People think I'm crazy because whenever the topic of jury duty comes up, I always comment on how I would actually like jury duty. Well I got my wish last week. Everyone at my office told me there was no way I would be put on a jury since I work at a law firm. I honestly hoped that wouldn't be the case since I don't think the fact that I am a legal secretary should preclude me from being considered.
I was told to report at 7:30 am on Wednesday July 8 to the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. At 3:00 pm that day, I found out that I was Juror #1 for a civil personal injury case involving an 81 year old elderly lady and the Metropolitan Transportation Association. The trial lasted 5 days which was perfect because my work pays for 5 days of jury duty.
The plaintiff was claiming that she was boarding the MTA bus when the bus driver pulled away from the curb, causing her to fall directly backward and break her hip. She had a partial hip replacement and is now in a wheelchair since she has pain from the hip and is hesitant to walk on it. This case was harder than it sounds and pretty confusing, since we all knew she was injured and that what she was claiming wasn't completely unbelievable, but we just weren't sure what really happened that day. One of the problems was she suffers from dementia and the only other witness, a close family friend in his 50's, who was traveling with her isn't quite all there mentally. Even the EMTs that responded to the 911 call testified that the man traveling with her seemed a little "off", and that if anyone at that time would've mentioned a bus was involved with her fall that they would've called for back up and handled the situation in an entirely different manner.
We voted 11 to 1 in favor of the MTA . We all felt so bad, but also felt like we did our best to look at the facts and evidence and that we used the law to come to our decision. Afterward, the defense attorney was speaking to us about the case and informed us that they had actually offered the plaintiff six figures to settle the case, which was more than what the plaintiff had demanded, and she turned it down (more likely her son turned it down at the insistence of her attorney). After we heard that, we felt like we had made the right decision since if the plaintiff really wasn't in it for the money like her attorney claimed multiple times during trial, she would've accepted the settlement.
As part of my job I get cases ready for trial and it was really interesting to see how all of the work I do is incorporated into trial. And it was definitely a nice break from work. So call me crazy but I actually liked jury duty!
The plaintiff was claiming that she was boarding the MTA bus when the bus driver pulled away from the curb, causing her to fall directly backward and break her hip. She had a partial hip replacement and is now in a wheelchair since she has pain from the hip and is hesitant to walk on it. This case was harder than it sounds and pretty confusing, since we all knew she was injured and that what she was claiming wasn't completely unbelievable, but we just weren't sure what really happened that day. One of the problems was she suffers from dementia and the only other witness, a close family friend in his 50's, who was traveling with her isn't quite all there mentally. Even the EMTs that responded to the 911 call testified that the man traveling with her seemed a little "off", and that if anyone at that time would've mentioned a bus was involved with her fall that they would've called for back up and handled the situation in an entirely different manner.
We voted 11 to 1 in favor of the MTA . We all felt so bad, but also felt like we did our best to look at the facts and evidence and that we used the law to come to our decision. Afterward, the defense attorney was speaking to us about the case and informed us that they had actually offered the plaintiff six figures to settle the case, which was more than what the plaintiff had demanded, and she turned it down (more likely her son turned it down at the insistence of her attorney). After we heard that, we felt like we had made the right decision since if the plaintiff really wasn't in it for the money like her attorney claimed multiple times during trial, she would've accepted the settlement.
As part of my job I get cases ready for trial and it was really interesting to see how all of the work I do is incorporated into trial. And it was definitely a nice break from work. So call me crazy but I actually liked jury duty!
Comments
Sounds really interesting though.
--Barb