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I once told a Judge in King County, Washington State that I could not afford to be on his jury as my employer was not only not going to reimburse me, but if I missed work two days in a row they were going to fire me. He let me go.
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I can understand people not wanting anything to do with Hawaii's court system, either county or state. The decision by Honolulu County to pursue a third trial against Christopher Deedy, a U.S. State Department agent who shot a local thug in a McDonalds 6 years ago, reeks of fanaticism. (2 unsuccessful prosecutions)
What are they going to do--keep trying the guy until they get the outcome they want?
They you have the large number of people prosecuted unduly harshly for marijuana charges here the past 20 years, or friends and family who observed the episode. (I fall in the latter category.)
Notable in the anti-pot campaign was a 7-year effort by prosecutors to convict a local man (Aaron Anderson) for "promotion of marijuana after he was found in possession of legal hemp bird seeds."
http://norml.org/news/1998/03/12/judge-d...hemp-seeds
Not surprising that a lot of people (other than criminals) try give the courthouse a wide berth.
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I think the issue here is a little more mundane, i.e., jury duty shouldn't result in serious financial hardship.
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MarkD: Double jeopardy protects a defendant from being tried more than once, but only if a verdict is reached. If the trial ends in a hung jury (like Deedy's trials ended), meaning the jury was dismissed bc it could not reach a verdict, prosecution can retry the case to their heart's content. Whether they've presented a bad case, or presented a case badly is their cross to bear. Once a defendant is found not guilty, that's it for the prosecution - defendant cannot be retried. If a defendant is found guilty, defendant can appeal.
edited for clarity
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Also MarkD, I was not impressed by your characterization of the victim as a "local thug" any more than you might be impressed with my characterization of the cop as an arrogant, DRUNK a$$hole with a gun and a badge.
Apologies for perpetuating the hijack. Now back to the original programming.
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It is a complicated situation. Deedy's lawyers argue effectively that the prosecutors have had 2 bites of the apple and failed to succeed. There is much opinion that this 3rd attempt is completely inappropriate.
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To put some closure on the original topic...I have been excused from jury duty for now.
According to their website, I could still be summoned sometime in the next 90 days from the date of the original summons. There were no hotel vouchers or meal vouchers included in the original paperwork. According to their phone information line for prospective jurors, they will put you up in a hotel if hotel rooms are available. Also, according to their phone information line, they will pay for your airfare, however, that is not what is stated in the paperwork they mailed to me.
They provide as little information as possible, and some conflicting information.
Wahine
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quote:
Originally posted by Wao nahele wahine
To put some closure on the original topic...I have been excused from jury duty for now.
They provide as little information as possible, and some conflicting information.
Wahine
Although I have to say that your experience is SOP for Hawaii, it's pretty outrageous that they can't be bothered to provide you with all the information that you need in order to understand what your obligation is and what the costs will be of attending.
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Sounds like one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing. Why worry and confuse your potential jurors? A Honolulu Star-Tribune letter-to-the-editor will probably get more attention than a letter to the court, but if it were me, I'd send a letter to both and hope someone along the red-tape way will put together new materials for future jury pools.
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geochem and DTisme, I agree completely with your above comments.
I was also thinking about compiling the conflicting and vague information, and writing a letter about it to the court and possibly a newspaper editor.
Wahine
