SERVICE ON THE JURY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18711, 17 May 1924, Page 19 (Supplement)

SERVICE ON THE JURY.

THOUGHTS ON CHALLENGES.

BX NICODEirUS.-,-"Day Bob." " G'day Sam." The two men who had the look of family men

and responsible citizens sat' down to their lunch together. v " Was called on the jury to-day," says Bob.-.'' ," * "Why are you here then?" asks Sam. "Challenged," replies Bob. " Challenged twice." "Mustn't have liked the look of you," chuckles Sam. " I'll bet ; you are pleased." " You bet," says Bob, who eats for a time in silence. ' " Stjufiy place, the Court," he adds after a time devoted to schnapper. " I'm sorry for a Judge." " Must be terrible responsibility," says Sam, in sympathetic tones. "Oh, yes returns his friend, "but I don't mean that. I mean the ventilation. He looked worn out this forenoon." Here came another sllencle in which marked concentration is bestowed upon the schnapper. Finally Bob remarks "Saw .mushrooms or fungus or

lething growing on a wall up there

This gives a new. thought to Sam. " You don't get mushrooms like you did when I was a boy," he murmurs between inouthfulS( of tripe.

Bob, however, is not to be side-tracked from his theme. Th« system of trying a man by his peers fills his thoughts today. "I know a chap," he says, "who was called for two sessions in succession and he had to sit on a jury in a trial of a man over whose case the previous

juryj had disftgreed.i He did fall' in, He didn't think for a moment that he would not be challenged the second time and when his name was called he came

Forward all smiles and bowed and smiled

some more and waited at the end of those hard benches, until a , policeman

;ed him what he was waiting for and

told him to take his seat." The. manner in ■ which the two friends laughed over the episode • hardly suggested a proper pride in the important duty of giving justice. They seemed to belong to the large body who are highly appreciative of the jury system so long as they do not have to sit. . Making a Few Pounds out of It. . " Of course, jury duty is no good to a master," says Sam. No," replies Bob emphatically. "Good fun for the wages-man, though. He gets' his . wages and ' the jury feeV as well. Makes a few pounds out of it." This is a new point of view. One thinks of juries he has seen. The " twelve good

men and true," sitting crowded on benches which seem to possess the elements of torture. A hot sunocting day. - A case dragging on. One stout juryman with his head on his breast, another with his head wagging, and others Waring expressions of pain, even the prisoner showing signs of small interest. And yet Bob called it fun, provided trie jurymen were ; wages-men. One thinks of another scene. A capital charge and the jury, as always is . the case where a

human life is 1 at stake, keenly alert.

They have had three days of it, and they look it. Their faces are drawn, even haggard. 7 The <yoss-«txaimnatiori ; U continues. Most of the questions have the smallest possible importance, but every one seems to the 'jurymen .another point for 'or against. They are accepting the view of the counsel. Yes. Good men and true without a doubt, but Bob talked of fun. •'

Sam strikes a new vein. "You can get your tram-fare as well as your daily fee," he remarks. " Good," says Bob. "I must put in my tram exes."

Xi' A Conscientious Juryman. But picture Bob if he is called and not

challenged next day. Obviously he is a man who will follow'the gleam of his conscience. Probably he is - made foreman of the jury/ That flatters him a little, but he soon forgets matters of pride and tramfares as he concentrates in an endeavour to follow the lawyer. He does not realise that it will all be argued again and again before the case is through. ; He feels that he must absorb every word as the case goes on, or at the end he will be in difficulties. Odd references to law perplex him and worry him, but he occasionally remembers that the Judge will clear all that up. Unlike the man who is inclined to slumber, particularly after the luncheon adjourn-

aent, : he is possessed-by a passion for jus-

tice and as a few law points are made clear, he begins to feel that he is doing rather well. The counsel are no longer; be-

ings on another mental plane. Judging by comments from the bench they are not infallible upon law, and as to their ordinary •easoning powers, Bob thinks he can see the game quite clearly. ■} ' .

But he remains obsessed by the importance of giving justice at the end, , and because of that he gradually becomes angry. Someone is perjury, but he cannot say who. . A truthful man, he is shocked as well as angry that anyone, should tell "crammers." He cannot conceive the possibility of two people, both believing ' they are telling the truth, giving almost opposite versions of the same episode. / Finally, he ;• becomes almost

reconciled to this sort of thing and develops a nose for evidence. He studies the attitude of the witnesses more closely and tries to judge their testimony with his impression of their character in his mind. But it all is very distasteful to him and he, feels he w serving his country , and its institutions at considerable ; sacrifice. This feeling becomes more pronounced as the seat grows harder and the burly man on his left spreads out more and more. What appears to be an unduly long and not convincing address' by one counsel, sees him in a state of exasperation • but the sum-ming-up of the Judge restores the right spirit within him, £ its impartiality cheers him and its clearness sends him off to the jury - room well fitted "= to arrive ; at a .decision. The announcing 'of f the -verdict iis a ' difficult moment, but he does it, and is more than pleased if the judge should say, "I entirely agree with your verdict." . • Turned Down. ;

Bob had said that he was glad he had been challenged, but by the time his meal is ended he has forgotten that he had done so. "The worst thing about: being challenged,"■ he remarks to his friend, "is that there may ba someone in. Court who thinks that it is a point against , you— nasty smack in thci \ eye. • If the Crown challenges you, that's no bouquet. If - the prisoner's .' counsel . does so, • it infers that you" do not look as lif you would be -fair and just. - You go to the Court all ready for the job, and then you are turned down, and you go to your work and everyone asks you why. What do they have a man on the jury list for if he's the sort of man ■who ought to, be -challenged ?" . , / "Part of the system," says gam. "Tastes in jurymen differ, you know." "Yes! But it's a nasty smack in the eye, all the same," reflects Bob. "Well! I've got to go back to the -Court for another spin. Feels like running the gauntlet. Mind you, "I don't mind jury duty, but I don't like being turned down." U '.'Part. 1 of 'the' system," is all Sam can say. " , • ' \ .r . •