I guess it depends what her “jury requirements” were. I assume there is a requirement for the lawyer to not be specifically selective on certain grounds. (race, religion, and gender come to mind)
sometimes there is a question about whether the key prosecution witness will appear. (DV victims, usually, but it could be anyone) 1) The defendant shows up at trial. 2) The Prosecutor says “our witness is here and we’re ready to go.” 3) The defendant pleads guilty to something. If the witness doesn’t show, (depending on the other evidence available) the charges are dropped or defendant takes a better deal.
An acquaintance once told me about a different tactic. The defendant did not show when the trial sessions started at 10AM. Then he finally showed up just before noon for a trial scheduled to start at 11AM. Trial was held over until after lunch. (Case was one of a group of vandals who had burned down a local building)
Another lawyer explained it to him this way… “They don’t issue a warrant for non-appearance until after the session ends at noon if he’s still a no-show - so show up at 11:59AM. The defendant’s lawyer was hoping the overloaded overworked prosecutor would simply drop the charges. Fat chance. Or, at least put the trial off for another few months until it can be rescheduled. That didn’t work. The judge is retired, and only working mornings on contract because he’s helping clear a huge backlog of cases. He’s happy to have a trial go into the afternoon occasionally, because he gets more money. Everyone’s playing the system. It’s not justice, it’s a game.”
He punches with the power of kicks!
But I’m not “using” the Sun in any volitional way; it’s shining whether I ask it to or not.
Related story: I got a ticket for speeding for something ridiculous like 2 mph over the limit. A friend said to get my speed calibrated (one of his brothers was a CHP officer). I did and there was enough of a discrepancy that I thought I had a case, so I decided to fight it. I got directed to some weird storefront “court” to file my case, and there was a trainee at the desk. He was really nervous. Like really nervous.
I get my court date and show up with all the other retrobates. Those of us who had already scheduled challenges were chatting, and then one by one they were called up to the very no nonsense judge. If their cop was there, they lost their case. I was still sitting there when they moved on to the people who’d just shown up on the day. I was amused to see some of the excuses, but nobody got off without at least a fine. After a few had finished with the judge I was wondering why I hadn’t been called, so I caught the bailiff’s attention. He talked to the clerk, then to the judge. It took a little time, but finally he came over and said my cop didn’t show, so I won by default. Yay, me!
I’m sure that nervous first-day-guy goofed somehow, and my cop was never notified. But, heck, I’ll take it.
Can I sue because she’s letting her sun trespass on my property against my will? Would it be good enough if I send her a certified letter demanding she stop the trespass?
IANAL but I get the impression that things like this happen every day in every courtroom. It may not be justice in the individual case of Mr. Buidling Vandal, but given the immense power of the state, defense lawyers who play games with the schedule and whatnot are tilting the scales toward fairness in the aggregate.
I saw someone try this in court once. f course, it was for a much different case - about 10 or more over the limit. (I gather the old car had been refitted with larger rims/tires) The judge simply said “It’s up to you to be sure your car is working properly.” Basically, when he tried that excuse the guy was admitting he’d been speeding.
(I had a friend who bought an ancient pickup, back in the 1970’s, with the same problem. “Wow, we were making good time - 75mph all the way.” When we got to the 90-mile point, checked the time, we’d been doing 60mph.)
I fought the last ticket I got - “your wheels did not come to a complete stop at the sign”. It took 4 months for them to get a court date, for 16 months after the ticket. I got there and there were about 20 others waiting too. When they opened the doors, the clerk read off a list - maybe half the names - “your charges have been dropped.” I heard from someone who’d beat several tickets that way, that if you had a clean driving record, they didn’t bother fighting it if you contested a ticket. They were relying on the people who just paid without arguing, to rake in their money.
Just wait until the bill she receives if we ever have another Carrington event.