Trial by Jury

I'm on jury duty until Friday (unless I get chosen for a case) and I have limited access to the computers in the jury lounge. Yes, they have computers with internet access here in New York, to keep the natives from getting restless as we perform our civic duty.

We had to watch an instructional video about the jury process which was kind of sad because Ed Bradley is in it, and he died recently. So far, I've been through 3 jury pools and haven't been picked once. The first time, the judge informed us that the case would take 6-8 weeks to decide so I volunteered to not serve along with 3/4 of the jury pool.

There was no way that my boss was going to go for me having to be on a jury for that long. Serving two days is too long for him. And I managed to get excused from the other two trials as well.

Speaking of trials, is anyone surprised that O.J. has gotten arrested again? Seriously, I thought it was only a matter of time before Karma bitch slapped him one. Yes, it's a relatively minor offense, compared to oh, say murder! But at least he'll maybe have to pay for being an arrogant son of a bitch if nothing else.

And I just saw that the Phil Spector trial ended in a mis-trial. I can't wait to read what Dominick Dunne is going to have to say about that in Vanity Fair next month. The jury apparently couldn't reach a verdict. It came down to 10-2, 10 in favor of his guilt, 2 convinced of his innocence. So now the whole process has to start again, costing the citizens of LA countless millions, because you know that Spector's legal team is going to try to get this thing either dismissed or postponed ad nauseum.

I don't envy the jurors on this case, and I sure as heck would have been recused because I totally think he's guilty of killing Lana Clarkson, even if it was by accident.

I'm totally fascinated with true crime, particularly crimes of the wealthy and famous because frankly I believe things are different, if you're wealthy and you commit a crime. Look at Robert Durst who shot a guy, chopped his body into pieces and disposed of it. He was found innocent! Seriously, this guy claimed that the victim who was an elderly man mind you, was threatening him and he had no choice but to shoot him.

Okay, it's dicey but partially believable, but I'm sorry dismembering the body? That takes it to a whole other level. Particularly since this guy may have killed his wife and his best friend as well.

See what I mean?

Can anyone think of a trial of a someone wealthy where they didn' t get off? Apart from Michael Skakel and Leopold and Loeb?