Audio video recording produced by the Office of the Jury Commissioner in association with the Boston Neighborhood Network. Transcript produced by Approved Court Transcriber Donna H. Dominguez. For more information visit our website JuryDuty.MAjury.gov or call 1-800-THE-JURY, 1-800-843-5879.
Executive Producer: Pamela J. Wood, Jury Commissioner for the Commonwealth
Producer: Michael Ryan, Communications Coordinator, Office of Jury Commissioner
Director: Cullen Cockrell
Audio and Video Tape Operator: Wallace Fashaw
Camera Operators: Marcela Maroso and Vsevolod Iskiyaev
Studio Manager: David A. Palomares, BNN
Assistant Studio Manager: Cullen Cockrell
Project Manager/Editor: Gregory W.R. Fulchino, Office of Jury Commissioner
“Jury Duty” was produced in association with the Boston Neighborhood Network, 3025 Washington Street, Roxbury, Massachusetts 02119.
Copyright 2015/2016 [Episodes 01-11/Episode 12] - the Office of the Jury Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 560 Harrison Avenue - Suite 600, Boston, Massachusetts 02118. Website: MAjury.gov.
CAPTION: Jury Duty, Michael Ryan, Host
MICHAEL RYAN, BNN LIVE HOST: Hello. My name is Mike Ryan. The name of the show is Jury Duty: You Make a Difference on BNN, the show that should answer all your questions about the one day, one trial jury system.
HOST RYAN: Our guests today are Luis Cardoso and Elizabeth Marini. Welcome. Thank you very much --
MS. MARINI: Thank you.
MR. CARDOSO: Thank you.
HOST RYAN: -- for being on the show. And today, we’re going to talk about what, what happens when you’re picked and you serve on a jury trial. And Luis is an Associate Court officer at the Hall of Justice out in Springfield. He’s also active with the National Association of Government Employees, has been a truck driver for Bernardino’s Bakery in Chicopee and has also worked in a remodeling company as well. Elizabeth is a lifelong resident of Hyde Park, and she attended Mount Ida College and the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She worked at the Norfolk Probate and Family Court for eight years, and since 2006 is the Executive Assistant at the Massachusetts Sentencing Commission.
So I’d like to talk about your experience serving on a jury. I mean how many times have you gone to jury duty?
MR. CARDOSO: Four, four times.
HOST RYAN: Four times. Elizabeth?
MS. MARINI: Three.
HOST RYAN: Three times. And when you got the jury summons when you served, how did you respond? Did you fill out the postcard or did you go online?
MR. CARDOSO: Filled out the postcard and mailed it in.
HOST RYAN: Filled out the postcard?
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: And did you postpone your service?
MR. CARDOSO: One time I did.
HOST RYAN: One time. How about yourself?
MS. MARINI: No.
HOST RYAN: Because people, you know, should realize that, you know, they can postpone once without having to give us a reason. They have up to a whole year to do their jury duty. So, and did you call the juror information line at the Court that you went to?
MR. CARDOSO: No, I did not.
HOST RYAN: You just showed up?
MR. CARDOSO: I showed up.
HOST RYAN: Wow. Oh, you’re lucky. Elizabeth, did you call?
MS. MARINI: I just showed up.
HOST RYAN: You just showed up too.
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: Wow, okay, very, you’re very fortunate. And you filled out the confidential juror questionnaire?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes, the night before.
HOST RYAN: You did bring that? Okay.
MR. CARDOSO: I did bring that.
HOST RYAN: You brought that as well?
MS. MARINI: Yeah, the night before.
MR. CARDOSO: Yes, the night before.
HOST RYAN: Okay. And, and how did you, how did you dress for jury duty?
MR. CARDOSO: I was casual.
HOST RYAN: Casual?
MR. CARDOSO: Casual.
HOST RYAN: Okay. And yourself?
MS. MARINI: Casual.
HOST RYAN: Good. We say business casual. Some people --
MS. MARINI: Business casual.
HOST RYAN: -- take it to extremes, but hopefully everybody was appropriately dressed.
What did you bring with you to jury duty? Did you bring reading material? Did you bring Dunkin Donuts?
MR. CARDOSO: Actually, I brought a, a puzzle.
HOST RYAN: You brought a puzzle.
MR. CARDOSO: And my phone.
HOST RYAN: Okay. That’s all right.
