St James judge instructs cops to bring in absent jurors

WESTERN BUREAU:

Justice Bertram Morrison, who is presiding over the Michaelmas session of the St James Circuit Court, yesterday ordered the police to locate and bring before him 12 jurors who were served jury summonses but failed to show up for court.

Before the judge’s stern instruction, the court was told that 29 persons were properly served to perform jury duty over the next nine weeks, but only 17 persons had reported for duty. Juror participation is one of the ongoing challenges negatively impacting the administration of justice.

“I hope none of you are going to be tendering sick certificates. Not a certificate that you are sick because there is a distinction there, (and) I have no doubt that some of them are manufactured,” Morrison told the jurors who reported for duty. “I will not be excusing any one of you. If you want to be excused, you can go to the witness box, where I will question you as to why you think you shouldn’t be serving.

“Superintendent (Eron Samuels), I want the 12 others who were served and are not here brought to court because if they were served, the server must know where they were served. I want them brought before the court.”

There are 340 cases listed for trial over the next nine weeks. The breakdown includes 132 cases of law reform, fraudulent transactions (lottery scamming), 102 murder cases, 48 rape cases, 15 cases of persons having sex with a person under the age of 16, and five cases of causing death by dangerous driving.

IMPORTANT CIVIC DUTY

While the issue of juror absenteeism is not new, Morrison’s directive emphasises the importance of that civic duty. He said jurors are essential to the judicial process as they ensure that trials are conducted fairly and justly, noting that the absence of jurors can lead to delays and complications in court proceedings, affecting the overall efficiency of the legal system.

According to Morrison, the quality of justice in Jamaica, particularly in St James, is strained because of the lack of civic pride in persons who fail to serve when they are called.

“The quality is being strained by the absence of jurors. You don’t seem to be placing any emphasis on our civic pride in serving our country,” Morrison said. “There is an absence of civic pride to serve Jamaica, and justice is not going to fall from Heaven like manna. If you want to get justice, you must do the deeds of justice.”

Morrison also urged the Crown and defence lawyers to work together in moving the cases quickly through the court and to apply the appropriate actions where they know that they are not likely to get a conviction or an acquittal.

“Matters which are unmeritorious and for which the prosecution cannot advance, you must stick your sore toes out and beckon to the other side (defence counsel). Similarly, for the defence counsel, who absolutely know that their cases are not going anywhere, so to speak, you can rely on the quality of mercy from this bench,” he said.

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