February 12, 2025 • 9 mins
Estate planning expert Mark Reckman from Wood and Lamping joins us to share his remarkable insights from serving on a jury in a criminal drug case. Offering a rare peek into the jury room, Mark explains the crucial differences between grand and petit juries, while also shedding light on how the presence of jurors often nudges parties toward settlements. His personal experience underscores the diversity and dedication of those called to serve, emphasizing jury duty not just as a civic obligation but as a fundamental pillar supporting the rule of law in the United States.
In the heart of Southwest Ohio, jury duty may initially seem daunting, yet it stands as a significant opportunity to engage with the justice system. We focus on how jury commissioners strive to make the process efficient and rewarding. Discover why this civic responsibility is not just about fulfilling a duty but about actively contributing to the legal foundation of our democracy. Through Mark Reckman's perspective, listeners are encouraged to embrace this summons as a chance to uphold justice and witness firsthand the intricate workings of our courts.
In the heart of Southwest Ohio, jury duty may initially seem daunting, yet it stands as a significant opportunity to engage with the justice system. We focus on how jury commissioners strive to make the process efficient and rewarding. Discover why this civic responsibility is not just about fulfilling a duty but about actively contributing to the legal foundation of our democracy. Through Mark Reckman's perspective, listeners are encouraged to embrace this summons as a chance to uphold justice and witness firsthand the intricate workings of our courts.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
You listening to simply money presented by all Worth Financial.
I me Me Wagner along with Bob Sponseller. There are
just certain pieces of mail you never want to get
in your mailbox, right. No one likes getting bills, no
one likes getting stuff from the irs, and no one
likes to get a jury duty notice. So if you're
getting one of those, what does it mean? Can you
(00:24):
get out of it? Joining us tonight is our estate
planning expert, Mark Rerekman from the law firm of Wood
and Lamping. I think we start there, Mark, No one
loves these summons for jury duty. You know, how does
this work? What do we need to know?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, there are basically two legal systems that use juries.
There's a state system here in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana. There's
also a federal system and the state system. In the
federal system, both use juries locally. Both of those systems
will use the voter registration wreck to find jurors. So
(01:01):
the pool of people they pick from are the voter
registration records and what you receive in the mail that
notice is really a summons. It's a court summons. You
can't just ignore it without consequences like contemptive court, So
don't just ignore it. Now, there are two different kinds
of juries. There are grand juries and there are petit juries,
(01:24):
and these are very different. So a grand jury is
only used in criminal cases. The prosecutor, the federal or
state or county prosecutor, convenes a grand jury to preview
his cases. So the prosecutor has to run his or
her cases in front of the grand jury and get
their approval before they can file formal charges. And so
(01:46):
what that means is the grand juries only hear one
side of the case, and it means that grand juries
do not decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty.
Only they only decide whether or not there's a good
enough evidence to proceed with the case. Now, you know,
President Trump complained that he was prosecuted unfairly and talked
(02:08):
about that for many years, and I offer no opinion
about that one way or the other. But I just
want our listeners to understand that the cases that were
brought against him were in fact reviewed by a grand
jury of citizens that were selected at random before they
were filed. So just be aware that there is that
mechanism in place in our system, so that it's supposed
(02:32):
to screen out prejudice like that. Whether it works or not,
I will leave that opinion to individuals. There's also what
we call a petit jury, and this is the kind
of jury that you see on television. Petit juries are
used both criminal cases and civil cases. They hear both
sides of the case and they decide who wins. Criminal juries,
(02:56):
they have twelve members. Civil juris have eight.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Hey, Mark, when's the last time you served on jury duty?
