The Rising by Ryan D'Agostino

Author:Ryan D'Agostino
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2015-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Bill’s testimony ends without ceremony or drama, and there is no cross-examination.

Juries are made up of people, and people do unexpected things, and after lunch on the second day of the trial, the first really weird thing in the case of State v. Hayes happens.

The judge in the case is Jon C. Blue, twenty-one years on the bench, more than a dozen as a trial lawyer before that, midwesterner, towering helmet of white hair, enunciates every syllable. Grandfatherly. Stern if he needs to be. And firmly in control of his courtroom. He announces after the daily one-hour lunch break that one of the jurors, a Mr. Lively, would like to address the court. In Blue’s tone you can hear that he’s anxious to learn what this is about. And so he calls Mr. Lively to sit in the witness box and tell the court what’s on his mind. Mr. Lively unfolds a piece of paper and reads:

“As a juror in this case, I am confused by the presentation of the state’s case, and bewildered by what seems to me a lack of preparation on their part. The physical evidence is poorly organized and the order of its introduction seems to be arbitrary and casual. But for me, what’s worse, the evidence being presented to us has no explanation with it and no contextualization. It’s as though…”

Jesus. Who is this guy? Mucking up the works. The problem with people doing weird things in a jury trial is that it creates the possibility of a mistrial. And one could argue that Jon C. Blue’s most important job here, for however many days this trial goes on, is to avoid a mistrial. That, and to try to avoid handing the defense any reason to appeal. It’s all very tenuous—every objection, every motion, and every weird thing like this is a test for Judge Blue.

Blue glowers at Mr. Lively.

Tom Ullmann, meanwhile, is probably thrilled with Mr. Lively. For one thing, Mr. Lively is not impressed with the state’s presentation so far, which could bias him in favor of the defense. But also, a loose cannon on the jury is not such a bad thing for a defense team looking for any reason to move for a mistrial.

Blue responds to Mr. Lively’s announcement first by effusively praising all of the attorneys on both sides, saying they are four of the best in the state. Ullmann and Judge Blue, neither of whom have ever seen anything quite like this in their long careers in the courtroom, take turns questioning Mr. Lively. They cajole him for ten minutes, affording him multiple opportunities to say that he can continue to be faithful to his oath as a juror—those are the magic words that would mean he could possibly remain as a member of this jury.

THE COURT: Let me just ask you this. Based on what you know now, I need to know your answer. Knowing what your responsibilities are going to be, that you have to base your

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