Beginning in the summer of 1998, I began working in the Greenbrier County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a law school intern.
That was a very exciting summer because I was working with a prosecutor who encouraged trying cases when plea agreements could not be worked out. It was also rewarding to discuss trial strategy with my mother, Kay Giggenbach, a registered nurse, who passed away a few years later.
My mother once wrote a letter to the local judge asking to be on a jury, any jury really (which is not allowed). She did so because she wanted to experience being on a jury. I used to tell this story to juries when explaining the important role they play in society and how much their time on the jury was of value. Too often people do everything to avoid being on a jury.
I remember trying a case up in Harrison County once and a fry cook purposely did not come to be on a jury. The restaurant happened to be across the street from the courthouse. The judge had a deputy go over to the restaurant and haul the fry cook into court. The judge then gave the cook a tongue lashing about the importance of jury duty.
In Greenbrier and Kanawha counties there were a few citizens who would actually come to court and watch my jury trials. In the old days, an interesting jury trial was the main attraction in the county and people would travel from all around to watch the courtroom drama unfold. I asked these few citizens why they came to watch the trials, they both said the same thing: “better than a book or TV.”
One of the first cases I tried in Greenbrier County was a fellow who forged a prescription and spelled the pain medication Lortab wrong. He spelled it “Loratab.” Of course, the pharmacy caught the misspelling. I had the prescription blown up as an exhibit for the jury and argued that a doctor would not have misspelled a prescription like that.
We won the trial and the defendant received probation. At the time, I did not understand why he received probation when he had committed a felony and did not accept responsibility. However, after over 20 years of handling criminal matters, it is understandable for someone to receive probation for a non-violent crime.
I tried a murder case in McDowell County in front of one of my favorite judges, Booker Stephens.
Judge Stephens, now retired, was a very demanding and efficient judge. He also did not wear a robe very often in court and was one of two judges in the state who only wore robes during limited circumstances. Regardless of whether these two judges were wearing robes or not, there was no question who was in charge in the courtroom and they always dressed well. If you were just a few minutes late to court with Judge Stephens, you would be fined.
That particular murder case was very horrific, with multiple persons shot. It was all over a drug debt. One fellow was shot five times and lived. It got so hot in that old, poorly ventilated courthouse during the trial that Judge Stephens let us try the case without our suit coats on.
During the trial, there was a very loud rumble. I stopped mid-sentence while examining a witness and asked “What was that?” Without missing a beat, Judge Stephens said “Son, you’re in McDowell County and that was just a coal truck passing by, ask your next question.”
A state trooper and I were handling a gun, passing it back and forth to mark as an exhibit, etc. and Judge Stephens suddenly stopped the trial. He said, “I’ve been watching you two pass that gun back and forth without gloves on. Both of you go to the bathroom and wash your hands, return and put gloves on.”
The bathroom door was literally just steps from the counsel table, inside the courtroom. It was somewhat embarrassing and I am sure the jury could hear the water running. Despite the horrid details of the case, that case also involved a juror continually apparently nodding off and sleeping during the trial. Judge Stephens stopped the trial and made the jurors stand up and perform stretching exercises. The supposedly sleeping juror issue came up post-conviction and the juror denied actually being asleep. He said he was listening and thinking with his eyes closed.
If you receive a letter regarding jury duty, instead of finding ways to avoid jury duty, find ways to experience it. Due to the pandemic, there are not as many jury trials, understandably so. However, the pandemic will end someday and you will have your chance again.
Next week I will tell the story of a fellow who had a compulsion for stealing lawn ornaments. You don’t want to miss that one.
