JURY POWER: IN CASE YOU ARE SUMMONED TO SERVE
July 12, 2008 12:00 AM At least one Santa Barbara judge is cracking down on anyone who attempts to evade jury duty. Superior Court Judge J. William Lafferty recently ordered 19 such evaders into court to explain their recalcitrant behavior -- and handed out fines to 14 of them for insubordination, along with imminent jury duty. Superior Court Executive Officer Gary Blair explained the juror summons procedure to The Investigator: Santa Barbara residents are sent a summons by first-class mail, after which they receive a follow- up reminder, after which, if they still haven't manifested themselves, they receive a warning letter. If all three mailings are ignored, the Sheriff's Department may send a deputy (as ordered by a judge) to personally deliver a final missive demanding that the recipient "show cause" by appearing in court, where a fine and jury duty await. To make it stick, the deputy must confront the summoned individual (presumably at home) and sign a "proof of delivery" statement affirming that the summons was indeed received by the person to whom it was addressed. Without proof of service, the case can go no further. But if properly served, failure by the recipient to appear in court on the specified date can result in the issuance of an arrest warrant. Despite payment far below minimum wage (an eight-hour day for $1.88 per hour, in disparity with California's $8 per hour lawful minimum), it is a citizen's obligation, and patriotic duty, to serve on a jury if so summoned and selected from a jury pool. According to the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA), this is actually a citizen's chance to do some real good for society. For FIJA views jury duty as an opportunity to do more than just evaluate the facts of a case as instructed by the judge. A juror, the group says, is constitutionally entitled to engage in jury nullification of law or, as it is also known, jury power. Most judges do not agree with a juror's right to determine whether the law in question is a good law, or a bad law, or if the law has been justly applied. Judges generally believe that a juror's role is solely to evaluate testimony and evidence, and thereby determine only if the law has been broken. But proponents of jury power will vote to acquit a defendant if they feel that the law is guilty, not the defendant. For example, if the federal government prosecuted a marijuana possession case in a state that permitted medical marijuana, a juror may be tempted to acquit the perpetrator on the basis that state law is more equitable, i.e., that the law being pursued is flawed, not the accused. Typically, judges feel that jury power erodes their own authority, which means they may disallow potential jurors who fully understand their rights from serving on a jury in their courtrooms. Moreover, it is prudent for a prospective juror to announce up front if he or she subscribes to jury nullification of law so that the judge cannot later, after a trial, hold a juror in contempt of court for "hiding" This has actually happened in some cases where jurors did not disclose their awareness of their right to vote their conscience, and the judge misinterpreted their silence as an "obstruction of justice." Mr. Blair told The Investigator he knows of no case in Santa Barbara where a juror has been well enough informed to invoke jury nullification of law. He added that, quite apart from how a local judge may feel about a potential juror's intention to put the law on trial in addition to the defendant, "the lawyers (for both sides) would probably throw him or her out." Which may be one way to avoid the worst paying job in the state. • To The Investigator: About 20 years ago a model was picked up at a location now Lazy Acres. She was beheaded and parts of her body were found along Camino Cielo. Merle Betz. Dear Merle: Her name was Kym Morgan, she was 24 and she aspired to become a fashion photographer. On April 25, 1985, Kym met a man who responded to her classified ad offering light chores in exchange for a room. Kym was never seen alive again; her dismembered body discovered four days later. Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte of the Santa Barbara Police Department's cold case unit told The Investigator they suspect that Kym fell prey to a serial killer. Kym's case was submitted to the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP), a nationwide data center, for comparison with similar homicides. To date, VICAP has not returned a single clue. The cold case unit, created by Police Chief Cam Sanchez eight years ago, has 26 murder cases on file. The oldest is from 1961, when 7- year-old Ramona Price disappeared. In five cases, police have positively identified the killers, but all five have sought refuge in Mexico as fugitives and remain in hiding. Three years ago the unit, under Detective Greg Wilkins, solved the Advances in DNA evidence led them to Gregory Egan Edwards, in custody at San Quentin State Prison for theft, scheduled for release within months. Edwards confessed to the murder and earlier this year was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Cold case unit detectives are now excited about the prospect of solving the 40-year-old murders of Wendell and Bertie Scott, bakery owners shot while they slept. New leads have steered them to a suspect named Abdul Raab Muhammad, who had known the Scotts and who now resides in Oakland, where he has been linked to the murder of Chauncey Bailey, an editor with the Oakland Post. |