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Jury managers meet all types
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
| Article published on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/040709_pco-05.jpg) |
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| Photo by THOMAS MICHALSKI |
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| Kellie Lane, left, and Linda Conesa, deputy court clerks, check files at the Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater. |
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PINELLAS COUNTY – Many people like a break from the routine of their lives to become part of a jury.
Others do not.
With three court facilities in Pinellas County, it is up to the court services division under the helm of Ken Burke, clerk of the 6th Circuit Court, to supply the thousands of jurors that are needed annually.
Nancy Walent is the county’s jury manager, a job she was promoted to last August after her predecessor, Jacque Avise, retired after nearly 35 years of service.
“Pinellas courts are in session about 50 weeks a year,” Walent said. “People can serve on everything from civil cases to murder trials.”
Walent began her career in 1977 as a cashier and progressed up the career leader. She enjoys the work because she likes people.
More than 32,000 residents in 2008 were chosen to serve on juries, but triple that amount actually were subpoenaed.
Names are selected from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles files, which provides the names of people holding drivers’ licenses or state identification cards. Criminal trials usually take one to a few days. Murder and civil trials take longer. Juries are assigned to the Downtown Clearwater Courthouse at 315 Court St., the Criminal Justice Center on 49th St. in Clearwater and the St. Petersburg Judicial Building at 545 First Ave. N.
“You get to meet all types of people in this business,” Walent said. “There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by when someone doesn’t make me smile or laugh.”
People have their own thoughts about what serving on a jury is all about. Among the misconceptions is that they will be sequestered for days, weeks or even months at a time.
“Sequestering a jury is very, very rare,” Walent said. “The last time that occurred was when Oba Chandler went to trial for murdering two women in 1989.”
Jurors and potential jurors are not locked in windowless rooms for the duration of their service. Burke in 2007 took steps to vastly improve the juror experience by making it as comfortable as possible. Under his watch Pinellas became the first county in Florida to pay juries in cash on the day of service, court officials said.
Jurors can use Internet computers, read books, magazines and watch television while waiting to be called. They even get coffee and tea and earn $15 a day if their employer does not pay for the time off that is required. That figure doubles in cases of extended trials that exceed 30 days.
Walent and her three-person staff hear all the excuses. Most are valid, and a few are memorable. Walent tells of the man who called from a hospital bed to report that he could not appear because he electrocuted himself with a leaf blower when he fell into a swimming pool.
“You just cannot make up some of the excuses people use to get out of jury duty,” Walent said.
The rate of people ignoring their subpoenas to serve is low. If they don’t appear the first time they get a second notice. Ignoring that one can mean a fine and nearly six months in jail.
The current economic picture that seems to have everyone strapped for money is not ignored by Walent’s staff. There are automatic exclusions for pregnant women, convicted felons, even for people over the age of 70.
“People are really stressed about the economy and we do whatever we can to accommodate them,” Walent said.
Those with seasonable jobs such as lawn maintenance, for example, can be excused during the summer. Most people realize that jury duty is their civic responsibility and even look forward to serving. Others are angered by the hours of waiting to be called into a courtroom and at what they perceive to be the inefficiency of the court system.
“People generally walk away from jury duty with a much better understanding of the court system,” Walent said.
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Article published on Tuesday, April 7, 2009
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