I know I did. I did last year, and I
find the whole thing to be fascinating. You know, at
the eleventh hour, after standing around all day and waiting
and waiting and waiting, the judge walked in, thanked us
for our service and said, hey, we just settled this
(03:22):
case and we never went into the jury box. What's
your experience, Ben, Have you ever served on a jury?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes? Many people think that lawyers are exempt from jury duty,
and in fact we are not. I got a jury
notice jury. I served on a jury. Well, I bet
it's been about twelve fourteen years ago now, and it
was a criminal case, charges against a local man for
selling cocaine, and Bob, I got to tell you, I
don't know much about the cocaine business. But boy, they
(03:53):
sure we're talking a lot of money. You know, many
many tens and tens of thousands of dollars worth of
cocaine was at stake. And I found the process as
an insider who really had good insight as to what
was going on. I also found it fascinating. And the
fact that your jury was convened and ready to go.
(04:13):
I know it felt like you weren't doing much, but
in fact, I think the opposite. I think your presence,
the presence of a jury ready to go, is what
forced the resolution. And I'll tell you, the vast, vast
majority of criminal cases gets settled. And I mean, I
don't know what the number is off the top of
my head, but it's incredibly high that these things get settled.
(04:35):
And I think that speaks to some extent. It speaks
to the fact that the prosecutor's office is required, through
this grand jury process to have it at least a
halfway decent case before they bring them, so that the
bad cases, some of the bad cases, I think most
of them get screened out.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, and to your point, what I found Mark, you know,
and I'm a patriotic kind of a guy. But you know,
I went down there to the Hamilton County Courthouse downtown,
and you know, you're sitting there with all different kinds
of people, all different walks of life, different colors, different genders,
different professions. And when I walked out of there at
(05:17):
the end of the day, it made me darn proud
to be an American citizen because every one of those
potential jurors was taking it very seriously and they were
prepared to do their duty on behalf of their fellow citizens,
and it it was just a very refreshing day for me.
You know, even though I only paid what a you know,
(05:39):
six bucks an hour or whatever it is, and you
paid a park it was a very healthy exercise for me,
especially in these you know, politically divisive times we live in,
you know, to sit there with a random sampling of
your fellow Cincinnatians, it was a really healthy experience for me.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I gotta admit I have never had gotten a jury
duty summons. I'm going to say that now, and it's
coming in the mail next week, you know. But you know, Mark,
my thought is, I've certainly had many colleagues who've gotten them,
and often it's during the time of like a major project,
and they'll say like, oh, you know this, I don't
(06:21):
mind serving, but this couldn't have come at a worse time.
Is that an excuse to get out of jury duty
or what is something that is excusable by the courts.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It does seem like Murphy's Law applies to jury simmons
as doesn't it it's the worst thing that can happen.
It will. And the answer amy is that you can
get an extension if you ask for one and you
give a reason. And there are a list of reasons
why some people don't have to serve at all. For example,
there are religious exemptions that are available to the Amish
(06:55):
and to people who were cloistered in religious orders. There's
a hardship except for people with injuries or disabilities. It's
a hardship exception for people who were married to disable.
People active military duty do not have to serve. People
over seventy five are exempt. And then there are a
few a few kinds of people who can't serve on
(07:17):
a jury, like convicted felons, people living outside the court's jurisdiction.
And if you have served on a jury within the
last two years, you don't have to serve again. But
my experience, like yours, Bob, I just thought that the
system worked very well. And Bob, how did you how
were you treated by the jury commissioner downtown when you
(07:37):
were there.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
With an extreme amount of courtesy and respect and gratitude.
And you know the thing that impressed me, pardon me?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That was my experience.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, And when in the judge in this case was
Judge Painter, and I will never forget Judge Painter walking
into the chambers and he took the time to thank us,
and I could tell that he was sincere again, wonderful experience.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, if you are employed and you get a jury
duty notice, you've got to let your employer know. If
you receive a summons, many companies will accommodate you. They'll
give you some time off, usually with pay. But if
that's not the case, then you need to call the
jury commissioner. You need to let them know. You can
(08:26):
ask for a postponement if you have a reasonable conflict.
