urbanknight

Not quite. Let me clarify.

I am stating that those who are not paid their normal salary for jury duty should be paid minimum wage at the very least. I just find it insulting that in order to avoid calling it sub minimum (illegal) wage, they call it lunch money, when their exclusion of certain people proves that it's not the intent.

My lunch comment is seperate and not a real issue... or I would be more creative when being selected for a jury. Since I actually enjoy the experience, I am fine with serving... even during my vacation... without pay.

Barese Rider

You are severely overrating the legal ability [none] of first year law students .

rpeterson

All 1L did for me was give me the ability to throw around technical phrases and read without actually being awake, that was about it.

Supe

Why not? Surely it would depend on the type of crime for which the Doctor was convicted of? People make mistakes. In this case, this guy doesn't appear to represent the ideal for which we all would like Doctors to represent. That is, holding human life with respect.

DrPete 

I think most people would prefer to entrust their care to providers who aren't felons, regardless of the felony.

Barese Rider

FWIW I doubt if convicted that the Doctor would end up with a permanent loss of his medical license.My bet is he would resurface in less than five years as this has nothing to do with his practice, skills and no insurance fraud etc.

DrPete 

A good lawyer would probably be able to fight it, at least as the CA law is written.

In DC the medical board has a policy called the "clean hands" rule or something like that. When I renew my license every 2 years it can get denied if I have outstanding parking or speeding tickets in the District of Columbia. I'm guessing if I were convicted of felony vehicular assault it might raise an eyebrow.

Nachoman

I wonder if the defendant will even serve ONE DAY of jail time if convicted? Since it's in the discretion of the judge, he could easily just get some cush community service.

spry

I could not absorb the financial hit for a month long trial filled with theatrics/shenanigans while all the other players(non jurors) reap a fantastic salary.
This is why the majority of jurors are public employees,retirees,postal workers,unemployed,etc..

urbanknight

That brings up another issue. You should be able to prove financial hardship via mail. The idea that someone has to show up to jury service on their first day to prove that they can not serve is crazy. There should be a form you can fill out and attach bank statements, etc. to and send in. Same for disabilities... I saw a lady who had a hell of a time getting to the courthouse to be informed that on the SECOND day, she would be provided with a transportation service.

Ideally, jurors would be paid their full salary, whether by the state or by their employer. Then people would have no reason not to do their "civic duty". I've had long conversations about this, including the suggestion of a system that requires companies to pay for a certain number of days depending on the (monetary) size of the company. The state would have to pick up the rest of the tab, and pay minimum wage to anyone who does not have a paying job at that time.

Even more ideally, juror would be a profession, but I fear the corruption that would follow that idea.

Biker395 

We have a criminal jury system which is superior to any in the world; and its efficiency is only marred by the difficulty of finding twelve men every day who don't know anything and can't read.
- Mark Twain

exRunner

I am salaried, so I can serve with no financial impact. Lsst summer I was in a jury pool in Federal Court in Queens. A woman wanted out because she was a single mother and did not get paid after 2 days. The trial was going to last at least 30 days. She got picked, I did not.

I have heard similar stories. On Long Island they don't seem fond of puting middle aged, educated, past military, white men on juries. OK with me

spry

Nah,you just show up at jury selection dressed as a Nazi Storm trooper.
Why should one have to present the court clerical lumps with your personal financial records?Haven't we lost enough personal rights already?
There are plenty of thrill seekers out there who would pay to sit through this crap for 30 days.

urbanknight

Well, the court system would be much more streamlined if we had a way of letting people with hardships stay home altogether instead of making them come in, file paperwork, state their name/marital status/area of residence/etc., answer even more personal questions (wait, did someone mention personal rights?), and then act like someone they're not so they they can be excused and let the poor suckers who did stay watch the show happen a bunch more times. The case I was on would have started a day earlier if we hadn't spent 6 hours listening to people trying to defend their honor as a respectful human being while still convincing the attorneys they were racist or discriminant.

I understand the idea of a jury of one's "peers". As for personal rights, I don't see how showing a few bank statements and bills would be any worse than requiring you to haul your ass to a court to sit in a room all day trying theatrical tricks to get them to send you home. Plus, you have the right to just come in and sit on your butt in a case just like anyone else if you don't want to show them proof of your financial struggles.

DiabloScott

And just as importantly, it's inconsiderate to make the rest of the jury pool listen to dozens of hardship stories before finally being considered themselves. Last time I was called this took like half a day out of the three days to select the jury for a ~2 week trial (I was the last one to be excused).

big john

When I was called to jury duty those of us with "financial hardship" had to fill out a form which was read by the judge. Of the 13 forms, he rejected 12 and had an interview with the last person before releasing him. He wouldn't consider talking to the rest of us.
Lucky for me the case was plea-bargained.

urbanknight

To avoid the continued hijack of this thread, anybody wanting to discuss the jury selection system or share war stories should do it here.

spry

We're just killing time till the jury reaches a verdict in the Dr.Arrogant case,then the s&!t will really hit the fan.

urbanknight

Yep, but I'm hoping and praying for a quick verdict. The longer they're in there, the more that means some idiot can't see the facts for what they are.

spry

Easy there teach,you've got to discount things a bit in California judicial system.

ijunes

Guilty verdict just in 3:41 PST

ijunes

six felonies 1 misdemeanor

logdrum

Thanks for this quick news. I was getting tired of all the semantics and hand wringing the last 10 pages or so.

rangerdavid

sentencing?

powpow

Good. Put the idiot away for a few years so he can think about his idiocy. Maybe he'll make a few friends in jail.