[Reader-users] KNFB reader helps dispense justice

[Craig Anderson]

Don't be so pessimistic.  Fpor all we know, perry Mason was blind.  People 
with this characteristic have been representing criminal defendants for 
generations.  The most recent publicized example may be that of the 
unfortunate lawyer for the deffendant in John Grisham's recent exposae, "The 
Innocent Man."  This poor guy had, basically without compensation, to 
unsuccessfully represent at trial an obnoxious defendant (who later turned 
out to be not guilty) in a capital case.  Advances in Technology like the 
Reader will only make these sorts of stories more common.

Crraig


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "mhingson" <mhingson at guidedogs.com>
To: "'Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader users list'" 
<reader-users at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 7:25 PM
Subject: [Reader-users] KNFB reader helps dispense justice


> Hi everyone,
>
> Here is another story for the annals of the KNFB reader.
>
> Recently I was summoned to report for jury duty here in Marin County.  I 
> was
> asked to report last Wednesday.  So, with KNFB reader and BookPort in hand
> off I went to do my civic duty.
>
> After the obligatory preliminaries and introduction to jury service were
> completed hi and 59 other people trooped down to courtrooms see where we
> anxiously waited to see who would be selected to serve on the jury for the
> trial being conducted in that courtroom.  I was not one of the first 12
> summoned to sit in the jury box.  However, after 10 or 11 peremptory
> challenges I was drafted and took my place in the box.  I was questioned 
> by
> the judge, the prosecutor, and the defense lawyer.  Although I was not
> challenged, another person was and so the selection process went on. 
> After
> two more challenges the attorneys said they were satisfied.
>
> There I was with 11 other people now sitting in judgment of an individual
> brought up on a misdemeanor battery charge.  The process and the trial 
> were
> fascinating.  I won't bore you with all the facts.  Suffice it to say we 
> all
> paid attention and did our best to wait our turn to discuss the facts in 
> the
> jury room at the end of the trial.
>
> Skip ahead now to Friday morning.  The judge read her instructions to the
> jury at the end of the day on Thursday.  We all arrived on Friday fresh 
> and
> ready to deliberate.  The first order of business was to select a four
> person.  Someone said "who wants to be four people"?  After about 15 
> seconds
> of silence I spoke up and said that as long as no one else was 
> volunteering
> I would be willing to take the job.  And so, there I was reader and 
> BookPort
> in hand, foreman of the jury.
>
> As we began to deliberate it became obvious that we needed to reread the
> instructions the judge had given to us.  This was done by one of the other
> jurors, for the most part.  However, there were times when I wanted to
> specifically read certain portions while others talked.  Out came the KNFB
> reader with Bluetooth dongle attached and Bluetooth headpiece in my ear. 
> I
> read the instruction sections I needed to read.  The reader performed
> flawlessly!  It was wonderful to be able to read independently and use 
> that
> knowledge from my reading to help in our deliberations.  In fact, because 
> of
> what I read, I was able to bring appropriate focus to certain portions of
> the trial specifically in considering certain parts of the law.
>
> We deliberated for an hour and 15 minutes after which we found the 
> defendant
> not guilty.  As in such cases, the decision needed to be a unanimous one.
> It was.
>
> We all left the courtroom feeling we did a great job.  The judge was
> impressed with what the KNFB reader did.  I think the news got around the
> entire courthouse very quickly.
>
> I think this story is what the KNFB reader development project and all our
> hard work is all about.  Justice was served and the organized blind were
> part of the process.  Great job everyone!  Now, I am just waiting for the
> day that history gets reinvented and we discover that Perry Mason was 
> blind
> (grin).  By the way, I never did get to use the BookPort.
>
> Mike Hingson
>
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