Asymptomatic

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Trial Part 2
March 22, 2006

This is the last post about this trial, I promise. Instead of starting directly in with trial details, let me write a bit about jury duty itself, which should expose a few details that might be of general interest.

When I arrived on Monday morning, there was a line for the metal detectors at one of the two public entrances to the courthouse. You would think that after learning of the metal detectors - which they should know are set far too sensitively when they pick up candy foil wrappers - that people would leave their hunting knives at home. But no. Maybe they think it’s amusing when they have to check their foot-long knives with the sherrif at the detector. Whatever.

Also on the hitlist at the detector were cell phones with cameras. I guess you’re not allowed to take photos inside the courthouse. I’m not sure whether this prohibition extends to regular cameras or other devices with cameras embedded, or if it’s just with phones. In any case, you can avoid holding up the line by simply leaving the thing at home. But how irritating!

Enough with these annoyances, though. What can you expect as a juror ar Chester County Courthouse?

The Trial
March 21, 2006

I was thinking that I would put off writing this because it would give me more time to collect my thoughts about it, but realistically if I was chosen as an actual juror, I would have had to decide all this already. Let’s start with some of the details of the case.

Before I do that, I should mention that this is my recounting of the events as told to me as I was a member of the jury in this case. I wasn’t there for any of the actual events that happened, it’s been more than a week since I heard the first witness, and I don’t have my notes from court since they are destroyed when the case is concluded. As such, it’s probably the case that most of what I’m about to relay has some errors in it, and any conclusions that I draw are - as would be obvious to any sensible reader - my own personal opinion and not an accounting of fact. That said…

The plaintiff, Craig Kobus, had some problems that required shoulder surgery. Craig is a healthy guy and he plays a lot of sports, which seems to be how he has injured his shoulder. With the intention of being able to carry his daughter (from a previous marriage - more on this later) around during a summer trip to Disney World, he elected to have the surgery performed at Chester County Hospital.

In a generally well state and - according to the testimony of all of his family who were present beforehand - relaxed and looking forward to having the operation, he came to meet Dr. Boxer, his anesthesiologist Here is where things start to go awry.

All For Naught
March 19, 2006

After a tiny bit of research, it seems that being an alternate juror is the lowest appointment one can have. Not only are you selected and forced to sit for the duration of your trial and are expected to pay attention to the entire case, but you don’t get to sit in on the deliberations, and your voice isn’t heard on the case at hand.

So I still have to sit for the remainder of the case on Monday, and possibly for some more instructions from the judge, but those instructions will probably include for me to go home.

This Is Why, Folks
March 16, 2006

I don’t normally include profanity in my own postings, although there is sometimes some basic profanity in the comments. And I’m ok with that as long as it’s a relevant expression of feeling and not flagrant meaningless obscenity or name-calling. With that said, I hope you will excuse what I am about to post, which is actually a comment that I recently received, and not my words at all.

I suppose I need to provide a little background. Back in 2003, I enrolled in a basic writing class at West Chester University as part of my program of “taking random classes and learning things without an intention of earning a degree”. West Chester is a state school; your basic step above a community college. The writing program was very basic, and although the teacher was proficient, he expected a proportional amount of effort from a 100-level class at what amounts to a continuation of high school.

One of our assignments included choosing a character from the movie American History X, and profiling him in writing. It was to be a longer piece; a follow-up to a shorter assignment from earlier in the semester. Please note - If you read these posts, note that they were added to the site before I started using WordPress, and the automated reformatting from the old system may have produced errors. Also, as with anything I write on Asymptomatic in general, I didn’t really proof the “post” part of these, whereas the written piece itself should be in a relatively error-free form.

The salient point here, the one that is lost in the case of the comment to which I spoke earlier, is the one where this is “part 2″ of my exploration of American History X. This post does not represent an indication of a sequel to the original movie. That said, I present the comment that I recently recieved on the “part 2″ post, which I am posting again here rather than allowing it through moderation: