feel bad that I didn't wait until you were awake to publish it. Thank you for the nice compliment. I'd say you are as sweet as you are . . . oh wait - I already used that line on you! Oh well, you are both sweet and good looking!
Hi misty! I wish I could say the same thing about where I live. It doesn't sound so good when I say we haven't had a triple murder since last night! Thank you for the compliment, and for stopping by!
Hi KCC! I'm happy that you loved the story! Here's to hoping you get some lunches and first-hand 12 angry men experience next time you get a summons!
Aha! You've admitted it is a line. Guilty as charged lol. Oh well, I liked it anyway.
I may be guilty, but I am not remorseful. Hopefully, you'll go easy on me with the sentence!
I'm glad you liked it. I hope you smiled!
I've never had this experience, I'd like to think I'd make a good juror. I had a friend who was on one and he was chosen foreperson for a larcney case.
Hi TPC!
I'd like to think I'd make a good juror, too. I've just never been given a chance! I was honest with them, and would have taken my duty seriously.
I too used to be disappointed when friends and relatives were called for jury duty (one, several times) but I was not. Eventually I DID get the desired summons...oh happy day!...but it arrived 2 days after I'd moved from the county of which I'd been a resident and registered voter for 12 years. Go figure. Moved back to that county several years later, updated my voter reg, and was again disappointed that my name never seemed to come up for jury duty. That is until the economy tanked and the only job I could get was as a temp, meaning I desperately needed a full day's wages and the $10 juror's per diem would spell economic disaster. But none of the allowed excuses fit my situation, so I was resigned to doing my duty if a case went to trial that week. Miracle of miracles, when I called on Sunday night to find out when/where to show up Monday morning, a recorded message said the defendant had accepted a plea bargain and my presence wasn't required.
Don't get me wrong. I TRULY would like to do my civic duty, but as I tend to give truthful answers when questioned by an Officer of the Court would probably, like you, be struck from the list before the trial ever started!
Loved your answers, btw! And yes, prosecutors ARE more concerned with winning *by any means* than convicting the person who actually committed the crime. Sad, but true.
May you land a six figure a year job with full benefits, and get called for jury duty twice a year!
And may the same happen to me!
Actually, I'm shooting for winning a Mega Lottery. If I win, I promise to share! Would that work for you? ;D
Of course that would work for me!
I'm a pragmatist, though. Even though I know the prizes are not so large, I work the state lottery because it drops the odds to 1 in 7,000,000. So, expect a call from me first, even though we'd have to budget a bit more to live on only $3,000,000 or so!
I dunno... $3 mil doesn't seem like much, but guess I COULD live without that second yacht if I HAD to. ;D
My dear, I denied one of the duplicate posts. Others might think you were nagging, and we really should wait until after we are dating for that to begin!
I have great news, though! You need not do without a second yacht! I read this wonderful hub about renting versus buying, so I think we could have five or six yachts, and no worries about maintaining them!
Here's a link to the hub that has had my head swimming since I read it a few days ago: http://hubpages.com/hub/Why-I-Rent--Not-Own
I think we can stretch $3 million splendidly employing the logic that wonderful writer conveyed!
Ah, shucks (she says, blushing)... ;D
No need to blush, my dear. Even when you do start nagging, I'll defend it by saying something like "you would, too, if you had to put up with me."
I thought you might say something about the link, though!
I should've been less coy and added that I was blushing *because* you linked to one of my hubs that "had [your] head swimming for days"! A belated thanks for doing so! ;D
I knew that was what you meant, Ms. Jama! I was just having fun being a smart aleck, which is far better than when I was a dumb aleck - and I have references!
Your article (which is linked to about three or four posts up, for those who may be wondering) has me questioning the value of ownership. After paying a home off, one is left with taxes, insurance, maintenance, and, if one so desires, membership in a gym to get that which can be rented! Until it is paid off, there are principle and interest payments, and mortgage insurance, as added costs, not to mention the loss of freedom of moving easily.
It is a brilliant article, and you are a wonderful author. Have I told you that I'm happy that our paths crossed?
I questioned the value of home "ownership" back in the early nineties when as a single working mom I began what would quickly become an expensive 5-year journey down that road called "financial security".
First, my homeowners insurance doubled and the property taxes tripled. Then the furnace refused to work and had to have major surgery, followed shortly thereafter by the plumber's bill to replace a corroded-shut 6-ft piece of pipe buried in a wall that left us with no hot water over Christmas Week. (A friend replaced the sheetrock that had to be ripped out to get to the pipe.) The breaker box and half the wiring had to be replaced. The garage roof began leaking and had to be replaced. The kitchen sink continually backed up, for no reason that anyone could ever determine (or fix), so I spent a lot of time coaxing it to drain temporarily with a plunger. The last straw was when the furnace once again stopped working and replacing it was the ONLY option. I managed to unload the place to a DIYer, at a substantial loss, and vowed NEVER to be that stupid again.
