Thursday, April 28, 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury....
...time to deliberate! And, since I was Alternate #1, it was time for me to go home!!! As it happens, some judges want their Alternates to deliberate, and some even allow them to vote, but our dear judge (whose name has already slipped my mind) let me and Alternate #2 (a woman named Kate) go free! I am sort of interested to see what my 6 fellow jury members came up with in the way of a decision and settlement, so I may call one of them and find out. But then, I may not. I will not see the inside of another Jury Room for at least 4 years, God willing.
The case was a mildly compelling one: a certain young woman was in #14 elevator of her 85 Broad Street office building one day in 2000, going down from the 28th floor to buy her lunch. Something made the elevator speed faster than its normal governed speed downward and the "governor" was tripped so that, after what seemed like a free fall that terrified everyone into prayer and screaming, the cab came to what they call a 'hard stop", and the woman was suing the elevator company for injuries,etc pain and suffering....both sides presented all sorts of expert witnesses on the subjects of "g force", elevator mechanics, foot and leg injuries, bio-engineering of the human body and what happens when certain mechanical things happen to affect it,etc. and there were days when staying awake was a bio-engineering feat in itself, but we did it, and so the 6 jury people who did go into deliberation yesterday have to decide how culpable the Millar Elevator Company is and if they have any responsibility in the claimed injuries of this young woman...if they decide the company is at fault in any way, how much money is due the woman,etc.....
And so I have served! My main fascination was with the Court Reporter and how he typed on his little machine and managed to record all the spoken proceedings! I need to find out more about that. What sort of court language is on that machine that it can record such long and intricate speechifying? Technical and rapid,etc. Plus which, the sheer concentration it takes to follow all the dialogue, how tired their ears must become! And their fingers! I wanna know more.
Tonight we go see SHOCKHEADED PETER...10:00 PM show...should be fun...I really have to get back into a theater mood...it is, after all, my life,right? Well, maybe not so much right now....Right now, it feels like my life is my life...and I like that a whole lot!
Hope you are all well! Dear readers, Happy Spring!
The case was a mildly compelling one: a certain young woman was in #14 elevator of her 85 Broad Street office building one day in 2000, going down from the 28th floor to buy her lunch. Something made the elevator speed faster than its normal governed speed downward and the "governor" was tripped so that, after what seemed like a free fall that terrified everyone into prayer and screaming, the cab came to what they call a 'hard stop", and the woman was suing the elevator company for injuries,etc pain and suffering....both sides presented all sorts of expert witnesses on the subjects of "g force", elevator mechanics, foot and leg injuries, bio-engineering of the human body and what happens when certain mechanical things happen to affect it,etc. and there were days when staying awake was a bio-engineering feat in itself, but we did it, and so the 6 jury people who did go into deliberation yesterday have to decide how culpable the Millar Elevator Company is and if they have any responsibility in the claimed injuries of this young woman...if they decide the company is at fault in any way, how much money is due the woman,etc.....
And so I have served! My main fascination was with the Court Reporter and how he typed on his little machine and managed to record all the spoken proceedings! I need to find out more about that. What sort of court language is on that machine that it can record such long and intricate speechifying? Technical and rapid,etc. Plus which, the sheer concentration it takes to follow all the dialogue, how tired their ears must become! And their fingers! I wanna know more.
Tonight we go see SHOCKHEADED PETER...10:00 PM show...should be fun...I really have to get back into a theater mood...it is, after all, my life,right? Well, maybe not so much right now....Right now, it feels like my life is my life...and I like that a whole lot!
Hope you are all well! Dear readers, Happy Spring!
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