Attorney meets the 'jury pool from hell'

CNN ^ | January 18, 2005 | CNN staff

[seacapn]

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- Defense attorney Leslie Ballin called it the "jury pool from hell."

The group of prospective jurors was summoned to listen to a case of Tennessee trailer park violence.

Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, "I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."

When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed.

[seacapn]

Sounds like quite a party.

[MinuteGal]

Did these mutant prospective jurors play the characters in the famous "Star Wars" bar scene?

Leni

[octobersky]

LOL, I wonder if any of them were arrested for telling lawyer jokes.

[Red Badger]

Blue county (Shelby) in a Red State?...........

[jocon307]

My boss had problems with a jury last week, but not like this!

[MadAnthony1776]

Like the one arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer and that he should have known better because she had all her teeth. Sounds like a lot of candidates for the nut house in this bunch.

[Recon Dad]

A real life Jerry Springer show. You could do a weekly series on this just like COPS and call it JURORS. Same stars.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, "I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."

When we start excluding people from juries simply because they're high on morphine, the terrorists will have won.

[Mad Dawgg]

"When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed."

Don't you just hate it when one of your potetial victims hides under the bed and it provokes you enough to shoot at him and miss?

[Samwise]

a jury of his peers?

[vannrox]

He He He He

[MattinNJ]

Although I have never had a jury like this one, this is the direct result of smart, intelligent, hardworking people ducking jury duty. Before anyone bashes me for being a lawyer, I like to think I am one of the good guys. I solely practice insurance defense and do battle with the John Edwards of this world. It is pretty hard to get a defense verdict when your jury pool consists of people who think "Hey, lets give this guy a million bucks for a bump on the head. What do we care?" The few decent jurors who show up are bounced right away by the plaintiff's attorney with their preemptory challenges.

[Tigerjam]

Makes me proud to be a Memphian.

[Drawsing]

Story from CNN? It is funny, but it also might be a not-so-subtle slam on a southern state. You know...snicker at the gap-tooth stump-jumpers kind of a story.

[cjshapi]

Fun bunch ping.

[seacapn]

Oh, it might be. I think I actually saw this on a Memphis newspaper site first, and then it went national. It's just so strange.

[freepatriot32]

Before anyone bashes me for being a lawyer,

To late I'm not even going to read the rest of the paragraph YOUR EVIL:-)

[Ditter]

I was on a prospective jury panel and the defendant was suing his employer, a drywall contractor for a million dollars. He said he hurt his neck. The panel was asked some stupid question about how we felt about it. I replied that I had hurt my back and was in severe pain sitting on the hard benches but I had no one to sue. Another woman agreed with me and we were both excused. He looked like a faker to me because he didn't walk funny and hold his head at a strange angle unless he though everyone was looking at him.

[Don Simmons]

"Blue county (Shelby) in a Red State?..."


Yeah - no doubt! Memphis reminds me of a (more) run-down version of DC.

Too bad all the cool heritage is overshadowed by all the shuckin' fitheads who live there.

[Centaur]

Had an awkward jury experience in a homicide case a few years ago. During voir dire, my client told me that he knew one of the jurors who didn't respond to that inquiry...it was his neighbor of 8 years. I told the client that we had to inform the court at the end of voir dire. Midstream, this older lady stands up in response to an unrelated question and says:

Juror: Judge I know them.

Judge: Who ma'am?

Juror: Them, over there.

Judge: Ma'am, who are you referring to?

Juror: Them, the guilty ones!

So much for love thy neighbor, community relations and the 6th amendment :)