News
My
day in court
Jury duty calls: what is it like?
By Elizabeth Prata
In late May I received an official-looking letter
from Maine Superior Court. Not having broken any laws
or having any pending suits in the court system, it
was with some puzzlement that I opened the envelope.
It read, "Maine Superior Court Traverse Jury
Summons." Jury duty. Oh no. How did they find
me? According to the Maine Judicial Branch web page,
"The Superior Court in each county maintains
a source list, which is used for the random selection
of prospective jurors. Names are placed on the list
from three sources:
1) The lists of licensed drivers,
2) Persons issued an identification card by the Secretary
of State, and
3) Persons who notify the Clerk of the Superior Court
in the county of their residence and who request to
have their name placed on the source list of prospective
jurors.
Be
politically correct: Jury service, not jury duty
Nowadays
the politically correct term is 'jury service.' Already
my mind was racing through the reasons why at all
possible moments, this moment was not going to work
for me to leave the newspaper and my part-time job
at the Post Office, and spend weeks in court.
The term of service for prospective jurors is a month
long, but the actual amount of reporting days is only
two weeks within that term of service, unless a trial
goes longer. My term was going to run from June 7
to July 2.
The courts had already thought of answers to any possible
excuses. The reverse side of the call-to-duty sheet
listed them all, with court reasons why jurors must
appear. You must serve even though you are over 70-years
old, are a convicted felon, self-employed, work on
a commission-only basis, or will not be paid by your
employer.
What
if I don't show up?
Failure
to appear constitutes contempt of court and may result
in a fine of up to $100 and/or up to three days of
jail time. I was stuck. Besides, this was an opportunity
to participate in a civic duty that is important to
the justice system and ultimately our freedoms and
liberties.
When the day arrived, I packed a lunch and headed
to Portland.
At 8 a.m. I streamed in to the courthouse with 135
other prospective jurors. We sat on folding chairs,
packed like sardines, in an increasingly stuffy room
while court officers organized the lists and let us
settle down.
Grimaces, mutterings, and sighs were the chorus of
the morning as more and more jurors slipped onto the
few remaining seats.
A Court officer stood in front of the assemblage and
grinned. "How many of you are glad to be here?"
she asked. Laughter and 'Nope!' rang through the room.
"Are you all here for traverse jury? Look at
the top of your paper." She explained that traverse
jurors sit on criminal and civil trials. Grand Jury
is another kettle of fish altogether, and Federal
Jury still another type of service.
Once she established that all 135 jurors were in the
right place, we were ushered in to the court room.
High-ceilings with panels of mahogany, glowing wood
walls, and thick carpets lent an air of seriousness
to the atmosphere. The crowd hushed as they flowed
in, taking up the seats along the walls, the jury
box, and the lawyer's tables. Crackles of brown bag
lunches and paper shuffling eventually died down and
the officer had our attention.
Last
bastion of decorum
 |
"This
fine old building had its cornerstone laid in 1906.
The architecture is beautiful and the rooms are lined
with recessed mahogany. The courtroom is the last
bastion of decorum so please respect it with your
manner and dress, and please don't eat or drink in
here." She explained that once having served,
a juror doesn't have to serve again for five years,
unless called to Federal court. "In Federal court
they get bagels, coffee, $40 per day, but not here.
Here you get vending machines and a water fountain."
The next step was to watch a video that further explained
the process. It was one of those usual happy-music
bubbly training videos that explained that everyone
has a right to a jury. If we were in need of a jury
and there weren't enough jurors, it would be unfortunate.
Then we had a break. Some jurors went to the court
officer to establish excuses that had cropped up in
the month between the summons and the reporting date.
Others went for a smoke break or a coffee.
Four
skip out
After
20 minutes, we re-assembled. The Officer said, "I'll
call the roll to see if anyone boogied." Laughter
again. I will admit that I thought about it. She called
each juror by number. Soon she hit one that didn't
respond. She called again, this time by name. No response.
"Not good. This isn't good.' "Names will
be put back into the pool, and the next time might
be even more inconvenient than serving at this point
in time."
A total of four people had skipped out.
The bailiff called "All rise," just like
you see on television. Judge Thomas Humphrey entered
and when he sat we all sat back down. He thanked us
all for being present and said, "It is your duty
and obligation to respond to the call for jury duty.
But we know that you are giving us a piece of your
lives and we appreciate that."
He said that two civil juries would be selected that
day. We were not to talk about the cases with each
other or with anyone at home. We were to do no investigating
on our own. Justice Humphrey said that, for example,
if there was a case of a vehicular accident, conditions
change in the course of the year or two that it takes
to get to court. Do not investigate yourself. Make
your decisions only based upon what you hear and see
in court."
The lawyers and plaintiffs/defendants filed in and
occupied the front two tables. They spread briefcases,
took out notepads, and looked us over.
Voire
Dire
Voire
Dire is the process by which the judge asks questins
to determine a juror's fitness for a particular trial.
He reads a list of parties involved with the cases,
and if anyone knows or has had experience with any
of the parties, stand up. The judge asks for your
number and then asks if this knowledge would prevent
you from rendering a fair and impartial decision.
For an hour the judge asked detailed questions and
listened to jurors' responses. When he concluded,
he asked the legal staffs to come forward and they
held a muted conference at the bench. When they were
through, he asked the jurors a few more questions,
and then announced the jury selection by number. One
trial would last two or three days, the other would
last a week or more.
Holding
breath
As
Justice Humphrey named each juror by number, sighs
of relief swept those whose numbers passed by. A few
minutes later, though, those not chosen realized that
the process would begin again the following Monday.
We shuffled out, hearing the court officer remind
us to re-appear next week…or else.
Sidebar:
The Maine Superior Court is Maine's trial court of
general jurisdiction and is the only level of court
where jury trials are available. The Superior Court
handles the following matters:
* jury and jury-waived trials in adult criminal cases,
including murder and class A, B, C, D, and E offenses;
* post-conviction reviews;
* jury and jury-waived trials in civil cases, such
as car accident lawsuits;
* cases in which equitable relief is requested, such
as an injunction;
* appeals from decisions of state and local administrative
agencies, such as the Department of Human Services
and municipal zoning boards.
One Superior Court is located in each of Maine's sixteen
counties, except for Aroostook County, which has two
Superior Courts. The Superior Court has sixteen justices.
All have statewide jurisdiction and travel to the
different counties to hold court.
Maine
Judicial Branch's informational home page for jurors:
http://www.courts.state.me.us/jurors/
Photo
from Maine Courts website, http://www.courts.state.me.us/mainecourts/
