good evening. i pull up to jury duty this morning. 40 people were called and they were only selecting 12. the process was long and there were so many questions being asked but the judge and lawyers. 3 hours later, the judge called me and it was my turn to go up and get a seat on the jury panel of 12. i was a little nervous. but first, this is the situation. an elderly japanese man was suing this doctor for malpractice. the elderly man walked in with an aloha shirt, his wife, and one lawyer. then comes the doctor, who walks in wearing an armani suit and two high profile lawyers. right there, i felt sorry for the elderly japanese man. it was the little guy against the big guy. and to make it all worst, the lawsuit was for malpractice for eye surgery. so there i was, the only guy in a t-shirt in the whole court room. the judge asked me if i understood all the directions. i said yes. then she asked me if there was anything i had to say. i said yes. i told her that i’m going to have surgery on my eye so that i may be bias in this case. she asked me why? i told her that my eye is important to me and that if some doctor messed it up, i would sue too. she asked me if i could block out my eye surgery for this case. i told her “no”, how can i not think about it when the witnesses are up here giving their testimony about eye surgery? of course i will think about it. she asked me again if i will be bias in this case. and i said yes again. the old japanese man looked at me, then the lawyers looked at me, and the judge looked at me and said “your dismissed”.
**as i was leaving the building, i was thinking to myself that there was no way i was going to let the old man lose. from the first time i seen him wearing his glasses and his old aloha shirt, i already felt sorry for him. the old japanese man with his wife vs. the rich young doctor? no chance…. sorry judge. being a juror won’t work for me. i’m on the small guys side… and always will….
**and get this, another instruction from the judge was “you are not to talk to this case to anyone, not family, or friends. and you are not to read the newspaper or watch the news because something might be related to this case on tv”. for 12 days? are you nuts? if i was chosen as a juror, i would give you up to date reports every single day. you know me. and i would probably ask the judge if i could shoot photos in the courtroom. haha…
**but i’m glad the judge sent me home. if i had to go back there for the next 12 days from 8:45-4:30pm knowing that there’s 2 swells on the way, i mind would be somewhere else…. remember judge, i’m a surfer. if the surfs up, i can’t concentrate….
i just came in from eating the hugest maguro kama. we threw it on the barbecue it was all good. court, yoga, and some fish. what a life…. goodnight….
