Juror Fined For Yawning In Court

The Associated Press ^ | Copyright 2005 | The Associated Press

[SlowBoat407]

I just fined myself.

[brazzaville]

Good morning.

I once heard a Superior Court judge ask a potential juror if she had anything she could sell to make her rent.

During voir dire the woman had asked to be excused from serving, claiming financial hardship. She was a working single mom who earned minimum wage as a waitress. She would not have been paid by her employer for jury duty and her rent was due.

Michael Frazier

[GOP_Proud]

I say have paid juries...yeah...make it a profession. Make it well paid and requiring classes in basic law.

I'd apply.

[SlowBoat407]

Judge: And what were you doing in this house of ill repute when it was raided?

Locksmith: Your honor, I was making a bolt for the door.

[sandbar]

>>>His Royal Highness, Superior Court Judge Craig Veals has spoken.>>>

Unfortunately, that is the attitude 99% of the judges have in this country nowadays.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Seems to be that the Judge is just begging someone to be comtemptuous.

Right now I hold all courts in Amerika to be contemptible until proven otherwise.

Judges are the real punks.

[Lazamataz]

Judge: And what were you doing in this house of ill repute when it was raided?

Gardener: Your honor, I was leafing as quickly as I could.

[PissAndVinegar]

Um...you are paid when you serve on a Jury

[So Cal Rocket]

The judge later called the yawn disruptive.

What was more disruptive to the proceedings in the court... the juror's yawn or the Judge making a contemptable offense out of it?

[Clara Lou]

It's generally considered rude to yawn loudly in public. I don't know about a $100 fine, but the judge wasn't wrong to take exception to it. It's called maintaining an appropriate environment for some very serious business. How would it bee if the entire jury pool yawned loudly? Civility-- there's a serious lack of it.

[So Cal Rocket]

Um...you are paid when you serve on a Jury

Last time I served on a Jury, I got $5.00 a day, plus mileage ONE WAY from my home to the courtroom.

[Mr. Jazzy]

"It's the tone of voice that matters here, and the story does not capture that."


And you were there to hear the guys tone of voice?
The judge should've admonished the juror to cool it without slapping the contempt charge, and gone on from there! How dare a simple juror express any displeasure or question the godlike workings of that or any court!

Yeah right.

Look, don't get me wrong. I'm used to taking all kinds of orders that are crap, I'm a husband! (Haha- just joking honey!) I'm all for decorum and respect for the law, but I've sat in the jury box before, when we had to wait and wait and WAIT for the defense to get it's CRAP together for questioning, all the while the judge was reading the newspaper! He had the paper placed on the floor of the judges box, so he could look down during the trial and read the sports section while looking down! After a little while of reading the paper, the judge would bend over, turn the pages and continue on with his reading! This was a murder trial and we in the jury were admonished not to read the paper, watch TV or listen to the radio during our personal hours or we WOULD be sequestered. Some judges think they are god almighty and they act like it! The judges need to be judged!

[SedVictaCatoni]

I suggest we let people volunteer or apply to be jurors. We could even offer a living wage for a 3 or 6 month term of service.

This is a terrible idea. It would make absolutely certain that juries consisted of people with nothing better to do - who are not likely to be your "peers".

Thought experiment for all Freepers who live in an urban area: If jury duty were a form of welfare, what kind of jury do you think you would encounter if you were ever to go to court?

[Condor51]

That'll be a $500 fine for double posting.

Remit check to:

Condor
123 His House
IL, USA

ps: thank you, I'll spend the money wisely, like on a new guitar :-)

[monday]

"Yeah, but the juror is still a punk."

Yeah, but not as much of a punk as the judge.

[monday]

"He deserves to be fined for that stupid reply"

Are you kidding? He deserves to be fined for telling the truth? What should he have said? "I have a rare yawning disease"?

[Getready]

Make sure you cover it up...whatever you do, don't
let out a booomer...as far as the odor...well
that would be contempt? no?
Also, never argue with a judge in their own courtroom.
They are charged with being correct at all times, so
even if they're in the loony bin, they still MUST
believe they are correct. It's like telling an ugly
gang member with a gun and a bad case of acne that he
should work on his skin.

[monday]

"Unfortunately, that is the attitude 99% of the judges have in this country nowadays."

Thats the way it's always been.

[B4Ranch]

What should he have said? "Is there a fine for thinking of you as a a-hole?

[mc5cents]

So now we know what happens if we yawn in court, what about farting in court?

Please, use the word crepitate. It is so much more dignified.