Juror in vehicular manslaughter trial caused a mistrial because, as a Jehovah's Witness, her religio - Polidicks

[URL="http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/01/mistrial-declared-in-kevon-neal-vehicular-manslaughter-trial-99068.html"]Mistrial declared in Kevon Neal vehicular manslaughter trial[/URL] [QUOTE]A mistrial has been declared in the trial of a man accused of leading a high-speed police chase that ended in the death of a Prince George's County Police officer. The trial of Kevon Neal, who was on trial for vehicular manslaughter in the death of Ofc. Adrian Morris, abruptly ended Thursday just three days after it began. A new trial will likely take place in either May or June, officials say. Neal is accused of leading Morris on a high-speed chase in August of 2012 on Interstate 95 after police believe he and another man, Kenneth Mitchell, snatched a woman's purse at a gas station. The chase reached speeds of up to 100 mph, Morris' partner testified, before their cruiser careened off the highway. Morris was killed at the scene. The actions of juror Darvida Caldwell during deliberations led to Thursday's mistrial, the State's Attorney's office says. The case went to the jury at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, but later that night, the judge received an email from Caldwell, who claimed that she could not judge another person because of their religious beliefs. Later, in a discussion between Caldwell, the judge and attorneys from both sides, the juror also claimed that they "did not have a dog in this fight" and therefore could not pass judgment on Neal.[/QUOTE] Lady, you're supposed to throw a wrench into your jury eligibility [B]before[/B] selection if you want to get out of jury duty.

this is horrifying retarded.

this has to be a joke

Not judging people, okay, I can kind of understand. But not even when it's regarding legal matters?

Man, fuck people like that. Jehova's Witnesses gotta be the most strictly religious people on this earth. Letting kids die instead of accepting blood, intentionally screwing up the course of law, and writing me three-page-letters because I teach about Christmas in class. I try respect all religions, but damn, no need to throw a stick in every wheel you see.

[QUOTE=Riller;43620041]Man, fuck people like that. Jehova's Witnesses gotta be the most strictly religious people on this earth. Letting kids die instead of accepting blood, intentionally screwing up the course of law, and writing me three-page-letters because I teach about Christmas in class. I try respect all religions, but damn, no need to throw a stick in every wheel you see.[/QUOTE] Some girl I went to school with had insane Jehova's witness parents, she hated them. As a result she ended up rebelling big time as soon as they couldnt tell her what to do and becoming a nude model for SuicideGirls & other stuff, getting dozens of tattoos and piercings and experimenting with girls. Needless to say she was disowned pretty fast.

Chances are they would have removed her from the jury pool if she simply stated that it was against her beliefs and that her beliefs would interfere with a court case. That's how I got them to remove me from the jury pool. (Coincidentally I do believe I have no right to judge someone when it will affect their life to such a large degree. I'll leave that to people who are willing to do it.)

They should have caught that during the jury selection process. Not cool that she allowed herself to be selected, knowing she couldn't (or wouldn't) do it. I'm dumb about this next part though... 'mistrial' means they restart the process, right?

[QUOTE=Cushie;43620124]Some girl I went to school with had insane Jehova's witness parents, she hated them. As a result she ended up rebelling big time as soon as they couldnt tell her what to do and becoming a nude model for SuicideGirls & other stuff, getting dozens of tattoos and piercings and experimenting with girls. Needless to say she was disowned pretty fast.[/QUOTE] Same story here, although I don't know that my friend went so far as to do nude modeling. She dove headfirst into being a goth though, more as an act of rebellion than genuinely embracing the goth idea, I think. Context: The town this occurred in is 51% atheist as of the last census. So the JW parents were even bigger misfits. [QUOTE=tirpider;43620455]I'm dumb about this next part though... 'mistrial' means they restart the process, right?[/QUOTE] It means start over from square one with a fresh jury pool that [I]hopefully[/I] didn't pay any attention to the case over this news. That's why this is such a fuckup. She should've said this during jury selection so she could be disqualified before the accused's trial begins and evidence starts being trotted out and the lawyers start playing their cards.