They're commonly granted, but they will call you back. And
I would last I would agree with you, Bob, that
here in southwest Ohio, the jury commissioners do a great
job of making this easy and pleasant as possible. I
found the whole process quite interesting and I really want
to sort of end on the note don't dread jury duty.
(08:50):
I think it's interesting and believe me, you are doing
a great service. It's part of what our entire free
system of law, the rule of law, and how it
operates in this country, and it's really.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Important for those of you who get a summons right
in the near future. I think this is a lot
of great perspective to keep in mind. Thank you, Mark Reckman,
our state planning expert from the law firm of Wood
and Lamping. You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all
Worth Financial here in fifty five KRC the talk station
You listening to simply money presented by all Worth Financial.
I me Me Wagner along with Bob Sponseller. There are
just certain pieces of mail you never want to get
in your mailbox, right. No one likes getting bills, no
one likes getting stuff from the irs, and no one
likes to get a jury duty notice. So if you're
getting one of those, what does it mean? Can you
(00:24):
get out of it? Joining us tonight is our estate
planning expert, Mark Rerekman from the law firm of Wood
and Lamping. I think we start there, Mark, No one
loves these summons for jury duty. You know, how does
this work? What do we need to know?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Well, there are basically two legal systems that use juries.
There's a state system here in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana. There's
also a federal system and the state system. In the
federal system, both use juries locally. Both of those systems
will use the voter registration wreck to find jurors. So
(01:01):
the pool of people they pick from are the voter
registration records and what you receive in the mail that
notice is really a summons. It's a court summons. You
can't just ignore it without consequences like contemptive court, So
don't just ignore it. Now, there are two different kinds
of juries. There are grand juries and there are petit juries,
(01:24):
and these are very different. So a grand jury is
only used in criminal cases. The prosecutor, the federal or
state or county prosecutor, convenes a grand jury to preview
his cases. So the prosecutor has to run his or
her cases in front of the grand jury and get
their approval before they can file formal charges. And so
(01:46):
what that means is the grand juries only hear one
side of the case, and it means that grand juries
do not decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty.
Only they only decide whether or not there's a good
enough evidence to proceed with the case. Now, you know,
President Trump complained that he was prosecuted unfairly and talked
(02:08):
about that for many years, and I offer no opinion
about that one way or the other. But I just
want our listeners to understand that the cases that were
brought against him were in fact reviewed by a grand
jury of citizens that were selected at random before they
were filed. So just be aware that there is that
mechanism in place in our system, so that it's supposed
(02:32):
to screen out prejudice like that. Whether it works or not,
I will leave that opinion to individuals. There's also what
we call a petit jury, and this is the kind
of jury that you see on television. Petit juries are
used both criminal cases and civil cases. They hear both
sides of the case and they decide who wins. Criminal juries,
(02:56):
they have twelve members. Civil juris have eight.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Hey, Mark, when's the last time you served on jury duty?
I know I did. I did last year, and I
find the whole thing to be fascinating. You know, at
the eleventh hour, after standing around all day and waiting
and waiting and waiting, the judge walked in, thanked us
for our service and said, hey, we just settled this
(03:22):
case and we never went into the jury box. What's
your experience, Ben, Have you ever served on a jury?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes? Many people think that lawyers are exempt from jury duty,
and in fact we are not. I got a jury
notice jury. I served on a jury. Well, I bet
it's been about twelve fourteen years ago now, and it
was a criminal case, charges against a local man for
selling cocaine, and Bob, I got to tell you, I
don't know much about the cocaine business. But boy, they
(03:53):
sure we're talking a lot of money. You know, many
many tens and tens of thousands of dollars worth of
cocaine was at stake. And I found the process as
an insider who really had good insight as to what
was going on. I also found it fascinating. And the
fact that your jury was convened and ready to go.