MR. CARDOSO: And my phone.
HOST RYAN: And your phone.
MR. CARDOSO: That was it.
HOST RYAN: Okay. Liz?
MS. MARINI: I think I brought a couple of magazines, maybe the newspaper.
HOST RYAN: (Inaudible at 02:44, low audio.)
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: And when you, you went to Holyoke District Court, correct?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes, sir.
HOST RYAN: And you went to Roxbury?
MS. MARINI: Roxbury, BMC, and then --
HOST RYAN: BMC.
MS. MARINI: -- Suffolk Superior.
HOST RYAN: For Grand Jury?
MS. MARINI: Grand Jury.
HOST RYAN: And when you went there, did you see the juror orientation movie and then did a Judge come in and welcome the jurors?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes. We, the, they made us watch the movie. Then shortly after, a Judge did come out and thanked everybody for being there.
HOST RYAN: Same thing in your --
MS. MARINI: Same thing, yeah.
HOST RYAN: Same thing in your case. So did you, so while you wait, did you have to wait long to go to the courtroom?
MR. CARDOSO: We waited probably a couple hours --
HOST RYAN: Couple hours.
MR. CARDOSO: -- if that.
HOST RYAN: And the puzzle kept you entertained?
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah. I think it was, first, it was my phone.
HOST RYAN: Yeah. And you know, jurors can bring in all their gadgets, all their electronic --
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: -- devices. But it’s when they go into the courtroom, you know, they have to silence all their devices. We have posters as well. So did you have to wait long before you --
MS. MARINI: I think with the BMC, you waited like an hour, but Grand Jury, they brought you right up.
HOST RYAN: Now, did you always want to sit on a jury trial?
MR. CARDOSO: At the beginning --
HOST RYAN: You can be honest.
MR. CARDOSO: -- I, I, yes and no.
HOST RYAN: Yeah.
MR. CARDOSO: Because of working for the --
HOST RYAN: The Courts.
MR. CARDOSO: -- the Courts. I thought it would have been a little different. Until I sat on it, I kind of changed my mind, like yeah, this is actually pretty good.
HOST RYAN: Okay. What about yourself, Liz?
MS. MARINI: I always wanted to be on one.
HOST RYAN: Really?
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: You, and you were the foreperson as well --
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: -- right?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. That was exciting.
HOST RYAN: So before the trial start, started, did the trial Judge give any special instructions to the jury?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes. They, they gave us, they broke down the law to us on the charges --
HOST RYAN: Sure.
MR. CARDOSO: -- that the people were being charged with and also same thing with me, I was the foreman, so he kind of pulled me aside and says this is what you need to do, and this is what we expect, you know, from the jury. It was really nice.
HOST RYAN: Okay. And what about yourself?
MS. MARINI: I think the BMC, they did the same thing. They explained the law, what the, what the case was about, if you knew anybody on the other side, on either side actually. Grand Jury I think was a little different. They went over like how long you were going to be there for, you know, did anybody have any issues with, you know, taking the three months? Did they have to call the employers? Just general kind of questions until you got picked. And then it went into more depth.
HOST RYAN: Now, were you, when you got in the jury box, were you nervous?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes.
HOST RYAN: You didn't know what to expect, did you?
MR. CARDOSO: I did not know, no, because same thing, they asked me like if I knew anybody, and I had to be honest and I said yes. I know the attorneys. And --
HOST RYAN: But that did --
MR. CARDOSO: So --
HOST RYAN: -- that didn't get you --
MR. CARDOSO: But it went away.
HOST RYAN: It went away.
MR. CARDOSO: It went away.
HOST RYAN: And were you nervous when you went, went into the, into the jury box for the first time?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. I, yeah because you’re responsible for making the right decision. So yeah.
HOST RYAN: A big responsibility.
MS. MARINI: It was kind of, yeah, big responsibility.
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: And what kind of case was, was yours? You don’t have to give specific details --
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: -- but what was it about?
MR. CARDOSO: It was a criminal case on identity theft and --
HOST RYAN: Really? On identity theft?
MR. CARDOSO: -- and stolen property from a store.
HOST RYAN: And stolen property. And was yours criminal as well?
MS. MARINI: Criminal, drunk driving. And then the Grand Jury was just a --
HOST RYAN: A little of everything?
MS. MARINI: Yeah, a little of everything.