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;43620517]It means start over from square one with a fresh jury pool that [I]hopefully[/I] didn't pay any attention to the case over this news. That's why this is such a fuckup. She should've said this during jury selection so she could be disqualified before the accused's trial begins and evidence starts being trotted out and the lawyers start playing their cards.[/QUOTE] wow. She fucked it up. And since it just [I]had[/I] to be made into a news story the moment it happened, the media fucked it up more. Good job, lady.

[QUOTE=Riller;43620041]Man, fuck people like that. Jehova's Witnesses gotta be the most strictly religious people on this earth. Letting kids die instead of accepting blood, intentionally screwing up the course of law, and writing me three-page-letters because I teach about Christmas in class. I try respect all religions, but damn, no need to throw a stick in every wheel you see.[/QUOTE] Whenever they rang here (usually at motherfucking 9 in motherfucking Sunday morning) I just showed up at the door wearing the most extravagant stuff I could find, hoping to scare them away. Haven't heard of them since I greeted them wearing only a pair of Hawaiian boxers and a Soviet officer's cap.

[QUOTE=jimhowl33t;43620786]Whenever they rang here (usually at motherfucking 9 in motherfucking Sunday morning) I just showed up at the door wearing the most extravagant stuff I could find, hoping to scare them away. Haven't heard of them since I greeted them wearing only a pair of Hawaiian boxers and a Soviet officer's cap.[/QUOTE] if anyone wants to be less subtle, it's usually pretty foolproof to just have something alcoholic in-hand and offer them a drink, works for most door-to-door religions

I make them tea when they come knocking on my door but make them stand in the cold while I lounge hanging out of my kitchen window talking to them. It's fun to annoy them when they tell me I'm going to hell by simply telling them I'm a Unitarian who'll go to purgatory not hell and I'll eventually get into heaven regardless.

why is that legal

[QUOTE=ViralHatred;43622014]I make them tea when they come knocking on my door but make them stand in the cold while I lounge hanging out of my kitchen window talking to them. It's fun to annoy them when they tell me I'm going to hell by simply telling them I'm a Unitarian who'll go to purgatory not hell and I'll eventually get into heaven regardless.[/QUOTE] I'm not sure exactly what religions' members you're speaking to, but Jehova's Witnesses don't believe in "hell" in the sense that other sects of Christianity do, and would certainly never tell anyone they were speaking to that they were going there even if they did. That would be grounds for being subject to a trial of sorts and would probably lead to them being disfellowshipped. More on point, while it's retarded on her part that she didn't mention this in juror selection, I do have to have a tiny bit of respect for her actually not being a hypocrite to her religion. It says right there in the texts to not judge others, and I can't even begin to provide a list of the people I know who personally identify as Christian and go about telling everyone else how they should be living.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;43620040]Not judging people, okay, I can kind of understand. But not even when it's regarding legal matters?[/QUOTE] The religion also bars critical thinking. In the event of them needing a blood transfusion or an organ transplant, it's written in that they're supposed to refuse treatment and just die.

[QUOTE=Grimhound;43625240]The religion also bars critical thinking. In the event of them needing a blood transfusion or an organ transplant, it's written in that they're supposed to refuse treatment and just die.[/QUOTE] My mother has few stories about them from her time as a doc.

Beyond being a moron who decided not to disclose their bias during voir dire, you aren't really supposed to judge the person anyway. Just their actions.

Why the fuck did she apply to be a juror in the first place?

They usually have alternate jurors who are there in the court room, so if anything happens to a regular juror(illness/etc) they can replace him or her. I guess that this juror said things in deliberations that contaminated the proceedings and that's why they didn't just replace this juror. This is over the death of a cop too, so I'm sure they want as solid a verdict as possible. Weird things in deliberations can just give more reasons for appeal.

[QUOTE=ionuttzu;43626251]Why the fuck did she apply to be a juror in the first place?[/QUOTE] In the US, they draft you. You don't have a say in the matter.

