22 Comments
Oct 28, 2022Liked by John Birmingham

You're a decent bloke, JB. No matter what anyone says

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Oct 28, 2022Liked by John Birmingham

Funny I have a similar story from doing Jury duty as a teenager in the early 90's, although the stingy bastards in Adelaide didn't give out free beers. $30 bucks a day didn't hurt though.

Anyway the case involved a lady meeting a bloke at a bar, taking home home, they sleep together and then in the morning she realises he's a first nations bloke and then claims he not only raped her but stole her stereo. Prosecuting cops wanted to hang this bloke, and she ended up breaking down on the stand and admitting she made the whole thing up.

It was a horrible case, with no right answers, and I still think about it to this day. I fancy myself as a bit of a musician so I wrote a song about it. Since I'm not Jim Moginie who can craft lyrics that both punch you in the face and make you think at the same time, I turned into a bit of a caper where some bloke does sleep with a lady and then opportunistically do the walk of shame with her stereo in the morning.

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Oct 28, 2022Liked by John Birmingham

Bloody good job. Well done you and Arty.

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Oct 28, 2022·edited Oct 28, 2022Liked by John Birmingham

Nice one, JB. It hurts. Now she has to do the whole song and dance again. Ugh.

Our folks taught us that if we do the right thing and don’t lie then things will work out, but it doesn’t. Life does NOT make sense and it isn’t fair. I reckon that’s why young’uns still smile so much - they haven’t figured out that life is a series of disappointments.

Luckily, there’s beer 🍺 😍

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This story reminds me tangentially of the chap sitting his finals at Cambridge exercising his right under ancient university bylaws to have ale served to him during the exam. They were forced to oblige, but they also felt the need to dock him under the same bylaws for not surrendering his sword before entering the examination hall.

I wonder if you're still entitled under current law to a beer when empanelled on a Queensland jury - you never know. Always good to have a civilised touch in the legal system.

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I've managed to get to my 60s without doing jury duty. I probably would have, but I'm exempt due to previous employment in the criminal justice system. The powers that be haven't even bothered to ask me for the last 20 odd years. I'd like to think I'd follow your example JB were I to be given such powers. Certainly not the example of that Young Nats guy on the Joh jury. Not sure what's better, juries or judge only. In my previous employment I saw my share of people on the bench whose biases and prejudices were all too evident. Cases like this remind me of a line in the Billy Bragg song "Rotting on Remand". The judge says in that "This isn't a court of justice, this is a court of law".

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Justice was served (a large frothy one!)

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So do I (feel as you do.) 😢👿😡

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Your point that juries can be bonkers probably explains why some of the people my mum cared for as a nurse in Lithgow correctional centre wound up there for things like flashing or stealing from a police car, or why one inmate got a life sentence for killing his partner (despite his attempts to resuscitate her and him calling the ambulance and him handing himself over to the police and pleading guilty), while one guy who killed a relative who was dealing drugs only got 10 years.

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I'll have a gin tonight for you an Arty.

I don't know why but something in this article has depressed me even more than some of your usual funny paper wrapped punches to the gut

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Good Story! Thanks for Sharing🤗The Law,Sir, is an Ass😏🙄

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You’re a good egg, JB.

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Oct 28, 2022·edited Oct 28, 2022

As a beneficiary of the so-called Napoleonic justice system, I can state that leaving the guilty/not guilty decision on a single individual - a judge - is much nastier than people would expect. Leaving aside the probability of bribing/blackmailing the individual in question for high stakes trials sometimes the laws leave no room for mercy/justice like in the case exposed in the article.

In France, the kid would have been convicted without even a whisper - he clearly broke the law and the circumstances do not absolve him of that.

I agree that the juries reflect the society mores at the time - sometimes despicable, as can be seen by the " black [...] have to be taught a lesson” comment in the article - on the other hand they offer an input from a non-law professional, that has not become jaded and cynical. Overall, I would say that the jury brings a touch of humanity and compassion to the justice system and that I much prefer it to the alternative.

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You're a good man.

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