'Nuff of that! I think you're also a brilliant author, and I too am glad our paths crossed! Did I mention our paths *might have* crossed a few years ago if I'd visited my Navy daughter when she was stationed at Whidbey Island? ;D
We seem to have much in common! My daughter that is training in Texas is also in the Navy! She's due back on the 8th, but leaves for Afghanistan on the 18th. She is training to be a prison guard, and will be augmented to an Army group (platoon, squadron . . . I don't know the correct term) for about a year. I told her I wasn't excited about it, but that she knows her daddy supports her decisions.
When I win the Lotto, we'll rent a yacht to cruise what is now known as the Salish Sea, but used to be known as Puget Sound. We'll have your daughter come with us on that trip so she can show us the finer things about Whidbey Island! After that hour or two is up, we'll cruise to a few of the San Juan Islands!
I can't wait to win the Lotto so we can start our life together! Until then, we'll just have to resort to continuing our cyber mutual admiration friendship, which I am thoroughly enjoying!
Tom, it's news to me that the Navy is putting "boots on the ground" in war zones. Are we that hard up for warm bodies now?
My daughter finally got shore duty after being assigned to one aircraft carrier or another. She did the whole 4 years of Jr ROTC in high school, but was still a minor when the recruiters started calling, so the Army recruiter didn't even get to our front door! (When he called, I told him "No way will MY daughter join the Army!" and hung up.) This was only a couple of years after Tail Hook, so the Navy recruiter fared *slightly* better. Looked like he'd rather be somewhere getting shot at than sitting through the drilling I gave him about the safety of women in the post-TH Navy.
My daughter, btw, is the ONLY person I've ever known who joined the Navy and actually got to "see the world". Kept getting stationed in places like Japan and Italy. Finally had to threaten not to re-up to get stationed in the States, where she's been on one coast or another ever since.
I'm thoroughly enjoying our cyber mutual admiration friendship too! ;D
I sure hope it's not because they are hard up for warm bodies! They've had Navy medics attached to ground patrols for some time. She told me that she will get some extra points for promotion by doing this; plus, she will get war pay - both things I think are irrelevant compared to her health.
She had been attached to a carrier out of Bremerton. It will be deployed to the gulf soon, but she did get to go on a WestPac with it. She's ridden an elephant in Thailand, shopped in Hong Kong, and did whatever they did in Japan, Korea, and Hawaii on that trip!
She's a tough little cookie, but I asked her to read some essays about the mind trips some people go through with war. The essays were in a Virginia Quarterly publication I picked up somewhere (probably Goodwill). I figured she may be better prepared if she understood that kind of deployment may change her attitude about humanity, and more apt to seek help if she recognized some of the symptoms. She told me she cried before she was done with the first essay, but assured me she read all the related ones.
She wants me not to worry, but she doesn't understand that worrying is a parent's job. I try to display support rather than worry when I talk to her, but I don't know how good of a job I am doing at that.
It sounds like your daughter is still in the Navy. How is she doing? How are you doing with it?
Yes, my daughter is still in the Navy. Just got promoted (again). Yes, it's a parent's job to worry, so I was led to believe her WestPac cruises were confined to the Pacific Rim. The light didn't go on until I watched an episode of the PBS series "Carrier" and figured out the waters off Iraq were a routine stop on HER ship's itinerary. (Go ahead. Call me slowwww for not making the connection between **aircraft carrier** and fighter jets MUCH earlier, even after seeing "Top Gun" a dozen times...)
But she LOVES the Navy so she's fine with it, and I'm fine with her career choice now that (far as I know) she's totally out of harm's way. Only time will tell, though, what effect her 6-month cruises have had on her kids.
She and her sibs, btw, learned long ago to wait until after the fact to tell me they'd been in what they knew I'd consider "dangerous" situations.
And I agree with you about war pay - what good is it if you don't survive to spend it?
Your Goodwill must be get donations from a more intellectual crowd than mine does if you found a Virginia Quarterly there. ;D
Your daughter sounds a bit like mine - driven and spunky!
I've found one Virginia Quarterly in the years I've shopped for books at Goodwill, so it was probably more luck. It was in great shape, so it's possible the donater thought it was beyond him/her!
I don't know about your daughter's carrier, but the Stennis (my daughter's former ship) alternated WestPacs and deployment to the gulf. Also, I would not be as concerned with deployment to the gulf as I am about being stationed on land. The carriers are guarded by other ships in addition to having pretty good defense systems on board.
Hope you had a good fourth!
Oh, I understand the difference between deployment on land and being anchored miles off shore in the gulf on well-protected "5 acres of American soil that can be parked anywhere". But Darling Daughter#3 had me believing each WestPac cruise was nothing more than a 6-month-long series of shopping opportunities in exotic ports to "show the flag of freedom". ;D
I've managed to avoid Jury Duty. I think I was selected once while I was either in college or on an internship.
I could imagine I'd likley get struck from the pool.
Hi TPC! So, you got selected, but didn't get a chance to be on a jury? Did you want to be on one?
I think I was, but I was away at college or on an internship.
I think it might be interesting to see what happens to sit on one. A co-worker not only got to be on a jury, but was foreperson.
Of course, you said that you were away! Sometimes I think I should wring my mind so I can absorb something new!
Tom:
No biggie.
Ivorwen Level 1 Commenter 2 years ago
I've been called more times than I care to count. Fortunately, the cases have always been solved before they went to Court.