Potential Juror Shouts 'He is guilty!' -- And Judge Jails Him On $10,000 Bail

[TexasTowelie]

HONOLULU -- A circuit court judge declared a mistrial in an assault case and jailed a prospective juror who repeatedly exclaimed, “He is guilty! He is guilty!” in the presence of his fellow would-be jurors.

An attorney for the defendant in the assault case identified the disruptive prospective juror on Tuesday afternoon as Jacob Maldonado. A bailiff escorted Maldonado into the courtroom for questioning by a judge.

But Maldonado did not respond when Judge Edward Kubo asked him why he made such a loud outburst that could potentially distort the trial’s fairness, according to court documents.

Court documents show that Kubo was upset that Maldonado’s outburst had “infected” the 44-member jury panel. Kubo then dismissed the entire jury panel “as a result of (Maldonado’s) blatant and willful disturbance,” which “created a taint that prevented the court from commencing trial,” court documents state.

Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/02/potential-juror-shouts-he-is-guilty-and-judge-jails-him-on-10000-bail/

[oasis]

1. File this under: Attempt to get out of jury duty goes wrong. nt

[SkyDaddy7]

2. I think you nailed it!

LOL!

[Kurt V.]

3. Sounds right

[Granny M]

4. Damn.

Have to check that off my list of jury duty escape plans.

[oasis]

7. In this guy's case, a little subtlety would have gone a long way in

keeping his dumbass out of jail.

[Amimnoch]

5. Probably right.. and so stupid. Belief in Jury nullification is much more effective.

Personally, I consider it a matter of duty and honor to serve faithfully and honestly as a juror when called upon. However, they always get to that one question of “are you willing to decide based on the law as it is written?”, and I’m compelled to disagree with that due to my belief in the right of juror nullifications, and always get bumped from the jury when I do.

Neither lawyers nor judges like having jurors that know about and believe in the right of juror nullification.

[oasis]

6. During my 30 yr. postal carrier career, I always enjoyed jury duty.

Weatherproof.

[Roy Rolling]

8. Tears

This post just got me laughing out loud. Thanks. The mailman comment was worth the price of admission.

[Amimnoch]

10. LOL, I can most certainly see that!

I would enjoy jury duty, but so far every time I've brought up my belief in juror nullification during the selection portion has bumped me right out of it.

For my particular job it's an inconvenience, but one that I'd be proud to engage in.

[3Hotdogs]

9. Me, too. I haven't even been called for jury duty since 1998.

It was a drug case. "Are you willing and able......?"

Me: (At the bench) "I believe in jury nullification which was established by the case of John Peter Zenger. I also believe the prosecution of drug laws is harmful and wasteful." I then went on to state the list of drugs I had "abused."

I haven't heard from the jury commission since. I am now exempt, by age.


I do believe in the jury system and would serve. But I also do not believe in bullshit and their are circumstances under which I would not vote to convict.

[Amimnoch]

11. My last one was 6 years ago. It was a prostitution solicitation case.

During the jury selection, one of the questions the judge asked was "how many here feel that prostitution should be legalized." with a fair number of the jury raising their hands. He then followed up with the question "Those that feel it should be legal, are you willing to commit to adhering to the law as it's written when formulating your decision? Please raise your hand if you are not willing to base your decision on the law as it's written."..

That's when I raised my hand and notified him in my belief in the right of juror nullification.
He silenced me mid-sentence.
My comments caused a lot of stirring and side conversations in the jury pool.
Multiple jurors were asking "are we allowed to do that?"
The judge called up the prosecution and defense, had about a 10 minute side discussion.
Dismissed the case and dismissed the jury.

I haven't been called back since.
Note, although I do use quotes up above, it is paraphrased as I didn't transcribe exactly what was said, but it's really close to the actual discussion.