HOST RYAN: And how long, how long did your trial last?
MR. CARDOSO: I was there for three days.
HOST RYAN: Three days.
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: Which is long for District Court.
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: And what about yourself?
MS. MARINI: The drunk driving was two days.
HOST RYAN: Two days. And Grand Jury of course was --
MS. MARINI: It was three months.
HOST RYAN: -- was three months. So when, when the jury went to deliberate, did your jury rush to judgment or did they take its time and review all the evidence?
MR. CARDOSO: No. Actually, there was a, we reviewed all the evidence, considering that there were, you know, some people were like, well, everything was said in the courtroom, you heard everything. But we, we reviewed it. It went really well.
HOST RYAN: How about yourself?
MS. MARINI: Same. Everybody kind of really took time. It wasn’t rushed. We all thought out loud and anybody had any questions.
HOST RYAN: So no dissention at all?
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: No, no riotous scenes in the deliberation room?
MR. CARDOSO: No.
HOST RYAN: No.
MR. CARDOSO: No, we kept everybody calm.
HOST RYAN: Now, what about the people you served with? Do you remember anything about them? I mean did they have anxiety about serving on the jury?
MR. CARDOSO: A couple people did because they’re, they get, they got worried that if they rec, if the people recognize them out on the street.
HOST RYAN: Sure.
MR. CARDOSO: And I said no, you don't have to worry about that because once we leave, we’re, we’re just here for the day, and that’s it. So they were a little, a little nervous but kind of went, everything went away.
HOST RYAN: How about yourself, any fellow jurors?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. I don’t remember the BMC jurors. The Grand Jury, yes, because you’re there for three months. You got to know them very well, where they lived, what they did for a living. So that was great. I liked that.
HOST RYAN: What was your, what was your verdict?
MR. CARDOSO: Guilty.
HOST RYAN: And --
MR. CARDOSO: On --
HOST RYAN: -- and were you there, was the sentencing, did that occur right after the verdict or did that occur at a different time?
MR. CARDOSO: It, the verdict came back on the third day. And the sentencing, we weren’t there for that.
HOST RYAN: You weren’t there for the sentencing?
MR. CARDOSO: No.
HOST RYAN: So it was a, it was a guilty. And then on your DUI?
MS. MARINI: It was a not guilty.
HOST RYAN: It was a not guilty.
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: And I know you worked on a Grand Jury. Now, Grand Jury was not open to the public, correct?
MS. MARINI: No.
HOST RYAN: And you were there for how many days a week for three months?
MS. MARINI: I think it was three days a week for three months. And then after the three months, we still had some open cases that they still wanted to, us to hear, so we went back for like another week after the three months.
HOST RYAN: And what was it like being on the Grand Jury because it’s a lot different than being on a, a trial jury because it’s close to the public. But it sort of mimics what goes on during a trial, correct?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. Basically like the, the prosecutors would bring all the evidence. It was all recorded. We got to hear if they had, you know, what evidence they were bringing for the case. And we had to decide whether or not they had enough evidence to go forward with the case. So it ran from like drug arrests to assault and battery. We did have a couple of murder cases. I think there were two rape cases. So it was really eye opening actually.
HOST RYAN: So a lot, a lot different than you had expected when you went into Grand Jury?
MS. MARINI: Yeah, a lot, embezzlement too. I was really, you know, shocked at the embezzlements, how people just, you know, randomly take money from companies, hospitals. It was just really wild actually.
HOST RYAN: And sort of when you’re on Grand Jury, you sort of work under the auspices of the District Attorney, correct?
MS. MARINI: Yes, the District Attorney. They were wonderful actually.
HOST RYAN: Whereas, you know, when you work, work on a, on a trial jury, you’re under the auspices of the Trial Judge, correct?
MR. CARDOSO: Correct.
HOST RYAN: Now, you meet a lot of potential jurors during the course of your day out at the Hall of Justice. What, what are some of the reactions when people come into the front door at Springfield?
MR. CARDOSO: The, the reaction is just that they don’t want to be there a lot of the times, and you kind of sympathize with them, and you kind of understand why. But my job being there is also to kind of bring them back, make them a little bit more at ease, and when they walk in the building, they’re actually, you know what, it was actually okay, it wasn’t too bad, you know.
HOST RYAN: So you get some reaction post, once they finish their service, do they actually come down and tell you about it?
