001I understood what I said, if anything, yes, but I didn't want what I just said to be repeated. Her name was in '77 because no longer... Good morning, my name is Ricardo Palacio or Richard Blas. I am an interpreter for the Superior Court of Athletic and Key Mail counties, and today we are at Came and Tactical High School, a very famous school in the area, and today we have an expert from the New Jersey state judicial system who is going to explain to us how the system works. Good morning, good morning, my name is Stefani. From Sub Basket, I am a bilingual Judicial Employee. I help prepare the jury for jury selection by processing their summons. I prepare them for the judge. I have acted as a backup for the grand jury. I also helped
002our Spanish-speaking population very well. It seems that it keeps me busy. I 'm not very busy. Is that correct? Well, my first question is, where do you get the names of the people who are summoned to serve as jurors? We get the names from three different sources. Those sources are registered voters, licensed drivers, willing filers, state gross and refund claim form submitters. These housing lists are managed and maintained by the courts' administrative office in Trento. So, if a person gets a driver's license, they may be summoned for jury duty. This is correct if they have filed their state income tax return. And how many times can someone be summoned for jury duty? Potential jurors can be summoned once every three years for small or large state or local grand jury service. Keep in mind that
003federal jury service is separate and has no relation to the three-year period. Who is exempt from jury duty? There is a way to get out of duty. Access our FAQs at www.irs.gov under the Jury tab. Note that excuses cannot be granted online or by phone. For an excuse to be granted, the written questionnaire must be completed and accompanied by the appropriate documentation. And how long will one have to serve as a juror? The instructions on how long you will be on duty as a juror or how long you will have to serve are clearly stated in your summons. Please be sure to read the instructions carefully. Please note that the instructions are also available in Spanish, not just English. In that case, they might call you to ask questions and help translate them so you
004can complete your form. It's good that you have someone to help you understand. What happens if someone has a problem with their jury duty date? Can the date be changed, and can they still serve? If we realize that people have commitments, vacations, and work responsibilities, we ask jurors to give us a week to be available so we can change their date and they can come and serve. There is an age at which a person is no longer obligated to serve as a juror. Once a juror turns 75, they are not required to serve. Each juror must return their completed questionnaire. There is a section on our jury questionnaire that must be checked if a juror chooses not to serve due to age. Yes, and they will be excused. Reaching the age of 75 will not
005permanently remove them from our records, as many people over 75 wish to serve. Just because someone turns 75 doesn't mean they 're no longer obligated to fill out the questionnaire and return it. So, is that correct? There are many people who want to continue coming to the court. And what's the difference between a small jury and a grand jury? The expressions "grand jury" and " small jury" are of French origin. " Grand" means large, and " small" means small. The terms refer to the number of jurors serving on each jury, not the importance of their respective roles. There are 23 members on a grand jury and 12 on a quorum, which means that at least 12 people must agree. 14 are selected for a criminal trial; however, only 12 will serve as a small jury,
006and 6 to 8 will serve in a civil trial. So, for a grand jury with 23 members, at least 12 must agree in order to reach a verdict or for the case to be transferred to another level. And tell us, what happens when a member of a small jury is required to report for the The duty of being a jury member then goes through the process. First, there is security, then registration, a greeting from the Superior Court judge, and orientation from the jury manager. A member of the jury administration team speaks to the prospective jurors and explains the process and shows a video titled "You, the Jury." When jury administration is notified that they are ready, the prospective jurors will proceed to the courtroom to get an overview of the case from the judge. The
007process begins with "void" and seeing what "void" is a French word that means to tell the truth. The lawyers in the case of Health, in their precedent, and that is that they use the jurors accordingly. The amount of preemptive strike each lawyer can exercise is determined by a judicial rule. A jury satisfactory to all sides is selected from a body of lawyers and that goes up to the courtroom. I had said that it is a French word, yes, that's correct, and it means to tell the truth. These questions give the court, lawyers, and litigants the opportunity to learn a little about each prospective juror before sitting in a trial. As of December 2016, the Courts Administration Office conducted a more detailed questioning process. The process was designed to provide lawyers with And the judge has
008sufficient information to properly excuse jurors for a cause. You told us a little earlier about small juries, but could you tell us something about grand jury service? Thank you very much. We're going to take a break, and we'll be back chatting in a bit. Welcome back to the program, "Know the Court." We were talking with Stephanie about the jury system in the state of New Jersey, which is defined as follows: You told us earlier about small juries, but could you tell us a little about the grand jury system? Sure, the state grand jury system is held in Trenton, and at our local jury offices, the first step is summoning and qualifying. After the summons is sent, a random list is created at the county level. Those names of potential jurors are sent to Trenton at
