Juror du Jour

Two weeks ago, I had the honor of serving on a Federal Jury panel.  Many of my friends had the same reaction to that news that I did, which was “I thought lawyers couldn’t/wouldn’t ever be on a jury?!”  I have certainly proved that to be a myth.  So if you’re going to law school to forever avoid jury duty, you should really re-think your life choices.

I will say, without an iota of sarcasm, that I truly enjoyed my time on the jury.  It was a very interesting case, and I really enjoyed getting to know my fellow jurors.  We were a jury of 8 (we found out later that number derived from federal budget shortages), and we got along famously.  Not to sound condescending in any way, but I also was very impressed with my fellow jurors.  They all paid attention and scrupulously took notes throughout the four day trial, and heeded all of the judge’s instructions.  They were also very diplomatic in their discussions once we were ready to deliberate.  I geeked out a little over how great their participation was.

For me, the whole thing felt like a surreal law-school type exercise.  The myth about lawyers not being on juries derives from the idea that no lawyer would ever want another lawyer on their jury panel — mainly because a lawyer should potentially have a better understanding of the law than his fellow jurors and may therefore draw conclusions prematurely or influence the other jurors unfairly with his prior knowledge of the subject.  I can’t speak for my fellow jurors, but I truly believe the decision we reached was the result of a collective discussion, hardly any of which had to do with any of my own prior knowledge.  It was fairly difficult for me not to reach my own conclusions before we were set free to deliberate, but I did my best.

The best part for me was getting to talk to the attorneys and the judge afterward.  For one thing, this judge is a sitting judge on one of my cases, so I was fascinated to see how he operates.  For another thing, how often do you get the chance to tell a lawyer what you thought of his/her performance?  Well, maybe some of you more often than others, but this seemed like a rare opportunity at the time.  The lawyers wanted feedback on what kinds of things they did were effective or not, and overall what we thought.  It is amazing what kinds of little things people pick up on, or how one gesture or inflection can totally alienate someone or make them think you’re a total jerk.  The judge stuck around to moderate this event, and I thought it was extremely beneficial.

It was a really good experience, and I encourage all of you not to get frustrated when/if called for jury duty.  Yes, it is a bit of an inconvenience when looking at things in the short-term, but it is the long-term that counts.  Okay, I’m getting sappy, so I’ll stop now.

Poe-tacular

First of all, my reasoning for the title.  The noun form of the word “spectacular” means “an impressive or large-scale display.”  I intend to devote this entire post to Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.  It will probably not be impressive or very large in scale…nonetheless, it made for a snappy title.  On with Poe!

He sure is a looker.

Edgar is one of my favorites, especially this time of year.  He is considered the father of the detective-fiction genre, and wrote some of the best psychological thrillers.  He was also one really strange dude.  He lived during the early 1800’s, and was pretty much in foster care for his entire childhood.  His mom died shortly after his birth, and his dad abandoned him soon after.  The ‘Allan’ in his name comes from his foster parents, John and Frances Allan.  When he was 26 years old, he married his 13 year old cousin Virginia Clemm.  Yipes.  Virginia died in 1847, and Edgar died two years later of unknown circumstances.  One thing I found said that he was taking the train to New York, and at some random stop he just got off and no one saw him for 2 weeks.  When they found him, he was at an insane asylum and died shortly after being found.  I have found nothing to verify that, so as usual don’t take this information too seriously.

Anyway, by all accounts, Poe led quite the macabre life.  While I wouldn’t wish that kind of life on anyone, I don’t think we would have such bone-chilling stories without Poe having such a life.  His short stories are epically suspenseful.  Such as The Masque of the Red Death or The Cask of Amontillado.  Recently, I chose to refresh my own recollection of his masterpieces by starting with The Pit and the Pendulum.  It truly is great, in its ghastly way.  I mean, he tells these stories from the point of view of the victims who are by and large quite intelligent people.  Therefore making the story that much more gruesome because the victim is fully aware of what is happening to him and in some cases for what reasons.  The Pit and the Pendulum is a guy who is thrown into some sort of crazy dungeon due to failing to meet certain criteria of his inquisitioners.  The character almost marvels at the ingenuity of the torture the monks had devised for him.  So logical, its no wonder I love his stories.  I think the next one I’ll read is The Fall of the House of Usher because it sounds so awesome.

I would be remiss not to mention Poe’s poems.  Of course everyone knows what is probably his most famous poem The Raven:

“Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I

shrieked, upstarting–

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken! — quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

That was obviously only an excerpt.  Its a pretty long poem, and its much better if you read it in its entirety.  Super creepy though, a poem about a guy who is driven mad by a raven.

I think my favorite poem by Poe though is Annabel Lee.  Here’s another excerpt:

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me—
Yes! – that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we—
Of many far wiser than we—
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee,

For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride,
In the sepulcher there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Now go forth and get excited about Halloween!  Its just a little over a week away, in case you’ve been under a rock lately.  Go check out a book by Edgar to help you get in the spirit of things.

 

Victorious!

Its official, I passed the Colorado Bar.  You may now call me “Attorney at Law.”

Sounds better every time I say it.

Look out Colorado, here I come!!