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah. Some, some people do, if they have, if I happen to see them on the --
HOST RYAN: So --
MR. CARDOSO: -- they say like you know what, this wasn’t actually too bad, you know. And I thought it’s, it was a little harder, like, but they do, they do give back some feedback at times.
HOST RYAN: That’s great. And the jury pool is up on what floor in --
MR. CARDOSO: It’s up on the fourth floor.
HOST RYAN: Up on the fourth floor.
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: Overlooking the Connecticut River, correct?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes. Our lovely river.
HOST RYAN: Now, once your verdicts came in, did the trial Judge meet with your jury?
MR. CARDOSO: They, when we were in the jury room, the Judge did come out and just said a little bit talking and explaining. And again, he thanked us because (inaudible at 10:52, low audio) and you know, he had to keep us there. But it was just really it, what I remember.
HOST RYAN: Yeah. And what about in your, your DUI trial, did --
MS. MARINI: Yes. After we gave the verdict, he thanked us for our service, and we left the courtroom. So it was nice.
HOST RYAN: So would you recommend sitting on a jury to your friends and family?
MR. CARDOSO: Definitely.
HOST RYAN: Definitely.
MR. CARDOSO: Definitely I would.
HOST RYAN: Yeah. It was --
MR. CARDOSO: It’s, it’s an experience. And we need people to sit on it.
HOST RYAN: And about, about yourself?
MS. MARINI: Yeah because it’s your community. You know, you want your, you know, a safe community. I think the only way to keep it safe is to be active and, you know, it’s not really that bad, not painstaking to go to jury duty.
HOST RYAN: Now, you’ve, you’ve gone four times you said --
MR. CARDOSO: Yes.
HOST RYAN: -- or you’ve been called four times?
MR. CARDOSO: I’ve gone four times.
HOST RYAN: And you’ve gone,
MS. MARINI: Twice. I’ve been called three times.
HOST RYAN: Just three times.
MS. MARINI: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: Would there be anything in your experience would you recommend that could be improved upon in going to jury, especially working, meeting jurors every day?
MR. CARDOSO: I think the system is pretty, pretty well lined up. So it, I don’t think that, I mean I’m pretty sure somebody else might come up with an idea, but I don’t, I couldn't come up with any off the top of my head.
HOST RYAN: What about, what about yourself? What --
MS. MARINI: No. I actually like it. I like that you can do online now. You can, you know, instead of filling out of the form and mailing it back, you can just go right online. I, you know, I think it’s, it’s a well-constructed department.
HOST RYAN: Now, you work for the Mass Sentencing Commission. What exactly is that?
MS. MARINI: Let’s see. The Mass Sentencing Commission, we now have branched off and we’re all the Department of Research and Planning within the Trial Court. The Mass Sentencing Commission is a, oh God, they’re going to kill me. We have these guidelines, established guidelines. They, they’re not mandatory guidelines used by the Judges but they are kind of, a lot of the Probation Officers use them when the Judge wants to sentence somebody. So it’s like a grid that they go on, and, oh, God, it’s just so hard to explain in my own words.
HOST RYAN: But it, but it’s, as you say, the fact that you did jury duty and you work for the Sentencing Commission, I, I would think you would have found it interesting.
MS. MARINI: Yes, to see how, but you know what, after you do the, the jury duty, you’re not there for the sentencing.
HOST RYAN: That’s true.
MS. MARINI: So you really never know, you know, how many years or days or months that the defendant receives. So I would have liked to have gone back to see --
HOST RYAN: To see what the sentence was.
MS. MARINI: -- to follow through with some of the Grand Jury.
HOST RYAN: Did you like, did you ever try to find out what the sentence was to the case?
MR. CARDOSO: Actually, no.
HOST RYAN: No.
MR. CARDOSO: No.
HOST RYAN: Okay.
MR. CARDOSO: But other, my curiosity kind of got me.
HOST RYAN: Sure.
MR. CARDOSO: But I kind of just let it go.
HOST RYAN: You let it go.
MR. CARDOSO: It’s okay, it’s not me on there.
HOST RYAN: Now, you were both fore, forepersons on the jury.
MR. CARDOSO: Yeah.
HOST RYAN: What was, what’s the responsibility of a fore, foreman or a foreperson?
