This just in from the courtroom.
Judge Fidler has excused Juror #5 due to financial hardship. He has been replaced by alternate Juror #3/Juror 15, an Asian woman. The make-up of the jury is now 6 men and 6 women.
Update!
There were 18 jurors. Numbers 1 through 18. Alternate #1 would be Juror #13 and so on down the line. Judge Fidler put the numbers in a manila envelope and as the courtroom watched, he put his hand in the envelope, moved it around and pulled out a number: #3. At first, the Asian woman did not realize that she was the one selected. She looked to her left then her right and then realized that it was her. There was a bit of laughter about that. I think her confusion stemmed from the fact the Jurors are called by their numbers 1-18, and Judge Fidler addressed her as "Alternate #3."
Before he left the courtroom, Juror #5 was specifically instructed by Fidler that he was not to discuss the case until the case was completed. The new Juror #5 took her new seat and Fidler then asked the other two alternates to move down one seat to their right. There is now an empty seat space between Juror #12 and Alternate #1. The remaining alternates will still be known by their numbers 13, 14, 16, 17, 18. Sprocket
Monday, February 23, 2009
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12 comments:
Good. The more women on the jury, the better. It's all good.
Wow, thanks for the up-to-the-minute bulletin Sprocket. Can you explain the juror numbers? I'm confused as to the "alternate Juror #3/Juror 15" designation.
Looking forward, as usual, to your full report on today's procedings, as soon as you are able.
Lindsey
When replacing jurors ... does the judge go in the order they were seated or do the prosecution and defense get to choose?
LinZ
I believe the former "alternate juror #3" is now seated as an actual juror is is now known as juror #15.
I'm sure Sprocket will correct if I'm wrong!
Thanks for the update!
I believe I understand that there would be 12 seated jurors and the alternates would be numbered 1-6. If juror #3 was chosen to be added to the panel, then her number would be #15. What I'm not at all clear about is why alternates #1 and #2 were skipped over to get to alternate #3. We'll all wait for Sprocket's explanation!
SeniorMoments
Thanks Donchais. I appreciate you clearing that up for me! It makes sense now.
L.
Maybe they draw the numbers out of a hat. That would seem the fairest thing to do...
I'm not surprised the Judge Fidler allowed the juror to be excused. I watched the first trial pretty carefully and in addition to being a fair and reasonable Judge, he seemed extremely respectful and considerate of the jury.
Many thanks for the news and explanations. I would guess that the alternate was randomly chosen (draw a number out of a hat?)- but I could, of course, be completely off track. Will wait with much interest for Sprocket's report.
Maybe with more women on the jury they will get the part about Lana having her purse on her shoulder and wanting to leave
Maybe with more women on the jury they will get that little guys (some, I know there are a lot of great guys under 5'7") with big egos can be terribly abusive. I used to work in a women's abuse shelter and a woman weighing about 300 pounds told me about her husband who almost killed her, he was skinny as a rail and shorter than her....
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