Friday, March 8, 2013

I Want to be a Juror in Arizona / Jodi Arias Case

I want to move to Arizona to serve ona jury. Hell,I'd even transport myself there and pay for my own lodging for the privilege of serving on a jury for an exciting trial there. The idea that jurors get to ask questions of the defendant, even if the questions are subject to censorship by a judge, is mind-boggling. If there were such a job as "professional juror" in Arizona, I would major in whatever field I needed to in order to qualify for the job.

My mom served as an alternate on a molestation trial where, according to her, the defendant lied by saying that he could not possibly have molested the victim at the time and place she said it happened, because she said it happened behind a fast food establishment in his agricultural work truck. he testified that there was not sufficient room for him to have parked his truck there. My mom used to pick up her lunch there on a regular basis, and knew for a fact that there was room to simultaneously park five trucks such as his work truck in that location.

As an alternate juror, she never had the opportunity to bring that up to the other jurors, as the case is not to be discussed until deliberations, and alternates do not deliberate in California unless they are called into service as regular jurors. The jury let the guy walk. It would have been illegal for my mom to have done her own investigation on the topic, but bringing up common knowledge about the place would have been allowable. Had she been permitted to question the defendant, it would have made it obvious to everyone on the jury panel that he was perjuring himself.

The ADA dropped the ball in not checking out the location, but God only knows what kind of caseload with which she was dealing. It may have been virtually impossible for her to have made the time to check out the fast food joint.

In any event, I don't think I would want to practice law in a state where jurors were allowed to play armchair district attorney,but being a juror there would be more interactive, and therefore, a hell of a lot more fun.

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