THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511250237
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
So you want to be a juror? Hear the big case? Decide the fate of your fellow man?
Here's some advice: Move to Norfolk.
Want to avoid jury duty? You have two choices: Become a lawyer. Or move to Newport News.
That's the ticket, according to 1994 statistics from the Virginia Supreme Court. The odds of getting called for jury duty in Virginia depend largely on where you live - and they vary widely from place to place.
The jury capital of Virginia? It's Richmond, where in 1994 there were 476 residents for every jury impaneled in Circuit Court. The juries there are about evenly split between civil and criminal cases.
The jury capital of Hampton Roads? It's Norfolk, with more juries per capita than any other locality. Even so, Norfolk has half as many juries as Richmond, for its population.
Oddly enough, Norfolk has twice as many civil juries as criminal juries.
Suffolk is also high on the per-capita jury list, but the criminal-civil ratio is reversed - twice as many criminal juries as civil.
Hampton, Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach are in the middle of the pack statewide - not too many juries, not too few.
Where are you least likely to be called for jury duty? Head way out west to Pulaski and Blacksburg. That's Virginia Tech country. Or head up north toward Richmond and visit Hopewell.
In Hampton Roads, it's Newport News, where residents served on juries half as often as Norfolk residents.
Why the big disparities? Lawyers and other experts think they know some answers, but even they aren't sure.
Harold Barnes, a Norfolk lawyer who practiced criminal defense law in Suffolk for many years, speculates it is partly racial. Cities with big minority populations go for juries more often in criminal cases, mistrusting white judges.
``Defendants think they get a better shake out of juries,'' Barnes says.
But that doesn't explain why Newport News and Portsmouth have much lower jury rates than Norfolk.
It also doesn't explain why there are comparatively few criminal juries in Norfolk.
James Ellenson, a Newport News defense attorney, has another theory: Prosecutors in his city have an open-file policy - they show all their evidence to defense attorneys in advance - so defendants in Newport News are more likely to plead guilty and avoid jury trials.
``It doesn't work that way anywhere else,'' Ellenson says.
That doesn't, however, explain why Newport News has twice as many criminal juries as civil juries.
There's a conventional wisdom on civil juries, too: Plaintiffs' lawyers say some cities have reputations for big-bucks verdicts. Norfolk and Portsmouth are considered good places for plaintiffs. Virginia Beach is considered good for civil defendants.
``If you had the same case in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, you would anticipate a higher (dollar) verdict in Norfolk,'' says Virginia Beach lawyer Stephen Mahan.
Also, says Norfolk lawyer Jeffrey Breit, ``You have a high concentration of lawyers in Richmond and Norfolk in the litigation field,'' so you tend to have more jury trials there.
Some experts, however, say the numbers are purely random. One city may run hot on juries for a while, then run very cold for no apparent reason.
``It is next to impossible to get a clue what (the numbers) are going to do each year,'' says Matthew Benefiel, a Virginia Beach court administrator.
``It's really just peaks and valleys. . . It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.'' MEMO: MOST JUDGES' HEARTS ARE SOFTER THAN MOST JURORS', GROUP SAYS< You're
a criminal defendant. Do you take your chances with a judge or a jury?
For sentencing, you're better off with a judge.
That's the conclusion of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission.
``Juries tend to sentence more harshly than judges,'' says Kim Hunt, the
commission's associate director.
It varies, of course, from city to city.
Overall, judges strayed from voluntary sentencing guidelines in about
one-quarter of all cases this year. They were harsher slightly more
often than they were lenient.
Juries varied from the guidelines in 60 percent of their cases. They
were far more likely to be harsh than lenient.
- Marc Davis
ILLUSTRATION: Color graphic by Robert D. Voros, The Virginian-Pilot
Chosen to serve
KEYWORDS: JURY DUTY SENTENCE TRIAL by CNB