Judge chosen to sit on jury finds himself in dissent

No one was more surprised that venire member No. 4 was selected to sit on a jury in a car-wreck case held yesterday in Dallas County Court-at-Law No. 4 than venire member No. 4 himself: 44th District Judge Carlos Cortez. “I was shocked. I have never heard of a sitting judge being asked to serve as a juror in a jury trial,” Cortez says. Both plaintiff and defense counsel knew who he was but asked him few questions during voir dire, Cortez says. “Now that I’m a judge, I never thought I would be able to sit as a juror. And both sides decided not to strike me. I’ve been told by people that that’s probably the best compliment a person can get is when both sides want you to sit on their jury.” Cortez says he declined to serve as the foreman of the six-member jury. “I wanted to sit back and watch the process work,” Cortez says. “I let them all vote first. I didn’t want to sway their opinion. And they all thought that the defendant was not negligent. I told them that I thought there was some negligence on behalf of the defendant. I did not try to influence them,” Cortez says. “It was a 5-1 decision. And I was the lone dissenter,” Cortez says, adding that five votes are enough to return a verdict in county court. It was a learning experience for him, he says. “I learned that I still love the 7th Amendment.”
--- John Council