Jury Duty: Can this get more boring?

I have jury duty today. I hate to sound ungrateful for our legal system but really, I am not someone that anyone would want on their jury. I am an attorney. Worse than that, I am a CPA and my specialty is tax. My mind does not work like a normal person. I am well aware of that one. Just philosophically, my tendency is to want to punish someone and I think that the reasonable doubt I would need is much higher than the average person. However, I am against the death penalty.

Imagine how annoyed I was when, as a law student, I discovered that attorneys do not get an automatic pass for jury service. Where I live, you either get assigned to the criminal courts or the civil courts. This time, I got assigned to the criminal court building. It's not in a good neighborhood but there is protected parking. Fantastic. Previously, I always got assigned to the civil courts. Your chances of getting assigned to a case in civil court are less than getting struck by lightning. Most cases settle the day of court and usually right before voire dire. Usually, you just get stuck sitting in a room all day with a book.

I remember serving my one day when I was pregnant with my son. I was actually having contractions. I told the administrative person this and she told me that they could reschedule my jury service. No thanks overstuffed lady of the bureaucracy. I had already served from 9am-1pm. If I was having that baby there, at least I would be done with jury service. There was a hospital nearby if things started getting intense, right? I plead temporary insanity. They let my group go at 3:00pm. I had my son within two days of jury service so I guess I was not just being a whiny pregnant woman.

This time, I got assigned to the criminal court building, which was very annoying. My mother had been assigned to a two-day case when she was assigned to the criminal court building. Of course, she is a 68-year old administrative person, so I bet they loved that. I am hoping that they will just dump a 38-year old tax attorney right out of there as soon as possible. I have had enough of the legal system lately with the nonsense involving my poor daughter.

I have my book, several dollars in change for the vending machines and my summons. I never win raffles so I am hoping my lack of ever getting picked for anything holds out.

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In the Criminal Court Building

My group gets called second. What happened to my lucky streak of never getting picked? They shuttle us into a courtroom and start jury questioning. The judge explained that it was a first degree murder case but it was not a capital crime. Then she read of a gigantic list of possible witnesses. Great. A long trial. The judge claimed the trial would "only" be a week.

During the jury questioning, it was amazing how many people claimed they were the victim of a crime. Most stated they didn't call the police and no one said that the perpetrator had been caught. Hmm. Interesting. My turn and I gave them the spiel about my daughter and the town drunk hitting her and being convicted. The judge commented that I was the only one who actually had the perpetrator caught. Good police force huh?

Apparently, if your daughter had a court date 5 days prior for a battery, that is a very good reason that neither the state's attorney nor the defense attorney will want you on the jury. I collected my $17.20 and left.

Pillar of the Community

We live in a good city with a low crime rate. I guess we have a problem citizen. This is what happened. My daughter is 15-years old. She was riding her bicycle home from a friend's house at 4:30pm on a Sunday. She was supposed to be home at 3:00pm. She felt a poke on her leg and stopped her bike to brush a bug off of it. A man approached her and started talking to her. She said, "excuse me sir, I have to go home." The man, a pillar of our community, screamed, "No," and punched her in the back of the head." My daughter rode her bike home and told me that a black man hit her and that she was scared. She was crying and had mascara running down her face. She was also past the time that she was supposed to be home. I suspected that she might be fibbing so I asked her a few questions. I called the police because it just didn't seem like she was making this up.

The police questioned her and then asked me if I would press charges if they got this guy. Momma bear did not hesitate. I said absolutely but asked how they were going to find him. The cop smirked a bit and said that they got him about 30 minutes ago when the call came in from me. Apparently, he is a frequent flier with the police force. We pressed charges. My daughter and I were both subpoenaed to the guy's trial date.

Here is his picture. The guy looks like he can barely keep his eyes open in his jail photo.

Meanwhile, the police blotter report was this.

Police arrested J of X, age 55, for allegedly hitting a 15-year-old girl in the back of the head. The girl was riding her bike on the sidewalk of the # block of Y Street when J approached her and began talking to her in slurred speech.According to the report, the teen told police he had the smell of alcohol about him, and she said that she didn't want to talk. As she turned to go, J allegedly struck her from behind with his fist, knocking her down. He then fled, but police found him sleeping at the intersection of A and Y Street.
He was taken into custody, and has a court date of Z.
The previous day, J was cited for drinking a 12-ounce Miller Lite out in public in the same area.

The part of him fleeing and then sleeping makes me wonder. Oh, I just punched a teenage girl. I must flee so the police do not arrest me. However, I am so tired. I will just take a nap here, two blocks away. They will never find me.

We found out that the defendant had multiple run ins with the law and multiple convictions but that this was his first time being a violent offender. He approached her with one goal - to ask her for some money so he could buy beer.

They charged him with battery, which is a Class A misdemeanor. It took two hours of sitting on the wooden bench until our case resolved. We had spoken with the State's Attorney and the State offered the Defense a plea. Twenty-four months of conditional release, 240 hours of SWAP (Sheriff's Work Alternative Program), and orders not to contact us or go near the high school. If he gets arrested during his conditional release, he goes to jail even if he is not convicted of a crime. The SWAP program is like a hard labor camp. They pick up trash and other such menial chores with those orange vests on. If he is even a minute late to one of the the work days, he goes to jail. The jail sentence will be the same as the conditional release program if be violates the conditional release terms and the time period starts over again.

I am happy that my daughter got to see our justice system in action and that it was a positive outcome. The judge even thanked my daughter for coming to court. One benefit to this fiasco is that my daughter has been taking school more seriously and has been complying with the curfews that we set.

I do worry about this man. As my grandfather used to say, "it takes all kinds to make up this world." This man does not seem to have a happy life. I hope this is the wake up call he needs to get his life on track. It is never too late to turn your life around.

Introduction: Taz

I'm a new blogger. What do I write about? According to a long-lost classmate, I make her laugh. I certainly hope that is a good thing. Now that I'm on the spot, let's hope that continues. I am a wife and mother. I like to refer to my husband as Taz. He has the odd ability to whiz around the house after work and straighten it just like the Tasmanian Devil. Only sometimes I realize that it is an odd problem.

When we were first married, I laid out my clothing on the bed and hopped in the shower. I had my hair wrapped up in a towel, my robe on and opened the door to the bedroom.

Me: Where are my clothes?
Taz: Oh, I straightened up.
Me: So where are my clothes?
Taz: Where they go.
Me: And where is that?
Taz: What are you looking for?
Me: The clothes that I laid out on the bed before I jumped into the shower.
Taz: Oh, I put them away in your dresser.

Thank you Mr. Helpful. I got the clothing out once again and got dressed. I went to school and he went to work. The next day was Saturday and I planned to sleep in. Taz was whizzing around the house. Must have been a caffiene drip or something. I felt some odd tugging and tucking. When I woke up, I realized that Taz made the bed with me in it! I got into the shower, but brought my clothes with me in the bathroom this time. When I came back, the bed was made and he was vacuuming.

From this, I have a few pearls of "wisdom."

Whoever picks up the first robe, sock or item out of place, will be the one to do this for the duration of the marriage.

It is not necessary to clean a hotel room before you leave or fold dirty towels. Really. Put that down.

It is okay if the kids take toys out to play with them. Really Taz. Relax.