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James Hamilton, M. D.
Last evening before Mass, we were talking with a friend who was lamenting the fact that he had been notified to report for jury duty this coming Monday. Bummer!
This is something that I suspect has happened to the majority, if not all, of us. Yes, I know this is supposed to be a civic responsibility and it should be a privilige and honor in our society to do so, but let's face it, it is something that no one (correct me if I am wrong) looks forward to doing. It is indentured service for which we are paid almost nothing yet are told we are the most important people in the courtroom which contains highly paid judges and lawyers. Personally I have been summoned for this duty four times and selected to serve on two juries, all in Colorado. Three of those experiences were before I retired.
At least back when I lived in Ohio there were certain professions and individuals which automatically excused you from serving: physicians, priests, ministers, lawyers, persons with certain disabilities and a few others. Colorado has no such exemptions. All comers are eligible.
My first trial involved a young man accused of stealing several stereos out of automobiles including one from a Ft. Carson soldier. The jury selection process was, to say the least, interesting. One potential juror was so deaf that he had to constantly ask that questions be repeated. Yet the lawyers kept on wasting time (in my opinion) grilling him before finally excusing him. Another juror was excused when he told them that he, himself, had been accused of a similar crime. I tried my best to answer questions honestly but letting the attorneys know my very strong anti-crime views, the fact that I supported the local police and worked at Ft. Carson. Nonetheless, I was one of 12 chosen. This simple trial went on for three days, one and a half of which were spent in jury deliberation. It was obvious to 11 of us that the evidence was in favor of conviction but there was one holdout who seemed to confuse "beyond reasonable doubt" with "beyond a shadow of a doubt". We sent word to the judge that we were a hung jury. He replied "Keep deliberating". I finally played my "doctor card" and told this individual that I must often make life and death decisions based on much less evidence than we have here. He finally agreed and the man was found guilty. After the trial, the judge isolated and told our jury that our verdict was correct and that other evidence confirmed that but for some reason could not be presented.
The last time I was called was just about two years ago and I was retired. The game had changed in that now I was summoned for "combined court" duty, something which Colorado had recently started. The jury pool was open to Municipal, County and Traffic cases. There were approximatly 300 of us assembled that morning. However, only about four trials were to begin. Wow, I thought that the odds of not even being chosen for questioning were in my favor. Wrong!!! My number came up for the very first group. The interrogation process took up the entire rest of the day with a 1 1/2 hour break for lunch. In the afternoon one person was released quickly because the judge discovered he had heard nothing that was said during the entire morning becase he was deaf! (Remember, Colorado takes all comers!). The judge then asked the remaining potential jurors if anyone else had a significant problem that would make it difficult to go through a possible three day trial. One elderly gentleman (fortunately) across the courtroom from me raised his hand. "Yes, sir?" the judge asked. "I'm incontinent." replied the man. After a discussion the poor guy felt he could "hold it" for about 90 minutes between any recesses that would occur during a trial.
One of the statements the judge had made was that we must decide this case (a home burglary) based on the preponderance of evidence and each juror must feel comfortable with not making a decision based on less evidence. I had to admit to him that in my profession I seldom have the opportunity to decide cases and treatments with that much evidence available and that experience plays a major role. The old "doctor card" again, but it's true. Regardless I was chosen to be seated for a second round of questioning, but later released by the defense attorney.
Anyway, I am sure there are many of you out there in Forumland with your own jury duty experiences and I, for one, would be interested in your sharing them.
Jim
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