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In my one and only call for jury duty, I was eliminated during Voir Dire. I don’t usually provide a long-winded response, but because this situation was mildly interesting–and because I’m stuck inside as a result of the monster storm–I will go on… and on.
The case involved a fire fighter, who was suing a homeowner because the fire fighter slipped on ice in front of the guy’s home–while the fire department was trying to knock down a fire in the house. In my mind, it was highly-likely that the ice had formed as a result of water sprayed from the fire hoses, but nobody asked me for my opinion on that issue.
Anyway, as Voir Dire began, the judge asked the following question: “Did you ever sue anyone for personal injury, have you ever been sued for personal injury, did you ever sue a fire fighter, or did a fire fighter ever sue you? And, are you related to, or are you friends with, a fire fighter?”
The first prospective juror said that his mother slipped on a lettuce leaf, in the A&P, back in the 1940s, and she sued A&P for personal injury. The judge excused him. The second juror said that he belonged to a running club, and that a couple of the members were firemen. The judge asked him how many club members there were, and how many of those members were firemen. The response was that over 200 people belonged to the club, and that 2 or 3 of them were firemen–but the juror had never met those firemen. The judge excused him.
There were a couple of other prospective jurors who were also excused for what I thought to be inconsequential reasons. Then, it was my turn in the box. I related–honestly–that when I was ~11 years old, we had been involved in a car accident in CT, and that our car had been heavily damaged by the off-duty Fire Chief of the town of Jewett City, CT. We were all injured, my brother had to be hospitalized, it cost quite a bit to have the car repaired, and we sued–and won–our negligence case against the off-duty Chief.
It was now close to 4PM, and by this time, the very elderly judge had gathered only a couple of qualified jurors. I think he was frustrated at this point because he had excused so many people from the jury pool. But, he flew into a minor rage when I told my true story and he SHOUTED at me, “So, are you telling me that you couldn’t be objective in this case?” I shrugged my shoulders and said, “I’m not sure.” He again flew into a minor rage, and he said, “I’m excusing you from this case, but I’LL BE SURE TO PUT YOU ON A CASE TOMORROW, no matter the circumstances”. Yes, his reaction to my true story was a bizarre overreaction.
After leaving the courtroom, I encountered the Jury Manager, who had given us our orientation talk earlier in the day, and I asked him about reporting for duty on the following day, as I had been directed to do by Judge xxxx. He laughed, and said, “The policy is the same as what I mentioned this morning. If we don’t put you on a case today, then you are excused from jury duty.” He then added, “It’s a shame that Judge xxxx doesn’t seem to be aware of the regulations”.
So, for those who think that they want their fate decided solely by a judge, consider the case of this borderline-demented judge.