monogodo

I had some stories posted on my website, but because I've changed the format of it since getting married, they're no longer accessible unless you have the exact address, so I thought I'd repost them here. Here's the first one:

I had jury duty the other day. I've been summoned for jury duty before, for the County of Dallas. I served on a jury for a personal injury suit for 2 and a half days. The only reason it took that long was because there were 2 plaintiffs and 2 defendants, and each had their own lawyers. But that's another story. This time, it was for the City of Richardson. Municipal Court. In other words, traffic tickets and misdemeanor assault.

I had called the court the week before my appointed date because of my transportation situation. I currently do not have a functional car (it seems my "new" Nissan Maxima threw a rod a couple of weeks ago). I called to ask them if there was someplace inside where I could park my bicycle since it's worth a few thousand dollars. I explained to the court clerk that I was willing to do my civic duty, and that if there wasn't a place for me to park it safely inside, I was willing to reschedule for a later date, in the hopes that I'd either have a car, or would be able to arrange alternate transportation. She told me that it would be no problem, that she would tell the bailiff and that he'd let me know where I could park it, and would show me to the restroom so that I could change into more appropriate clothing for the court. I just had to be there by 8am.

On the appointed day, I arrived at 7:55am. I had even almost rear-ended a car I was in such a hurry. I then waited with the other people outside the court for them to open the doors at 8. At 8:10, they unlocked the doors. I leaned my bike out of the way and stepped into the court and asked the 4 cops there if one of them was the bailiff. The bailiff, Rusty (not his real name), responded in the affirmative, and I asked him where I could park my bike. He replied anywhere outside, that there was no bike parking inside. I told him that I had called the week before, and the clerk had said it would be ok. He sighed, and told me to wait out in the lobby, that he'd be with me shortly. About 5 minutes later, he came out and told me to follow him. He led me to a little alcove where he told me to park my bike, then to the men's room. I changed and went back to the court.

At this point, I should mention that I had only had about 2 hours sleep in the previous 48 hours or so. I was exhausted. I sat on the jury side of the room, and started to read the book I brought. After a couple of pages, I started to fall asleep, so I put the book away and closed my eyes. About 15 minutes later, Rusty called out "all rise" as the judge entered. That woke me up. The judge then asked us various questions to make sure that we were all eligible to serve in Richardson, and to see if any of us could claim exemption. After that, He explained that there were only going to be 4 trials, and therefore most of us would be done by noon. At that point, the lawyers took over.

The first one to speak turned out to be the only one to speak. Lawyer, that is. She was the DA (let's call her Marcia), and asked us a few general questions about receiving traffic tickets and the police in general. Marcia also asked us if we believed in, and supported, both the US Constitution and the Texas Constitution, which I thought to be rather odd. Then the first defendant, Jim Bob, (not his real name), asked us if any of us had received a traffic ticket, and he made notations on his jury list. The other 3 defendants from the other cases just introduced themselves. At that point, the Judge took over. He called up Marcia and the first defendant and asked if they had any jurors they wished to strike. Then the Judge picked jurors number 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11. I was #3. We were to be the first jury. We then were taken to a jury room while the other juries were selected.

About 15 minutes later, we were called back in. The trial began. Marcia read the two charges against the plaintiff: Speeding 35 in a 20 (School Zone), and Failure to Display a Current Valid Driver's License to a Peace Officer. Then, Marcia called her first witness, the officer.

The officer, Poncharello, (again, not his real name), was a typical Motorcycle cop, well-built and very butch. He was professional in his tone, and had ready answers to most of the questions presented to him. To the questions that he didn't have the answer to, he had his notes and ticket book there to back him up. He testified that Jim Bob had been going 35 mph in a school zone, and had clocked him with his laser gun. When he pulled him over and asked him for his license and insurance, Jim Bob gave him "an identification card from a non-recognized entity: The Republic of Texas." Now I understood why Marcia asked about the US and Texas Constitutions. Well, Jim Bob's Republic of Texas ID was not a driver's license, and it not only didn't have his correct name, but it also had an incorrect birthdate. Poncharello determined this by questioning the passenger in the truck.

When Jim Bob cross-examined Poncharello, he essentially started to testify, and the judge had to stop him and inform him that he would have his chance to testify later. The only thing we got out of the cross-examination is that Jim Bob claimed to have given his correct license to Poncharello later.

Now it was Jim Bob's turn. He took the stand and told us that, yes, he had presented a Republic of Texas ID, and that, yes, his name wasn't correct on it, but that he was in the process of legally changing his name, and has since chosen to keep his original name. He never did explain the birthdate thing. He then proceded to attempt to explain away the speeding charge based on some symantical B.S. about the difference between "driving" and "travelling", and also the difference between a "motor vehicle" and an "automobile". The judge wouldn't allow him to do this, because it involved presenting law to us, not facts about the incident. Jim Bob kept attempting to give us this information, and the Judge finally had to warn him that another attempt to bring it up would bring a Contempt of Court charge and $100 fine down on him. Not less than 5 minutes later, Jim Bob brought it up again and was assessed a $100 fine for Contempt of Court.

At this point, both the Defense (such as it was) and the Prosecution rested. We were then given the charges and sent off to deliberate. Well, we decided pretty quick that we believed the cop and his laser gun and found him guilty of speeding and assessed the maximum fine: $200. We then asked Rusty if we could see Jim Bob's driver's license. We wanted to see it because I happen to be able to tell the exact date of issue of any Texas Driver's License. I wanted to know if he had received his license before or after his ticket. Rusty brought us his license, and we found that he got it about 6 months before his ticket. Then one of the other jurors made the observation that the guy didn't have his friend, the passenger in the truck, with him in court to back him up. We took that as an indication that he wasn't telling the truth, that Poncharello was, and convicted him of Failure to Display a DL to a cop. And again, we assessed him the maximum fine of $200. Our reasoning was this: it costs the city a lot to have a jury trial, and he essentially wasted the court's time, and our time. One of the jurors is a dental hygenist, and had to cancel the appointments of 12 patients so she could be in court. This guy wasted their time, too. We only wished we could fine him more.

My personal feelings on it are that he should have just given Poncharello his real DL and paid the damn fine to begin with. Or try for Defensive Driving or Deferred Adjudication. It would have saved him a lot of time and money. And I might have gotten to bed 3 hours earlier.