MR. CARDOSO: My responsibility was to keep the notes together and read out the charges to the Judge and the Clerk and everybody that was in the courtroom.
HOST RYAN: So you were sort of the chairman of the jury once they deliberated, correct?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes, sir.
HOST RYAN: So you’re the one who said, okay, we’re going to talk about, here’s the evidence that’s presented, what is credible and what is not?
MR. CARDOSO: Yes.
HOST RYAN: And you did that as, as well?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. And if there were any questions, if the jurors had any questions, we would present them to the Court Officer, and he would go up and give them to the Judge.
HOST RYAN: Did you have any questions?
MS. MARINI: I think we had a bunch of questions with the Grand Jury when we wanted to hear more or we needed another question answered by one of the witnesses. We’d, you know, they’d ask me to go ask the Court Officer to bring him in and get the, you know, the DA to come back in just so we could ask those questions.
HOST RYAN: Did you have any questions when you were on your, on your jury that you had to go, go to a Court Officer and ask to clarify on a question?
MR. CARDOSO: Actually, no. The, it was, it was actually pretty, pretty simple.
HOST RYAN: Pretty clear cut?
MR. CARDOSO: Pretty, yeah.
HOST RYAN: Pretty clear cut.
MR. CARDOSO: It was pretty clear cut.
HOST RYAN: Now, jurors are not only randomly selected, they’re randomly assigned. So you went to Holyoke which isn't quite close to your, to your home, correct?
MR. CARDOSO: It’s ten minutes away.
HOST RYAN: So it wasn’t too bad?
MR. CARDOSO: It wasn’t too bad.
HOST RYAN: And it wasn’t too much of a hardship for you --
MS. MARINI: No.
HOST RYAN: Some of our counties, you know, some people drive 20, 30, 40, 50 miles to their Court location, and that’s done, you know, just to, to preserve the objectivity, you know, when people come into jury, rather than everybody in the local vicinity visiting that Court, and they might know something about the cases, and they might know something about the, the people.
So how do you compare Grand Jury with trial jury?
MS. MARINI: Well --
HOST RYAN: Did you, did you like one better than the other? Or were they both, both good experiences?
MS. MARINI: I enjoyed Grand Jury I think a lot better because you were there for a longer time. You got to get to know the fellow jurors. And it was very eye opening. Like some of the stuff, I didn't even know went on in my own neighborhood. So I found that very like eye opening. I’m more aware shall I say now when I’m driving around in my car or I’m walking, I’m more aware and conscious of what actually is going on.
HOST RYAN: Wow, that’s, that’s incredible. So once you, once you finished your jury service, did you say I want to do it again?
MR. CARDOSO: That day?
HOST RYAN: No, no. Not, no. Did you just say I can't, I can't wait till I get my next jury summons?
MR. CARDOSO: What’s that? Every two or three years that it comes out?
HOST RYAN: Three at the most, yeah.
MR. CARDOSO: Three years.
HOST RYAN: Three. So you would, you’d be ready for your next time.
MR. CARDOSO: Of course.
HOST RYAN: Maybe go for a longer case?
MR. CARDOSO: Probably.
HOST RYAN: Yeah.
MR. CARDOSO: If there is one.
HOST RYAN: If there is one. What about yourself, Liz, now that you’ve done it --
MS. MARINI: Yeah, sure.
HOST RYAN: -- you’ve done it twice?
MS. MARINI: Yeah. I would like it again. There’s always new cases.
HOST RYAN: So that’s great. So you both liked it, and you say you would, if you got called again, someone were to ask you, and say how was your jury experience?
MS. MARINI: Fantastic.
HOST RYAN: And would you do it again?
MS. MARINI: I would, absolutely.
HOST RYAN: And what about yourself, Luis?
MR. CARDOSO: It was a great experience. That, I would definitely do it again.
HOST RYAN: You’d definitely do it again. Well, we’ve run out of time here on Jury Duty: You Make a Difference on BNN.
Just remember, if you have any questions regarding your jury service, you can always contact the Office of Jury Commissioner online at MAJury.Gov or call us toll free at 1-800-THE-JURY, that’s 1-800-843-5879.
Just remember you do make a difference. Please serve when called. It’s important to all of us. Thank you, Luis.
MR. CARDOSO: Thank you.
HOST RYAN: And thank you Elizabeth.
MS. MARINI: Thank you.
HOST RYAN: And thank you at home.
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