Do Your Duty

I won a lottery of sorts and have been called for federal Jury Service starting Monday, March 10 at the United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin. Federal district courts are the trial courts of the federal court system, similar to state circuit courts.

I was notified six months or so ago that I had been put in a larger jury pool. Then on December 31, I was summoned to report for the months of March, April, and May. At least in this district, jury service lasts for three months, but you do not have to report every week (or so they tell me). I do have to report this week - and of course I am - or should I say 'was' - supposed to preside at an administrative hearing and am scheduled for two Continuing Legal Education classes (CLE Seminars) this week. Well, nearly everybody has things going on that conflict with sitting on a jury and the system does not work unless regular citizens fill the panels that sit in judgment on criminal and civil legal disputes.

I think it would be interesting to serve, but given that I am a lawyer and used to do public defender work in the federal court in another lifetime (over 20 years ago), I don't know how likely I am to get picked.

Almost three years ago I was selected for the large jury pool for the Chai Vang murder trial (Hunting Murder Trial - Full Trial Coverage on Courttv.com). The jury was selected from Dane County with the trial being held in Hayward. Potential jurors first had to submit answers to a 10-page or so questionnaire. I was later directed to appear along with a couple hundred other locals to the Dane County Courthouse. We sat around in County Board room and watched a video about jury service. After an hour or two, the clerk called off about the 70 or 80 names, mine included, of people who were excused from jury service. It turned out that I knew one of the prosecutors in the case and I assume that's why I was excused.

As it turned out Chai Vang really had no defense for the six murders he committed. Here's a critical excerpt from the trial:

"Can you tell me if on that day Joseph Crotteau deserved to die?" Lautenschlager asked, holding up a poster of the six victims for him to look at.
"Yes," Vang said after a long pause. "Because he accused me of giving him [the] finger and he cut in front of me when I tried to get on, and called me names."