Rusty Law

Pay Attention!

The courtroom may be the place for the caged-bird to sing, but not for the juror to Twitter! 

Courtroom custom varies depending on the judges’ preferences; however, common courtesy is applicable on both sides of the bar. While conversation on a cell phone during dinner might put you in contempt of Emily Post, it is very not appropriate in court. 

Online communication caused a mistrial on an eight-week drug trial when nine jurors admitted to being online DURING court proceedings. Some judges don’t even allow telephonic appearance by attorneys! 

Facebook may be a fabulous social networking tool with valuable professional side-effects, but the courtroom is not the place to Twitter or email or do your online shopping. Furthermore, faceplanting via any means of Internet software can have detrimental side-effects for any professional. Doctors have suffered from disgruntled patients posting online ratings or raging outcries against them which go viral before they can be addressed. Then there are the terms of endearment, stepping on the copyright toes of intellectual property where original terms of service by many online forums claim the rights of what was posted. 

If you let your fingers to the talking, be considerate, and if you’re in the courtroom, tell your fingers to be quiet.

Jury Duty Golden Rule

While strategies abound for getting out of jury duty, one rule stands overall:  the Golden Rule.  

A jury duty summons does not ensure a seat in the trial.  Being called for jury duty is an opportunity to be an active part of a solution.  It is a civic duty, one that links us as individual citizens to the Constitution of theUnited States.  While it may be inconvenient philanthropy, for most of us it is a rare chance, and certainly worth our time and effort.  

The Golden Rule is often quoted as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Also popularly stated:  “What goes around comes around.”  If you are summonsed for jury duty, you have the invitation to do something for somebody; it is a service that you may be in need of one day.  

Jury Selection

If you could fly or be invisible, which would you choose?  This is a college entrance question that is supposed to indicate who is truthful and who is suited for law school.  Just kidding.  

Nevertheless, lawyers do ask questions of potential jurors to determine bias.  This is a process called voir dire, from the French phrase meaning, “to tell the truth,” and is more a process of rejection rather than selection.  

For an example, a lawyer may ask if a potential juror likes crossword puzzles to find out if he or she is well-read and has a good vocabulary.  Attorneys want to know ahead of time who on the jury is likely to be sympathetic to the defendant and who is likely to side with the plaintiff. 

In England, jury selection is a very simple process.  The judge asks twelve prospective jurors if they can give “a fair hearing to both the crown and the defense?”  In this country, however, jury selection can take nearly as long as the trial in some cases.Jury