okay i guess we're on the air now
right
uh i haven't had too much experience with uh judges and jurors
i've uh served on a jury one time and uh i think one of my concerns after that experience was
uh finding that there tend to be people in the jury that can't bring themselves to sentence someone
yes i i have my primary experience has been as uh an expert witness and and uh and two murder trials
um
and uh in each case it was a retrial and the sentencing was the same each time which happened in the state of Florida happened to be uh death
but in terms of i well the question also was in terms of mandatory sentencing or mandatory sentences for uh certain crimes
i think
depending on uh in certain crimes i think that they should be mandatory
for example uh armed robbery
uh if we have convicted i think uh plea bargaining should should be uh a thing of the past
um
certain types of uh
you know homicides
yeah i'm inclined to agree you do need a uh fixed and clear sentence there
yes in in homicides related to other than i guess what are called uh crimes of passion uh for example you know as you as you very well know
the great majority of homicides are
people murdering other people they know mostly people they know
yeah
so in those instances uh that's uh i think that there is some leeway there what was is interesting in this regard is the recent case in New Hampshire
yes
uh the schoolteacher
um-hum
and the life sentence uh she received
yeah i think that was a logical decision there
yes
and it came very quickly surprisingly
um-hum
uh i guess it was uh they brought in their verdict and sentence at the same time did they not
well well yeah i think they went back for a brief hearing on the sentence
um-hum
uh but that was that was fairly quick i think that is something that we need in this country i know the last time i was down in the Caribbean
uh we had visited the island of uh Saint Thomas which is American
and there were twenty three unsolved murders and nobody seem to be concerned about it
um
at the same time there was one unsolved murder on the island of Tortola and the whole island wanted to know when the hanging was going to take place
well in answer to you know answer to the question though i still think the sentencing should be in the hands of the jury even though as you say there are some
uh people who are reluctant i do not think again in the matter of uh uh that that judges should have the
uh
the upper hand or the only hand in that sense because i think if but i i've never served on a jury you probably know this better than i um
if the jury does their job and of course there are those on the jury that do not i'm sure but and ask the questions and
uh correctly and then one of things i've always wondered is uh the ability of jurors to to ask questions
i've never uh really been sure that a juror is entitled to ask a question
well that that that and that's an interesting point i've never i you know i've thought about it i've asked myself you know this question before
i've never taken the time to do the research to answer my own question but i know that at least during the deliberations of the jury
um-hum
they can ask questions
yes
i don't know whether they can go back and call witnesses for that though it's it depends on the the transcript they can ask uh points of order of law
um-hum
and maybe they can ask for a review of the transcript
right
uh but uh asking questions during the trial my experience as a juror uh well it was a traffic situation uh there were three points of law that had to be made
and the County Attorney did not make the points
um-hum
but the uh defendant took the stand on his own behalf
unfortunately he made the points himself in his own testimony
um-hum may i ask you a question
um-hum
why does your voice sound familiar to me
um
i work for E Systems
that's that's
probably why it does i work for GTE
okay
your your voice you know when uh i didn't recognize the name but the more i listen to your voice i
uh i know i have heard it somewhere
and i was trying to place where i had heard it that's very interesting but now back to the topic
okay
but uh because i work for
uh Hal Ammon
oh i know Hal Ammon quite well
yes i am on staff to Hal Ammon to GTE
okay
so
well say hi to Al or Hal the next time you see him
i
i will and which will probably be the uh Monday as a matter of fact
and tell
yeah well tell him that Bill Mayhood sell hi said hi
okay Bill i recognize the name now i and uh my name is Jim Moscow
okay
and uh so i've heard the name
and uh well back to the topic i guess we've talked long enough Bill
all right
but uh all right well thank you for calling and nice and have a good weekend
thank you good night
good-bye
