walkingman

Our judicial system allows jury trials in both civil and criminal trials. Over the course of my career I have had the privilege of participating in a number of jury trials representing plaintiffs and defendants. I have never been blessed with a jury dressed to the nines like those portrayed on Law and Order. Sometimes I am just thankful that those impaneled show up awake, bathed, and in clean clothes. Some courtrooms are cramped, have bad ventilation and bad body odor can make it really bad especially in the summer. Hell I hate to wear a suit and tie but I have had some jurors show up looking like they just arrived from partying all-night or as if they just rolled out of bed and came in their sleepwear. These individuals tend to spend their time in the jury box sleeping. I understand that sometimes testimony gets boring but peoples lives are at stake. In a civil trial there should be no surprises if discovery is done properly and the attorney prepares properly. You know how each witness is going to testify and so part of the process depends upon your skills and luck. In a criminal trial there can be some surprises. The burden of proof is always on the plaintiff be it the state in a criminal matter or the person bringing the suit in a civil matter. The defendant does not even have to put on a defense if the state or plaintiff cannot prove its case. I have had civil cases in which the defendant admitted liability but fought over the amount of damages. The bad thing about this kind of case is when the jury perceives the plaintiff as being richer than the defendant. I cannot mention the fact that the defendant has insurance and that any judgment will be paid by his insurance company which is representing him in the lawsuit. Yet the defense attorney can mention that my client is wealthy, where he lives, his salary, etc. So my client suffers again in court even though he did nothing to cause his injury. But I will admit that my clients are not always saints. It was trial day and I showed up in court but my client was not present. I asked the judge to pass the case so I could find my client. I stepped out into the hall and called his cell. I got his voice mail so I called his house. His mom answered and told me that he left 45 minutes ago and was headed to the courthouse. I went downstairs and looked for him but only found his witnesses. I went back up and told the clerk that my client was on his way. Back out into the hall to call his cell and again no answer. I asked his witnesses to keep calling him. The judge started the bench trials and pushed us to the back of the pile. Finally the clerk informed me that my client was in another courtroom. It seems he was nervous about court and so he consumed massive quantities of alcohol before arriving at the courthouse. As he entered the building and passed through the security area the deputies noticed that he was staggering and barely able to stand up. They questioned him and eventually arrested him and charged him with dui. He was in no shape to testify at his civil trial which we lost big time and we also lost his dui trial as well. Judges really get pissed off when you come to court drunk. I had another young man who decided to take a smoke break during a recess in court and forgot what kind of hand rolled cigarette he placed behind his ear as he strolled towards the exit. Those damn sheriffs deputies have such good vision. Turns out his hard pack had more joints then tobacco and he got busted. Then I had a plaintiff who decided that his family and friends gave better advice then me. A nice offer of settlement came in and I suggested he take it. But he heard from this one and that one that this case was worth millions and billions and he got greedy. He wanted it all and then some. So we went to trial. The judge held a pretrial and the other side made the same offer. I recommend that he take it. He laughed at me in front of the judge. The judge recommended that he take it. He laughed at the judge. We continued the trial. We won the case. The jury verdict matched the settlement offer. Yet he got less because of the costs of the trial. He did not laugh when I explained this to him.