RubySoho
Winston
Please Tell Me This Isn't Really True...
June 12th 2008 01:55
sudoku: more entertaining than your average drug trial...
From BBC News:
Sudoku-playing jurors halt trial
A drugs trial has been abandoned in Australia after several jurors admitted they had spent much of their time playing Sudoku in the courtroom.
Judge Peter Zahra aborted proceedings after the jury forewoman admitted she and four others had been playing the popular puzzles to fight off boredom.
The problem was discovered when some of the jurors were observed writing notes vertically rather than horizontally.
Sudoku involves completing a grid of numbers in the correct sequence.
The three-month trial had cost taxpayers more than A$1m (US$945,000) and the two accused men faced possible life sentences.
One of the jurors explained that the puzzle had helped keep her "mind busy" as she listened to repeated testimonies from the witness box.
"Some of the evidence is rather drawn out, and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time," the juror told the Australian Associated Press.
Lawyers had presumed the scribbling they could see jurors doing was note-taking.
"We actually all thought they were quite a diligent jury," lawyer Robyn Hakelis told ABC local radio.
"The judge had made many comments about what a good jury they were, how they were taking copious amounts of notes."
There is no legal action that can be taken against jurors for doing puzzles during a trial, so they will face no penalty for their behaviour.
A fresh trial is expected to begin in a few weeks, once a new jury has been called.
Let's just analyse this shall we? Five jurors, including the head juror, who had the lives of two men in their hands used those hands to play Sudoku in the courtroom rather than listen to the evidence presented that would give them the information they needed to decide whether the men should go free or spend their lives in jail.
The thought of being on a jury terrifies me. It is not a job I take lightly and what I fear is the possibility of sending an innocent person to jail. Whilst the thought of the guilty roaming free doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy, the thought of another human locked up in prison for a crime they did not commit positively turns my stomach. Recently, I caught up with a criminal lawyer
friend of mine who had had a really bad day having just lost three trials. In two of the cases he thought the defendant was most likely guilty. But in the third, he was absolutely sure of his innocence and was devastated at the guilty verdict. This man has just been handed a life sentence. They are appealing the verdict.
That's why the above article infuriates me. I don't understand how these five people could care so little for the lives of other people and show such little regard for a justice system, which although by no means perfect, actually allows for the accused to be judged by a jury of their peers, and not just thrown in jail without a decent trial as is still so prevalent in much of the world.
Did these people really not understand the implications of their actions? Did they just not care? How is it that people can take our justice system for granted? We worked so hard to get to this point and it saddens me that people don't realise when they have got something good.
Five jurors made a mockery of a court trial because they were bored. What were they expecting, clowns? Jugglers? A strip show? Half-time entertainment from past Australian Idol finalists?
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
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Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
Phil's Wellness Tips
the scary thing is that they were a) allowed to have the books/paper/magazine in there and b) no-one noticed what they were doing for so long..what a great system
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Current Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
our judicial system has become a total joke, we may aswell not have any law, they are never enforced properly . . .
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Comment by Thoraiya Dyer
Demented World
If they really didn't want to be there, there are a hundred ways they could have gotten out of it. Two of my friends have avoided jury duty simply by saying, "I have to work" or "I have to babysit my nephew."
I've always thought there should be an IQ test for jurors (and parents, and pet owners, etc); maybe there should be a Consideration For Other Human Beings test as well.
The local hospital sure could have used that million dollars that was wasted.
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
waste of time, waste of money and a total lack of consideration.
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Another outrageous post!
Or letting a guilty one go scott free?
I did a bit of court reporting during earlier 'active' journalist days and I couldn't agree more with anyone on this dillemma... how could any soul of conscience not pay attention to every nuance of speech and movement of muscle in such a circumstance?
and the money?
oh don;t get me started on the people who still think that money is just shipped in by the space-ship-load each night... who don't realise it's our PLANET RESOURCES ....
*shaking head* sad, very very sad.
Lilla ...
Comment by Jessicca
Health 2 Know
Learning Something Everyday
Daily History
Malaysia Found
I thought Jurors are suppose to listed to the case tentatively!
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone
Hi Lilla, who was it that said "I would rather a hundred guilty men go free than a single innocent man go to prison?" I do subscribe to that point of view. Actually my lawyer friend told me that I'm the sort of juror he would love to have on a trial- because he knows that in order to get a guilty verdict they would virtually have to have a picture of the defendant's hand in the cookie jar.
Hi Jessica. It's crazy isn't it? They knew what was at stake and I just can't understand how they could all be so blase about the lives of other people. Imagine if they hadn't gotten caught and had made a decision without actually listening to the evidence. Amazing.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by stu-kicks
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I used to be as stuanch in my view... then I watched Dead Man Walking, which was based on a true story...very spooky and I recommend it to you if you haven;t seen it already... it got me, it really got me, thinking...
It was perhaps when I first realised how fine the line actually is in reality.
Lilla ...
Comment by Jeff Musall
Secular Humanity
Comment by RubySoho
Music Zone
Thought Zone