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Posted by Bill Beatty.

Other on team #71, Team Hammond, from Team Hammond.

Posted on 1/7/2000 10:56 PM MST


In Reply to: Ask Bill Beatty... posted by Joe Johnson on 1/6/2000 7:39 PM MST:




Thank you for the good words. All accolades are always welcome.

In 1998 I started jury duty the first week in January. In our county criminal court you could serve for as long as six weeks which would have overlapped all but the last week of the construction period. You would report early each Monday and then be assigned to a courtroom. Then in random order the selection process would begin until the panel was filled.

The first week I was sent to an attempted murder trial. During the screening process the defense attorney asked many of the prospective jurors what was their first reaction when opening the summons. All the candidates before me stated things like I felt honored' and 'it is my duty as a good citizen to serve'. I had my airline ticket to leave for Manchester that Friday morning and I was taught to tell the truth, so when he asked me the same question I stated ' My first reaction was what is the best way to get out of this. Also, I really did not want to be there'. I figured that would do it! All of the other candidates were excused and I was selected. Before the panel was completed I approached the judge and informed him about my planned trip that Friday. It was felt that the trial would not be finished by then, so after some thought he excused me.

After returning from Manchester the following Sunday I was at it again early Monday morning. Same thing as before. I guess there was no reward for speaking the truth as I was picked for a murder trial which lasted the whole week. We were sequestered the last few days so I couldn't even communicate with the team. Even worse was the problem of having to give the trial my undivided attention and not be able to spend any time even thinking about the competition. After deliberating most of the night Friday and all day Saturday we finally reached a verdict, and I got home Saturday for some much needed sleep. I finally met with the team Sunday evening and we were a week behind. Only good thing was because we we were sequestered and put in so much time we were excused from the remaining weeks for jury duty, so I could get on with our robot. It was one of those frustrating but also satisfying times in one's life.

If you would like anymore bad advise, drop me an email.

Bill B