Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: notesfiles Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!ihnp4!zehntel!zinfandel!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpfcmt!ron From: ron@hpfcmt.UUCP (ron) Newsgroups: net.aviation Subject: Av. Justice ????? Message-ID: <10400008@hpfcmt.UUCP> Date: Tue, 8-Jan-85 10:51:00 EST Article-I.D.: hpfcmt.10400008 Posted: Tue Jan 8 10:51:00 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 15-Jan-85 01:32:42 EST Lines: 43 Nf-ID: #N:hpfcmt:10400008:000:2128 Nf-From: hpfcmt!ron Jan 8 07:51:00 1985 Justice ????????? I had the experience of sitting on a jury panel for potential jurors in a damage suit involving a light aircraft and the local utility company. I gathered from the attorneys' questions of the potential jurors that this involved an encounter between a 4 place Cessna and some utility lines 8 years ago resulting in brain damage to one of the aircraft occupants. What I wanted to post was not the facts of the case (which I don't know) but the look at the "justice" process which I received as I was removed from the list of potential jurors. The first few questions included "Is there anyone on the prospective juror panel who is a pilot ?" Later, "Mr. Miller, it says here you are an engineer.... what was your undergraduate degree in ? (EE I said) Then do you know about power transmission etc ?" The impression I received was that anyone with knowledge of : piloting an aircraft, aircraft maintenance, machinery maintenance, medical understanding of the brain, knowledge of cross-country power transmission, and property rental experience..... would be eliminated. The end result being that the jury would have absolutely no experience or knowledge relevant to the subject of the case outside what the lawyers would present in court. The little old ladies who said they wouldn't ride in a lightplane even if given the chance were left to decide the case. I am really beginning to understand how easy it is to manipulate the system to the point where each new aircraft carries almost $ 10 k in its price for product liability. I am also concerned that the attorneys think they can come up to speed on the subject areas so quickly as to be able to train the jury sufficiently to make a reasonable decision. ( i.e. I wonder if the NTSB report will come out in the above trial.......) I don't know what the verdict will be but I suspect that the utility will pay regardless of the circumstances of the accident. "But your honor, I was just practicing my nap-of-the-earth technique in my 172 when the wires reached up and grabbed me" Ron Miller Hewlett-Packard Co Ft. Collins, Co. (hplabs!hpfcla!ron-m)