009the state level. The clerk of the superior court will summon a specific number according to the instructions. And what happens if a potential juror doesn't return their summons or fails to appear in court in accordance with the statutes? Or any person who fails to return to a situation or fails to report can be held in contempt of court, and a monetary judgment can be issued. On the other hand, we realize that mistakes can happen with the mail, and people are busy with their lives, so we send reminder cards to return your questionnaire. If you didn't receive them, call us and send it back, and we'll send a new summons for a new day. And well, I don't know if you've seen it in the news lately, but there have been incidents where scammers are calling
010jurors. How can a juror tell if a phone call is legitimate or not? It's not our practice to call jurors. We would contact jurors by mail or email, and we never ask for Social Security numbers. All jury information is confidential and is not released without the permission of our assignee, the Honorable Julio Mendez. And please cooperate with the Sheriff's Department regarding courthouse security. There are jury signs located in each of our courtrooms, and there is also a sheriff's officer stationed outside all of our courthouses. They help direct you to the jury assembly rooms. So, when you enter the building, how do you know where to go? There are jury signs here. Located in each of our courts, there's also a building or something like that located in front of all our courtrooms. They help direct
011you to the jury assembly room. Okay, and when you go in, what are the things you can and can't bring in? Needless to say, alcohol is not allowed in the courts. Also, in the county, you're asked not to bring any kind of liquid beverage. And can you take pictures in the courtroom? No, it's not allowed. You can bring them in; they're allowed to be inside the courtroom. But you can't use them. A judge will direct you with instructions. And could I bring a cell phone? Yes, I could bring it, but while the judge is in the courtroom, you can't use it. You can only use it when the judge tells you to leave during a recess. But why do jurors wear certain badges? Prospective jurors and jurors must wear badges so they can be clearly
012identified. It's important for the process that no one discusses the case with the jurors. If someone talks about the case with a juror, the juror must... Report this immediately to the jury management or the judge. This information is confidential and can only be discussed with members of the court. I remember once I was in court and I saw a little boy say, "Mommy, there are jobs here." So that was going to be the next step. If you ask how many employees there are working at the Hernani Superior Court, Quique Maker, there are approximately 476 full-time judicial employees in Courtroom 1, as well as 28 full-time judges. That's approximately 504, obviously including the 28 judges. Well, and how did you manage to get the job or position you have now? I checked the website they have,
013www.corts.gov, once a day when I saw an available position and applied. I put my information in. A short time later I received a letter saying I had to go take an exam at Cherry Hill School. It's the civil service exam. Shortly after that, I received another paper saying I had to go to Trenton to take a test, and they call it "biker" in English. It's to see how well you speak the language in English and Spanish. Seeing your proficiency, in a short time they also called me for an interview. Before the interview, I had to take a test with keyboards and computers. When you pass those tests, you are already qualified to have an interview, and that whole process took approximately a year. Well, the road has been a bit long for me as an
014interpreter. I think it was in 2007 that I saw an ad in the newspaper that they were looking for interpreters, so I sent an application and they called me to go to Trenton where I had to attend an orientation. They explained to us what the process of being an interpreter is like and what the hopes and expectations of an interpreter are. And after the orientation, they called us to take a test, a very basic English test, because there are many people who don't have a very good command of English who are interested in being interpreters, but you have to have a good command of English and of any language you have to translate or interpret. And then, if you pass the English test, and then you have to take a test that is a bit
015difficult, you have to prepare. I prepared for about six months, studying for 20 minutes every day to be able to take a test where... It measures your ability to translate documents from English to Spanish and from Spanish to English. There's also a part of the exam where you have to interpret simultaneously while the person is speaking, interpreting into their own language. There's also consecutive interpreting where you have to listen to four or five sentences of testimony, for example, and then translate or interpret it into the other language. It was difficult, but once I passed the exam, I studied and worked as an independent contractor interpreter, going from court to court, sometimes in law firms, doing translations for lawyers. I think I worked independently for about six or seven years until finally, there was an ad
016for the American Superior Court, and I applied. They called me a few months later and interviewed me. The whole process took about six or seven years for me—very long, yes, but ultimately rewarding. I like the work I'm doing to serve the public, especially Spanish speakers. They are very blessed. I think we've covered many of the questions we usually have about the jury system. I wanted to thank the listeners, the public, and the people who are using the New York State court system. York, yes, thank you very much to Estefanía for her knowledge and for sharing with us today. Thank you for having me here.