Posted on 02/04/2004 5:43:30 PM PST by wallcrawlr
Think you're too busy for jury duty? Just ask Craig Benson. The New Hampshire governor is a juror in a child sexual assault case that started Wednesday. Benson said he did not try to use his office to claim he shouldn't serve, and to his surprise, neither did anyone else.
"A number of people told me I would never get picked," the high-tech CEO-turned freshman governor said Wednesday during a break in the trial in southeastern New Hampshire. "But I'm excited to be part of the system."
Benson, a 47-year-old Republican, said the other jurors are calling him Craig, and that he has access to a room to conduct gubernatorial business during court recesses. He also has a phone in his shirt pocket to alert him in case of an emergency.
As the trial got under way, no one specifically addressed Benson's presence. The situation, however, is extremely unusual, *said Marcus Hurn, a law professor at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord.
"Most governors would ask the court to be excused and say that they are busy," Hurn said. "And if they didn't, most lawyers would strike them from the jury out of discomfort of the unpredictability of the situation.
"A sitting governor almost by definition is a very strong personality," Hurn said. "There is a risk that they would have way more influence on the other jurors in the final deliberations."
Other governors have reported to jury duty and have been dismissed. In November, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano spent the bulk of an afternoon in a courthouse before she was let go.
When Benson arrived as a part of the 165-member pool of potential jurors Monday at Rockingham County Superior Court, he was asked if he felt his presence might influence the opinions of others. He said he hoped it would not.
So far, no one has objected to Benson's participation as a juror.
"It's good that he's doing it," said Senate Majority Leader Bob Clegg. "We ask everybody else to put their lives on hold (for jury duty)."
Benson could end up with no input on the verdict. Two of the 14 jurors will be picked at random to be alternates and will participate in deliberations only if a primary juror is removed.
The trial was expected to wrap up Thursday.
Oh yeah, the pretty boy Governor get's named to your jury.
Eat S**t or Die.
(That is if this isn't a publicity stunt....)
Good point! Once the Defendant is convicted (I question whether a governor would acquit someone charged with the crime the Defendant is charged with in this case regardless of weight of the evidence)he will get a different lawyer on appeal. The first thing that lawyer will do is challenge the competency of the trial attorney for allowing the governor to be on the jury. They will also raise the fact that having a governor on the jury would preclude the Defendant's right to seek clemency or pardon, denying the Defendant a constitutional right. Ergo, the Defendant gets a new trial.
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