Grand Jury Duty
The summons came in the mail to report for jury duty October 22. I call Nick and ask, “What shall I do?”
He says, “You fulfill your civic duty, Fred. Don’t try and postpone or try to get out of it. Do your civic duty. Get it over with.”
I says, “Yes, boss.”
So I show up at the Shelby County Courthouse in Columbiana. Out of 100 people reporting, the computer (they say) picks me as one of 18 who are assigned grand jury duty. So we 18 are in this room going thru cases where we vote “True Bill,” “Continuance,” or “No Bill.” Indict, not indict, or continue the case for further information.
Before we commence our deliberations, I ask the Assistant DA (Mr. Bill Bostic), who is conducting our meeting, if it’s true that a good DA can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. He laughs, knowing the joke. The others in the room seem not to know the joke. It doesn’t take long for me to become the grand jury’s clown.
The first day we go thru garden variety crimes---theft, armed robbery, shop lifting. No murders this week (thank goodness)! And no ham sandwich!
The morning of the second day we report to the Shelby County Jail in Columbiana. One of the duties of grand juries in Alabama is to inspect the county jail and certify that it is in proper working order. The state constitution specifies that county sheriffs must maintain a county jail. Built two years ago, this is a state-of-the-art facility. (It must be state-of-the-art. The facility holds 400 inmates. Today’s population is 312 and there are 9 guards on duty. Nine guarding 312: it HAS to be technologically state-of-the-art or some guards might be in trouble). They tell us it is one of the finest county jails in the country: people come from all parts, including California, to see this fabulous jail that houses our county’s most dangerous felons. There are no longer any city jails in Shelby County. City prisoners are sent to the county lockup. The cities pay the county for the privilege.
Cameras are everywhere. Walls are thick. Locked doors are everywhere. You couldn’t bust out of this place with a tank. You do not appreciate the horrors of confinement until you visit a prison. I cannot imagine being in prison. This would be a horror beyond compreshension.
If I get arrested and sent to lock-up, I hope it’s in Shelby County, Alabama, ALTHOUGH make no mistake about it, this is a prison and it is a sad and dreary place: no place you’d ever want to be for any reason, though the food is good for a prison and I DO look good in orange.
We tour the facility, see how clean and modern it is, how the latest technology is used.
In the women’s cell block, an inmate gets my attention through the glass.
“Take me home with you” she mouths to me me.
“Sorry, I can’t” I mouth back to her. She laughs. I laugh. Even though I can’t hear her, I suspect my laugh is more genuine than hers.
We go through the medical unit. Inmates are sitting in cells with faraway, vacant looks. How horrible to be sick and in jail.
We see the segregation unit (formerly called solitary). We look in but they don’t let us walk by the cells. No, I wouldn’t want to be in there unless I really craved lonliness.
We are told that the jail is kept deliberately cold (59 to 62 degrees year round). We see inmates with blankets (which are specially designed so that they can’t be twisted for suicide purposes) wrapped around them. The reason is that rowdy behavior goes with being hot. If you are cold, you less likely to misbehave.
The second day afternoon is devoted to drug cases entirely.
We are told that the biggest growing drug problem in Shelby County is with the abuse of prescription drugs. The biggest one is Loritab, a pain-killer. I had never heard of it. I am ignorant if you get much beyond Tylenol. Prescription drug use is more respectable than crack cocaine; the former is mostly upper socioeconomic class and the latter is lower socioeconomic class.
We are told how crack cocaine is made. Don’t ask me how; just know that this is nasty, nasty stuff. One time, and you can become addicted. Crack cocaine is mainly for the “lower classes.” ALL cocaine comes from Columbia. It comes up from South Florida to Atlanta and hence over to the Birmingham area or else up to Jacksonville, across I-10 to Mobile, and north from there.
We are told how drug use is spreading from the high schools down to the middle schools. Alcohol, cannabis, & prescription drugs are the main culprits.
Methamphetamine is on the decrease in Shelby County. The police seldom find a meth lab these days. It’s “lower class” stuff like crack. We’re too properous in Shelby County to do that stuff. Give us our presciption pills!
