HONORED BY MY COMMUNITY

Feb 12, 2008 11:50

Once again the City and County of San Francisco have selected me from among my fellow citizens to be honored. I am a bit embarrassed to tell you this because I am a humble man who prefers to remain in the background, quietly being the magnanimous, incredibly wonderful person I am ( Read more... )

jury duty

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xanadutoo February 12 2008, 21:40:04 UTC
LOL the odds of getting selected here are quite high. Most people who are called are dismissed because they "can't speak and understand the English language"! WTF? They are citizens?

Anyway, the last time I was called - get this - I was SEATED on a jury in a trial of two defendants, with DIFFERENT lawyers, who were accused of FIRST DEGREE RAPE.

Now, here's the interesting part: Number one: I am a retired federal law enforcement officer, which almost always precludes me immediately from being seated, even though it doesn't preclude me from being called. :-)

And,

Number two: When I was married, my wife was attacked and raped by three men. They were never caught and the brutality and horror messed my wife up forever. It was absolutely the worst thing I've ever gone through, trying to help her and still trying to deal with all the anger etc. Anyway, during the voir dire, I told the entire court about this incident. Now, if ANYTHING should have gotten me kicked off, that should have.

But, I was SEATED without comment. Why? Because they had already gone through about 300 people on the panel, all of whom had some 'excuse' or other.

The trial wound up being cancelled before it started due to some weird last minute pleading or other. I have no idea what the outcome has been.

But, the incredible irony is that I, of ALL people who should NEVER have been seated on such a jury, was accepted without the least comment or, even, question by either side. Amazing, this so-called 'justice system' of ours. I was part of it for 27 years and became more and more cynical over the years. I've seen nothing in the intervening years to reverse that trend.

BTW, I'd love to have you on my jury. I'll request you right after I'm indicted. Come in bearing your angry lady icon and I'll stand up - in orange jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles, and cheer you!!!!!!

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marstokyo February 12 2008, 23:21:04 UTC
That's amazing and horrible. The other thing that gets me disqualified for juries is I tell the truth. When they ask if I can be completely impartial and fair in rendering a verdict I say NO. I don't think ANYONE can be completely impartial unless they were Solomon or something. And yet everyone of the idiots picked stands up and says YES they can be completely fair and impartial. Ridiculous.

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xanadutoo February 13 2008, 00:20:27 UTC
When they ask me about the 'fair and impartial' I always say I'll do the best I can, but, I have also told them my background and all that. Most defense lawyers want me off immediately. What's ironic is that I know all the 'tricks' cops and prosecutors play and would be quite alert to them, which would work in the defendant's favor. But, so far I've never sat for an entire trial.

This time I'm called to the civil court side. I'll get to participate in trials about asbestos abatement. Now, there's something to look forward to!

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