TALES...BEHIND THE BARS

"BEHIND THE BARS" SERIES: A JURY OF YOUR PEERS--INTERVIEW WITH A FORMER GRAND JUROR (PART II)

We now continue with the conclusion of our interview with myself on my experiences as a grand juror:

-------------------------------------------------------------

Suite 101 (DE): As one who was in the jury "pool" a couple of times, even twice in the jury box, but never on the jury through a trial...and that was a "regular" jury ...I found it worthwhile bringing a pad of paper and pencils so I could write an article about WAITING for my church's newsletter. If I didn't have a writing project, I'd be a reader.

So, Coy: is the grand jury experience riddled with waiting hours? Should you bring a book to read, a knitting project, a hand-held wireless Internet connection, a pillow?

Holley: Good one, Dan---that's a really good and original one. Usually there was so much work to do and so many witnesses to testify that (unless, again, a witness didn't show) that we were probably just more anxious to get the stuff done as fast as possible. Plus in those times that we had to wait on something (like a witness or an important document)--those were the times that we might use to do our formal deliberations on other cases that we could more easily decide on at the time.

Time was pretty much at a premium for us--and we had to use it as wisely as we could. The good part of it all, though, is that the DA usually tries to arrange it to where it isn't too much of an inconvienence to all. For us, we usually met a grand total of one day a month to decide ALL of the cases that were brought before us for indictment for that month. How long that day lasted depended on how long it took to listen to the witnesses and do our deliberations.

Another factor that was considered is the fact that we had to also consider the needs of the law enforcement officers who testified before us. Naturally, we wanted to take as little time away from their regular duties as possible--so what was usually done as a matter of course was to have each officer testify to their cases as soon as they were there to speed things up for them. If an officer had several cases pending before the grand jury at once on one of those days, we would basically allow him or her to testify on all of the cases they had in one fell swoop and then let them go after they were finished with all of them. That way, the officers could get back on the street and to their regular duties--and their time is spent very efficently.

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6