Yes, cannabis and alcohol are everywhere: the main drugs of choice for our young people.
We are informed that 80%---EIGHTY PER CENT---of the crimes committed in Shelby County are drug related in some way. No drugs, no significant crime problem!
The second day we meet the DA for the first time, Mr. Robbie Owens. He seems like a good man. He says that he doesn’t know how to reduce crime. He’s tried everything. Locking them up and throwing away the key doesn’t work either. You can’t keep every malefactor in jail for life, and as soon as they get out, most of them end up back in jail.
The third day we are told about the past Shelby County sheriff who was investigated for shoplifting Moon pies from local convenience stores (I am not making this up). Sometimes grand juries make considerations in secret. Needless to say, the sheriff was not indicted, but he did resign. Had he also be lifting RCs, it would have been a felony (I think it should have been) and therefore a different story.
On the third day we are treated by the DA’s office to lunch at Bernie’s on Main Street in downtown Columbiana. It’s the swanky place in Columbiana, the one good restaurant in our county seat..
The worst thing for a grand jury is to hear sexual abuse cases. Fortunately we hear only one. This is where you would like to find the alleged perp and shoot him yourself. Innocent until proven guilty, but when you hear overwhelming evidence, you get incensed.
We have only one rape case: he said, she said. The alleged victim testifies in person and we have adult conversation. I vote “No Bill” but the majority vote for a reduced indictment of “Sexual Misconduct.” I will spare you the indelicate details.
On the fourth and final day we have a dicussion with the DA himself, Mr. Robby Owens, about the status of the death penalty in the United States. It’s a fascinating subject, one that I enjoying discussing.
Out of 140 cases we heard, this grand jury returned “True Billl” (indictment) on 111. This is a normal percentage.
I have performed my civic duty.
If you ever serve on a grand jury, you are in for an unforgetable experience. You will learn about the crime going on in your area. You will learn about the classes of felonies. You will get an inside look at the criminal justice system (better than “Law and Order”!) You will see the politics involved in criminal justice. You may see your local prison, which will leave indelible impressions in your mind.
He says, “You fulfill your civic duty, Fred. Don’t try and postpone or try to get out of it. Do your civic duty. Get it over with.”
I says, “Yes, boss.”
So I show up at the Shelby County Courthouse in Columbiana. Out of 100 people reporting, the computer (they say) picks me as one of 18 who are assigned grand jury duty. So we 18 are in this room going thru cases where we vote “True Bill,” “Continuance,” or “No Bill.” Indict, not indict, or continue the case for further information.
Before we commence our deliberations, I ask the Assistant DA (Mr. Bill Bostic), who is conducting our meeting, if it’s true that a good DA can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. He laughs, knowing the joke. The others in the room seem not to know the joke. It doesn’t take long for me to become the grand jury’s clown.
The first day we go thru garden variety crimes---theft, armed robbery, shop lifting. No murders this week (thank goodness)! And no ham sandwich!
The morning of the second day we report to the Shelby County Jail in Columbiana. One of the duties of grand juries in Alabama is to inspect the county jail and certify that it is in proper working order. The state constitution specifies that county sheriffs must maintain a county jail. Built two years ago, this is a state-of-the-art facility. (It must be state-of-the-art. The facility holds 400 inmates. Today’s population is 312 and there are 9 guards on duty. Nine guarding 312: it HAS to be technologically state-of-the-art or some guards might be in trouble). They tell us it is one of the finest county jails in the country: people come from all parts, including California, to see this fabulous jail that houses our county’s most dangerous felons. There are no longer any city jails in Shelby County. City prisoners are sent to the county lockup. The cities pay the county for the privilege.
Cameras are everywhere. Walls are thick. Locked doors are everywhere. You couldn’t bust out of this place with a tank. You do not appreciate the horrors of confinement until you visit a prison. I cannot imagine being in prison. This would be a horror beyond compreshension.
If I get arrested and sent to lock-up, I hope it’s in Shelby County, Alabama, ALTHOUGH make no mistake about it, this is a prison and it is a sad and dreary place: no place you’d ever want to be for any reason, though the food is good for a prison and I DO look good in orange.
