Waiting around in Humboldt courts is par for the course but basic information and organization shouldn't be that hard

Jury selection was supposed to start on November 12 in alleged molestor Patricio Segura's case. This morning the case was scheduled from 9:15 to 11:30.

The courtroom was closed. Spanish interpreter Mariela Caceres is one of the interpreters for the jury trial. She and a victim's witness representative and I just waited around in the hallway for half an hour, wondering what was going on. Finally, one of the court staff, Scott, came by and said he was going to find the Judge to see if the case could be rescheduled at 1:30. There will be no equipment for the interpreter and there may or may not be a second interpreter. Ms. Caceres told Scott, another interpreter, Kozme was in town today.

Waiting around for a few minutes is one thing but an interpreter who traveling from the Bay area as well as the rest of don't have time to waste in the hallway.  It costs us money. There were other cases scheduled at the same time.

The case was scheduled for this time since Friday. What's the excuse for having people wait around with no information? Had Scott not come by, it could have been longer. A bailiff or court staff member could have notified people waiting that the case was not being called this morning. Scott could not tell us if 1:30 was certain because he could not find the Judge.

This is a list of witnesses from the jury questionnaire. Having covered the preliminary hearing, Jane Doe and her mother are not on this list.

In the afternoon, the courtroom opened at 1:30 p.m. and Judge Kaleb Cockrum met with Deputy District Attorney Stacey Eads, Deputy Public Defender Wade Orbelian and Court Operations in chambers. A possible resolution and scheduling was discussed. Not sure why scheduling had to occur in chambers instead of an open courtroom.

Judge Cockrum went over the schedule for a week which included when he is meeting with the attorneys, questioning of individual jurors and when the courtroom will be dark. He mentioned what jury instructions he will be going over and how he conducts voir dire.

Ms. Eads requested that the jury questionnaire be sealed and Judge Cockrum granted the request.

Previous post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2019/11/alleged-molestor-patricio-seguras-jury.html?m=1