The Jury Pool from hell?

[SirFozzie]

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Defense attorney Leslie Ballin called it the "jury pool from hell."

The group of prospective jurors was summoned to listen to a case of Tennessee trailer park violence.

Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, "I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."

When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed.

Another would-be juror said he had had alcohol problems and was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer. "I should have known something was up," he said. "She had all her teeth."

Another prospect volunteered he probably should not be on the jury: "In my neighborhood, everyone knows that if you get Mr. Ballin (as your lawyer), you're probably guilty." He was not chosen.

The case involved a woman accused of hitting her brother's girlfriend in the face with a brick. Ballin's client was found not guilty.

[mgadfly]

It sounds like a normal jury pool to me. In federal court last summer we had jury selection for a drug conspiracy trial. In the morning the judge asked them if they knew anyone related to the case etc... At one point this young man raised his hand and told the judge that he knew a lot of cops because he worked at a sandwich place across the street from the police station and he'd also met with some of them to learn what it takes to become a police officer, specifically an officer on the drug task force in town. But, he thought he could be objective when listening to the evidence and not give too much weight to a police officers testimony.

We then took our mid-morning ten minute break. When we came back the judge began asking questions about drugs and how objective they could be on the subject. The SAME kid raises his hand and announces to the Court that he uses drugs, doesn't think the government has any right to make them illegal, and could never vote to convict someone on a drug charge.

I did my best not to laugh and think I did alright, and that was better than some of his peers in the jury pool.

Most jury selections are pretty boring, but there is always a few people like the article mentions, you just hope not enough that you don't end up with enough jurors to try the case.

[terpkristin]

HAHAHA odd timing on this one...I just got back from jury duty about an hour ago.

In my case, though, the defendent thought I looked familiar, and the more I think about it, I think she my have been the Spanish teacher at my middle school (I took French so I'm not 100% sure). Either way, I was not selected to be on the jury.

~tk

[judicial clerk]

I was clerking for a judge once on a jury trial where the defendant was accused of domestic violence assault against his wife. The defense attorney asked the jury pool if they have ever had experience with domestic violence. About five people raise their hand. The first lady to speak explained that her ex-husband was in prison for attempted murder for trying to shoot her. The next lady said that she currently has a FAPA restraining order against her ex-boyfriend who beat the shit out of her. The next lady explained that she witnessed one of her employees get murdered by the employee's estranged husband. The defense attorney (and frankly the judge and I) was dumb-struck for a moment. I thought he might ask to have a whole new jury pool sent up because the current pool was poisened by these stories. Instead the defense attorney expressed sympathy towards the women for their stories and explained that their stories were VERY, VERY DIFFERENT from the facts of the current case.

[bbor]

And we wonder how O.J got off?

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by judicial clerk

I was clerking for a judge once on a jury trial where the defendant was accused of domestic violence assault against his wife. The defense attorney asked the jury pool if they have ever had experience with domestic violence. About five people raise their hand. The first lady to speak explained that her ex-husband was in prison for attempted murder for trying to shoot her. The next lady said that she currently has a FAPA restraining order against her ex-boyfriend who beat the shit out of her. The next lady explained that she witnessed one of her employees get murdered by the employee's estranged husband. The defense attorney (and frankly the judge and I) was dumb-struck for a moment. I thought he might ask to have a whole new jury pool sent up because the current pool was poisened by these stories. Instead the defense attorney expressed sympathy towards the women for their stories and explained that their stories were VERY, VERY DIFFERENT from the facts of the current case.

I was a juror on a rape case a little over a year ago, and I was amazed at the number of jurors who indicated that they or an immediate family member had been raped. At the end of jury selection I remember going to lunch with a bunch of jurors, and I told the women on either side of me that they were both going to be easilly dismissed. The rape occured at a convalesent hospital. The victim was a patient, and the defendant a nurse's assistant. One of the women was a nurse in a convalescent hospital, the other's mentally handicapped daughter had been kidnapped and raped. When we returned to the jury box, we learned that the defense attorney only had one more challenge to make....oh and the guy was convicted.

[Coffee Warlord]

We actually had someone who could just BARELY read in one of my jury pools. A painful questioning by the lawyers (the dude could hardly comprehend even simple questions) discovered he got through the 4th grade, and that was it.

He was not chosen.

I however, was. And I was foreman of the jury that sent the dude up.

Moral of the story for all defense lawyers: When the prosecution's witnesses are scum of the earth kids who cut a deal to testify, don't let one of their high school teachers on the jury. Heh.

[Anthony]

i got off my jury duty by (honestly) saying i didn't believe in the presumption of innocence. you'd be surprised how quickly your stock as a viable juror drops at that point.

[sterlingice]

I did federal jury duty not too long ago. I think our jury pool was too bland (or not awake). This was for federal and they called up 24 people to make a 12 person jury. Except for one kindof loud girl, hardly anyone said anything to the questions, except that a few people lived in the same town and since it was a gun case, quite a few people raised their hands to the "do you have a gun" question but no one belonged to a gun organization like the NRA. Again, I think we were just a boring Kansas jury pool. No intersting stories at all.
SI