We tour the facility, see how clean and modern it is, how the latest technology is used.
In the women’s cell block, an inmate gets my attention through the glass.
“Take me home with you” she mouths to me me.
“Sorry, I can’t” I mouth back to her. She laughs. I laugh. Even though I can’t hear her, I suspect my laugh is more genuine than hers.
We go through the medical unit. Inmates are sitting in cells with faraway, vacant looks. How horrible to be sick and in jail.
We see the segregation unit (formerly called solitary). We look in but they don’t let us walk by the cells. No, I wouldn’t want to be in there unless I really craved lonliness.
We are told that the jail is kept deliberately cold (59 to 62 degrees year round). We see inmates with blankets (which are specially designed so that they can’t be twisted for suicide purposes) wrapped around them. The reason is that rowdy behavior goes with being hot. If you are cold, you less likely to misbehave.
The second day afternoon is devoted to drug cases entirely.
We are told that the biggest growing drug problem in Shelby County is with the abuse of prescription drugs. The biggest one is Loritab, a pain-killer. I had never heard of it. I am ignorant if you get much beyond Tylenol. Prescription drug use is more respectable than crack cocaine; the former is mostly upper socioeconomic class and the latter is lower socioeconomic class.
We are told how crack cocaine is made. Don’t ask me how; just know that this is nasty, nasty stuff. One time, and you can become addicted. Crack cocaine is mainly for the “lower classes.” ALL cocaine comes from Columbia. It comes up from South Florida to Atlanta and hence over to the Birmingham area or else up to Jacksonville, across I-10 to Mobile, and north from there.
We are told how drug use is spreading from the high schools down to the middle schools. Alcohol, cannabis, & prescription drugs are the main culprits.
Methamphetamine is on the decrease in Shelby County. The police seldom find a meth lab these days. It’s “lower class” stuff like crack. We’re too properous in Shelby County to do that stuff. Give us our presciption pills!
Yes, cannabis and alcohol are everywhere: the main drugs of choice for our young people.
We are informed that 80%---EIGHTY PER CENT---of the crimes committed in Shelby County are drug related in some way. No drugs, no significant crime problem!
The second day we meet the DA for the first time, Mr. Robbie Owens. He seems like a good man. He says that he doesn’t know how to reduce crime. He’s tried everything. Locking them up and throwing away the key doesn’t work either. You can’t keep every malefactor in jail for life, and as soon as they get out, most of them end up back in jail.
The third day we are told about the past Shelby County sheriff who was investigated for shoplifting Moon pies from local convenience stores (I am not making this up). Sometimes grand juries make considerations in secret. Needless to say, the sheriff was not indicted, but he did resign. Had he also be lifting RCs, it would have been a felony (I think it should have been) and therefore a different story.
On the third day we are treated by the DA’s office to lunch at Bernie’s on Main Street in downtown Columbiana. It’s the swanky place in Columbiana, the one good restaurant in our county seat..
The worst thing for a grand jury is to hear sexual abuse cases. Fortunately we hear only one. This is where you would like to find the alleged perp and shoot him yourself. Innocent until proven guilty, but when you hear overwhelming evidence, you get incensed.
We have only one rape case: he said, she said. The alleged victim testifies in person and we have adult conversation. I vote “No Bill” but the majority vote for a reduced indictment of “Sexual Misconduct.” I will spare you the indelicate details.
On the fourth and final day we have a dicussion with the DA himself, Mr. Robby Owens, about the status of the death penalty in the United States. It’s a fascinating subject, one that I enjoying discussing.
Out of 140 cases we heard, this grand jury returned “True Billl” (indictment) on 111. This is a normal percentage.
I have performed my civic duty.
If you ever serve on a grand jury, you are in for an unforgetable experience. You will learn about the crime going on in your area. You will learn about the classes of felonies. You will get an inside look at the criminal justice system (better than “Law and Order”!) You will see the politics involved in criminal justice. You may see your local prison, which will leave indelible impressions in your mind.
posted by Fred Hudson at 5:28 PM
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