(04:13):
I know it felt like you weren't doing much, but
in fact, I think the opposite. I think your presence,
the presence of a jury ready to go, is what
forced the resolution. And I'll tell you, the vast, vast
majority of criminal cases gets settled. And I mean, I
don't know what the number is off the top of
my head, but it's incredibly high that these things get settled.
(04:35):
And I think that speaks to some extent. It speaks
to the fact that the prosecutor's office is required, through
this grand jury process to have it at least a
halfway decent case before they bring them, so that the
bad cases, some of the bad cases, I think most
of them get screened out.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, and to your point, what I found Mark, you know,
and I'm a patriotic kind of a guy. But you know,
I went down there to the Hamilton County Courthouse downtown,
and you know, you're sitting there with all different kinds
of people, all different walks of life, different colors, different genders,
different professions. And when I walked out of there at
(05:17):
the end of the day, it made me darn proud
to be an American citizen because every one of those
potential jurors was taking it very seriously and they were
prepared to do their duty on behalf of their fellow citizens,
and it it was just a very refreshing day for me.
You know, even though I only paid what a you know,
(05:39):
six bucks an hour or whatever it is, and you
paid a park it was a very healthy exercise for me,
especially in these you know, politically divisive times we live in,
you know, to sit there with a random sampling of
your fellow Cincinnatians, it was a really healthy experience for me.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
I gotta admit I have never had gotten a jury
duty summons. I'm going to say that now, and it's
coming in the mail next week, you know. But you know, Mark,
my thought is, I've certainly had many colleagues who've gotten them,
and often it's during the time of like a major project,
and they'll say like, oh, you know this, I don't
(06:21):
mind serving, but this couldn't have come at a worse time.
Is that an excuse to get out of jury duty
or what is something that is excusable by the courts.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
It does seem like Murphy's Law applies to jury simmons
as doesn't it it's the worst thing that can happen.
It will. And the answer amy is that you can
get an extension if you ask for one and you
give a reason. And there are a list of reasons
why some people don't have to serve at all. For example,
there are religious exemptions that are available to the Amish
(06:55):
and to people who were cloistered in religious orders. There's
a hardship except for people with injuries or disabilities. It's
a hardship exception for people who were married to disable.
People active military duty do not have to serve. People
over seventy five are exempt. And then there are a
few a few kinds of people who can't serve on
(07:17):
a jury, like convicted felons, people living outside the court's jurisdiction.
And if you have served on a jury within the
last two years, you don't have to serve again. But
my experience, like yours, Bob, I just thought that the
system worked very well. And Bob, how did you how
were you treated by the jury commissioner downtown when you
(07:37):
were there.
Speaker 3 (07:39):
With an extreme amount of courtesy and respect and gratitude.
And you know the thing that impressed me, pardon me?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
That was my experience.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, And when in the judge in this case was
Judge Painter, and I will never forget Judge Painter walking
into the chambers and he took the time to thank us,
and I could tell that he was sincere again, wonderful experience.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Well, if you are employed and you get a jury
duty notice, you've got to let your employer know. If
you receive a summons, many companies will accommodate you. They'll
give you some time off, usually with pay. But if
that's not the case, then you need to call the
jury commissioner. You need to let them know. You can
(08:26):
ask for a postponement if you have a reasonable conflict.
They're commonly granted, but they will call you back. And
I would last I would agree with you, Bob, that
here in southwest Ohio, the jury commissioners do a great
job of making this easy and pleasant as possible. I
found the whole process quite interesting and I really want
to sort of end on the note don't dread jury duty.
(08:50):
I think it's interesting and believe me, you are doing
a great service. It's part of what our entire free
system of law, the rule of law, and how it
operates in this country, and it's really.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Important for those of you who get a summons right
in the near future. I think this is a lot
of great perspective to keep in mind. Thank you, Mark Reckman,
our state planning expert from the law firm of Wood
and Lamping. You're listening to Simply Money, presented by all
Worth Financial here in fifty five KRC the talk station
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