Jury Duty report

[chicken]

I got to sit through the entire trial, but when they put the names of all 14 jurors into the drum, I was not one of the 12 selected for actual deliberations. Pfooey. I really would have found it very interesting, especially after sitting through the whole trial. However, in a way I'm glad I didn't have to be responsible for deciding someone's fate.

Comments

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Also, the fact that the Texas courts provide you with a copy of the court reporter's transcript seems VERY advanced compared to Rhode Island. The judge said everyone questions Rhode Island's failure to provide such a transcript, but that "the technology" does not allow such a transcript to be printed (it is all in shorthand, and would have to be transcribed, and that would take too long, blah blah), and that we "just have to remember". He said that juries have successfully "just had to remember" for over 400 years, and that we could do it, too. He said that if necessary, we could ask for small portions of the transcript to be 'read aloud' to us by the shorthand-trained court reporter, but that it would be enormously time-consuming for her to even find the right place in the transcript, and that we were therefore highly discouraged from asking for such a favor. And that under no circumstances were we to take notes, as that would detract from us paying attention.

The Bunny told me about a shorthand note-taking device she saw in one of her classes that was being used by a stenographer on behalf of a disabled student, and that it was hooked up to a laptop, providing instantaneous transcription and searching capabilities. I wonder why the courts cannot invest in such a useful technology? ARGH!

That part sounds better in Texas.

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's common or not. On another trial (not criminal) we asked for the court transcript, and the judge said it wasn't available, and we should have been paying attention.

I think some judge's are asses about it, and sometimes the court reporter is not as efficient as she could be.

I sat there flabbergasted during the deliberations of the murder trial while all the jurors took turns telling anecdotes that had not a *damn* thing to do with our trial. I nearly bit my lip off most days because I wanted to scream, "Shut up about your nephew. This has nothing to do with your nephew. Your nephew's not on trial and charged with murder. Shut up shut up." Thankfully, I never did.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Yes, well, some people just love to grandstand and waste everyone's time. Getting off track is not useful! I guess if you are lucky, the judge appoints a fore-person who is able to keep control of such outbreaks and bring them to a swift end.