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For Potential Juror, 'Honest' Response to Judge Backfires (Outrageous!)
NY Times ^ | 7-2-05 | ANDREW JACOBS

Posted on 07/02/2005 10:17:58 AM PDT by veronica

It may have been an inelegant description, but Stephen Caruso said he thought he was just being honest on Thursday afternoon when a judge asked if he could be fair and impartial toward a defendant on trial for kidnapping. No, Mr. Caruso said during the voir dire portion of jury selection. "I have been held up three times at gunpoint," he said according to transcripts, adding, "I am already looking at him; I think he is a scumbag."

Judge William A. Wetzel of Manhattan Criminal Court did not appreciate Mr. Caruso's candor, though, and ordered him held in contempt of court. "That is an insult not only to him, but to the other people in the room and me," Judge Wetzel said, before ordering Mr. Caruso to come back the next day.

But when Mr. Caruso returned with a lawyer yesterday and apologized for his choice of words, Judge Wetzel was not inclined to forgiveness. "I've interviewed upwards of 15,000 jurors and I have never experienced such an inappropriately vulgar, contemptuous occurrence," he said. He then told Mr. Caruso, 27, a financial planner from the Upper East Side, to return to court on July 18 and face the prospect of a $1,000 fine or up to 30 days in jail.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: judge; juryduty
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1 posted on 07/02/2005 10:17:59 AM PDT by veronica
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To: veronica

Yet another judge gone berserk.


2 posted on 07/02/2005 10:19:52 AM PDT by Coop (In memory of a true hero - Pat Tillman)
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To: veronica

Thought Crime


3 posted on 07/02/2005 10:20:18 AM PDT by Turbo Pig (...to close with and destroy the enemy...)
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To: Coop

They think they are Gods. This is beyond the pale.


4 posted on 07/02/2005 10:20:36 AM PDT by veronica (The clowns are now in meltdown mode. LOL...)
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To: veronica

freedom of speech alive and well in NY - shame you can't call a scumbag a scumbag anymore


5 posted on 07/02/2005 10:20:45 AM PDT by gtee03
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To: veronica

Boy, that judge is a scumbag...


6 posted on 07/02/2005 10:21:18 AM PDT by Future Snake Eater (The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.)
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To: veronica

Better to lie, I guess...


7 posted on 07/02/2005 10:21:40 AM PDT by fhayek
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To: gtee03
"Mr. Caruso seemed shaken by the experience and said he never intended to insult anyone. "I'm a little disillusioned with the whole legal process right now," he said afterward. "I feel like I'm being punished for being honest."

In addition to being the victim of two armed robberies while he was a college student in New Orleans, Mr. Caruso, 27, said he was riding a public bus there when it was held up by a gunman.

The trial, which involves a man accused of pushing someone into a car at gunpoint, "just brought up a lot of emotions and memories," he said, explaining his unfortunate choice of words."

8 posted on 07/02/2005 10:22:09 AM PDT by veronica (The clowns are now in meltdown mode. LOL...)
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To: Coop

Easy... I'd like to see a replay. Making an ourtrageously biased statement could very easily be taken as a way of avoiding jury duty.


9 posted on 07/02/2005 10:23:03 AM PDT by dangus
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To: veronica

Potential jurors are treated worse than the perps.

This guy doesn't even get a jury trial of his own, and will probably spend more time in jail than the kidnapping perp.


10 posted on 07/02/2005 10:23:15 AM PDT by LibFreeOrDie (L'chaim!)
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To: veronica
..."That is an insult not only to him, but to the other people in the room and me," Judge Wetzel said...

Translated: "That is an insult to me," Judge Wetzel said.

Pompous ass.

11 posted on 07/02/2005 10:23:47 AM PDT by FReepaholic (When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading)
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To: veronica
I'd like to know what this guys entire statement was, but so far, I agree that this looks quite outrageous. If everything is as reported, the judge should face some consequence for this.
12 posted on 07/02/2005 10:23:50 AM PDT by inquest (FTAA delenda est)
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To: Coop

Judge Wetzel is wrong.


13 posted on 07/02/2005 10:24:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: veronica

Well .. he could have said the same thing by saying it would be difficult for him to be impartial because he'd been held up 3 times. But .. to continue and disparage the "criminal" .. not good.

People need to understand .. we're dealing with idiots who love the criminal.


14 posted on 07/02/2005 10:24:56 AM PDT by CyberAnt (President Bush: "America is the greatest nation on the face of the earth")
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To: veronica

Inelegant, but honest. Simply dismissing the potential juror would have been sufficient, imho.


15 posted on 07/02/2005 10:25:32 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (Grant no power to government you would not want your worst enemies to wield against you.)
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To: veronica

Another case of the Emporer's clothes...or Judicial Tyranny.


16 posted on 07/02/2005 10:25:56 AM PDT by Ramonan (Honor does not go out of style.)
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To: dangus
Making an ourtrageously biased statement could very easily be taken as a way of avoiding jury duty.

Especially if you really mean it.

17 posted on 07/02/2005 10:26:58 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (Grant no power to government you would not want your worst enemies to wield against you.)
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To: inquest
If everything is as reported, the judge should face some consequence for this.

LOL, yeah sure.
The only time a judge feels any "consequences" is when he says something politically incorrect about women.

18 posted on 07/02/2005 10:27:26 AM PDT by Lancey Howard
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To: veronica

This "Judge" should be held in "Contempt of Common Sense" - he's an idiot!


19 posted on 07/02/2005 10:28:31 AM PDT by 26lemoncharlie ('Cuntas haereses tu sola interemisti in universo mundo!')
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To: dangus

Randolph N. Jonakait, a professor at New York Law School and the author of "The American Jury System," agreed.

The purpose of voir dire, a French term meaning "to speak the truth," is to find out whether potential jurors may be biased. He said he had never heard of a juror being held in contempt for using candid, although, crude language. "It's hard enough to get people to voice their opinions honestly in front of other jurors," he said. "When a judge intimidates prospective jurors from speaking their mind, I think it harms the jury system."


I agree...would seem to be a good way to get out of jury duty...but what the judge did will increase the likelihood of getting jurors who will not listen to evidence and go into trial with a bias.


20 posted on 07/02/2005 10:29:15 AM PDT by flixxx
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