Jury Trial

Re "Juries Should Leave Lawmaking to the Lawmakers," Commentary, Feb. 13: Norah Vincent clearly doesn't understand what the founding fathers understood so well -- that government is liable to make all sorts of abusive and bad laws. That's why they specifically left in place a procedure (jury trial) that could have 12 of your neighbors (supposedly reasonable people) sit around and go: "Hey, wait a minute. This is silly. Let's use a little common sense here." With Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and the Bush administration trampling on the Constitution and suspending our rights piece by piece, jury nullification may turn out to be one of the few weapons we have to fight back with.

An Oak View teenager charged with murder told friends that after participating in a mob beating of a homeless man, he returned and kicked the transient in the head as he lay wounded in his sleeping bag, according to testimony. Robert Coffman, 19, told one friend that he asked the man: "Do you want a deeper sleep?" before stomping on his face, according to testimony in Coffman's trial Thursday.

The murder case was already filled with intrigue: A young stripper turned housewife is slain in the closet of her home in Orange County's wealthy horse country by a stranger in a business suit who carries a briefcase and pistol. The prime suspect, a Newport Beach lawyer, allegedly fakes his suicide off the Golden Gate Bridge and spends four years on the lam, working menial jobs in Utah before being run to ground by detectives who refuse to let the case grow cold.

Just moments before a Ventura County judge was to rule on his guilt or innocence Tuesday, county school trustee Albert Rosen halted court proceedings and requested that a jury decide the child molestation charges pending against him. "Mr. Rosen has had second thoughts," said Oxnard attorney Joseph O'Neill, who told reporters his client was confused when he waived his trial rights last week.

A Ventura County school board member accused of molesting a 6-year-old girl more than 30 years ago waived his right to a jury trial Wednesday and submitted the case to a judge, who is expected to rule next week. Superior Court Judge Charles McGrath warned retired teacher Albert Rosen, a 75-year-old Simi Valley resident, that he would most likely find him guilty.

Regarding "Buyer Regrets Agreeing to Binding Arbitration" by Robert J. Bruss, May 5: I personally was involved in an arbitration case, which turned out very favorable, and I found the arbitrator to be logical and fair to both parties. The major risk in a jury trial is the irrational and unpredictable decisions of people. Evidence can be presented with high odds of winning, only to result in a jury making an opposite decision. Winning at Las Vegas has better odds than winning at a jury trial.

A Port Hueneme woman accused of trying to drown her two children in Channel Islands Harbor attempted to plead guilty Monday to charges of child endangerment, but prosecutors refused to accept the plea. Deputy Public Defender Cynthia Ellington accused prosecutors of backing out of a plea agreement negotiated several weeks ago and forcing a trial on attempted murder charges. Ellington called it a vindictive prosecution.

Jury selection in the infamous 1963 Birmingham church bombing was set to begin this week. A woman was finally going to get her day in court over a costly fender-bender. A health care company was set to contest its tax bill. Those cases, and hundreds like them across the state, are now on hold because Alabama's top judge--faced with a court system that is running out of money--has called a five-month moratorium on most jury trials. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy S. Moore hopes to make up the $2.

The Supreme Court justices struggled Monday over whether jurors, rather than a judge, must decide on a death sentence for a murderer. The fate of nearly 800 death row inmates may turn on the answer to that question. Most states, including California, require jurors to decide whether to send a convicted killer to the death chamber. But nine states, including Arizona, call on judges to decide on the proper sentence.

A jury will determine the mental competency of a career criminal from Santa Paula who faces life in prison for allegedly stealing $12 worth of wine, breath spray and lip balm, a judge ruled this week. Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa has scheduled a May 21 trial for convicted rapist and robber Ronald Steven Herrera. The trial will determine if he "is competent to cooperate with his attorney," Santa Barbara County Deputy Dist. Atty. Darryl Perlin said Tuesday.