[QUOTE=dai;43621668]if anyone wants to be less subtle, it's usually pretty foolproof to just have something alcoholic in-hand and offer them a drink, works for most door-to-door religions[/QUOTE] My dad answered the door with an open bathrobe once to some jehovas witnesses.

[QUOTE=J$ Psychotic;43626271]In the US, they draft you. You don't have a say in the matter.[/QUOTE] Usually though, both defence and prosecution usually question you to see if you're a suitable juror, why the hell she didnt mention that she can't be judgemental during that process though.

[QUOTE=Cushie;43620124]Some girl I went to school with had insane Jehova's witness parents, she hated them. As a result she ended up rebelling big time as soon as they couldnt tell her what to do and becoming a nude model for SuicideGirls & other stuff, getting dozens of tattoos and piercings and experimenting with girls. Needless to say she was disowned pretty fast.[/QUOTE] Damn she sure showed them

[QUOTE=Grimhound;43625240]The religion also bars critical thinking. In the event of them needing a blood transfusion or an organ transplant, it's written in that they're supposed to refuse treatment and just die.[/QUOTE] Just to add on to this, there's two things that can happen here: If the Jehovah's Witness is not identified as such, and receives a blood transfusion with their identity unknown, it amounts only to a partial expulsion from the church, along with formal reproof and a chance to prove that you're really, really sorry about what happened, then they welcome you back. Otherwise, if they get a transfusion with their knowledge, and voluntarily consent to the same, they'll be chucked out of their congregation (getting disfellowshipped) and will be shunned by other Jehovah's witnesses also as such. A third option is that, provided they were inactive (that is to say, did not participate in rituals or meetings with others of their sect for a long, though unspecified, duration of time), formal censuring doesn't happen unless they choose to reactivate their Witness affliations at any point in the future.

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;43627096] If the Jehovah's Witness is not identified as such, and receives a blood transfusion with their identity unknown, it amounts only to a partial expulsion from the church, along with formal reproof and a chance to prove that you're really, really sorry about what happened, then they welcome you back. [/QUOTE] Eh? I grew up in a JW family (I'm don't believe it any more) and don't have a clue what you're on about with this part. formal reproof is just if you do something and then they deem you repentant enough afterwards. Also this Jury duty thing isn't an actual JW thing, it's up to the individual whether to serve on Jury Duty or not, you wouldn't be kicked out for doing so.

[QUOTE=katbug;43626289]My dad answered the door with an open bathrobe once to some jehovas witnesses.[/QUOTE] Witness THIS, Jehova!

Ironic considering how the followers of that faith treat people who leave.

[QUOTE=carcarcargo;43627396]Eh? I grew up in a JW family (I'm don't believe it any more) and don't have a clue what you're on about with this part. formal reproof is just if you do something and then they deem you repentant enough afterwards. Also this Jury duty thing isn't an actual JW thing, it's up to the individual whether to serve on Jury Duty or not, you wouldn't be kicked out for doing so.[/QUOTE] whoops, I may have gone slightly overboard with my wording. What I meant is that, if the Jehovah's Witness's identity is unknown (they don't have identification pointing out their religious affliation) and they receive a transfusion in good faith, they don't get in as much trouble with the church. After re-reading up on Witness discipline in question, I acknowledge I may have been a little rusty in my interpretation of formal reproof; not only did I forget that they cannot participate as pioneers or auxiliary pioneers for a year after formal reproof in a congregation, I also forgot that it's published as a fact to the rest of the community at large.

[QUOTE=Zonesylvania;43627528]whoops, I may have gone slightly overboard with my wording. What I meant is that, if the Jehovah's Witness's identity is unknown (they don't have identification pointing out their religious affliation) and they receive a transfusion in good faith, they don't get in as much trouble with the church. After re-reading up on Witness discipline in question, I acknowledge I may have been a little rusty in my interpretation of formal reproof; not only did I forget that they cannot participate as pioneers or auxiliary pioneers for a year after formal reproof in a congregation, I also forgot that it's published as a fact to the rest of the community at large.[/QUOTE] If the persons identity is unknown then they get in no trouble because nobody knows who did it haha You got the reproof part right, but you can only be reproved if they find out.