Marathon jury selection leaves Calgary woman famished, then she got her car towed
Danielle Nerman | CBC News | Posted: May 2, 2016 8:17 PM | Last Updated: May 2, 2016
No food or water breaks allowed during 9-hour-day in court, says Lynne Walker
A Calgary woman says doing her civic duty left her exhausted, dehydrated, starving and somewhat poorer.
Lynne Walker's car was towed last Thursday while she waited nine hours in a Calgary courtroom to find out if she would be selected for jury duty.
It cost her $300 to get her vehicle back from the impound lot.
"I've never even had a parking ticket and there's my car, gone," Walker told the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday.
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Walker said she had "foolishly" thought she would be finished jury selection by 3 p.m., so she parked in an area that became a tow-away zone after 3:30 p.m.
"I asked five different sheriffs if I could please just slip out for five minutes to walk a block, move my car… And I was quite bluntly refused."
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No breaks for food or water
On April 28, more than 400 people were summoned to a Calgary courtroom for jury selection for an upcoming trial.
Walker was told to be there at 8:30 a.m. and wasn't dismissed until 5:30 p.m.
She said they worked through lunch and while they were given two bathroom breaks, but that wasn't enough time to go grab something to eat or drink from the cafeteria.
They also were forbidden to bring food or water into the courtroom.
"People can go without food for longer periods of time than water. It was more the dehydration that was really bothersome," she said.
Another take on same situation
Leslie Davies, who was summoned the same day as Walker, disagrees with her take on the situation.
"She makes it sound like we were trapped in that courtroom all day, never being allowed not to leave — and that simply isn't true."
Davies said 12 people were called forward at a time to meet with the judge, Crown and defence lawyers. During that time, she said you were allowed to leave the courtroom.
"There was a water fountain in the corridor outside the washrooms, and it worked well, so there was no reason to be dehydrated," she said.
"Many people had their own water bottles or bought water in bottles and you simply just weren't allowed to be drinking in the courtroom, but we had many breaks."
Davies said many people brought their own snacks and were eating them outside the courtroom, too.
Marathon jury selection 'unusual'
While food and water are never allowed in the courtroom, Calgary defense lawyer Allan Fay said what happened to Walker is not the norm.
"That fact that it went on for as long as it did? That is unusual."
Fay can only speculate that the process took so long because jurors were being selected for multiple trials — "perhaps trials involving multiple accused such that there are lawyers for each of them."
He said it's rare for individuals to have to wait longer than three hours to find out if they've been selected for a jury.
In the end, that didn't happen for Walker, who said before this experience she was "quite willing" to take part.
Walker felt court staff "weren't terribly respectful of who we were."
"We're simply upstanding citizens who have taken the times out of our busy lives.… Give up our entire day, perhaps have to worry about childcare, and in my case towing, and we're doing this because we truly want to take part in the very important judicial process."
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener