Anyone on TOTV know the Sumter County Clerk of Courts, Gloria R. Hayward?

[Taltarzac725]

About the Clerk - Administration - Sumter County Clerk of the Courts (http://www.sumterclerk.com/index.cfm/about-the-clerk)

Anyone on TOTV know the Sumter County Clerk of Courts, Gloria R. Hayward?

I may be on Jury Duty next week and am wondering about what kind of experiences you have had with this Court and the Clerk?

I will try to maintain a somewhat low profile if I get on a Jury at least as much as I can depending on what kind of questions the Judge, Prosecutor and Defense asks.

Do you have any anecdotes about the Clerk, judges, lawyers, etc?

[DougB]

About the Clerk - Administration - Sumter County Clerk of the Courts (http://www.sumterclerk.com/index.cfm/about-the-clerk)

Anyone on TOTV know the Sumter County Clerk of Courts, Gloria R. Hayward?

I may be on Jury Duty next week and am wondering about what kind of experiences you have had with this Court and the Clerk?

I will try to maintain a somewhat low profile if I get on a Jury at least as much as I can depending on what kind of questions the Judge, Prosecutor and Defense asks.

Do you have any anecdotes about the Clerk, judges, lawyers, etc?

A woman went to traffic violation court for speeding, lost the argument as it always happens, and paid the fine.

So the clerk issued her a receipt for her payment of fine. The lady annoyed at her defeat in the court asked her curtly, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Keep it," the clerk advised politely. "When you get three of them, you get a bicycle, ma'am!"

[Taltarzac725]

A woman went to traffic violation court for speeding, lost the argument as it always happens, and paid the fine.

So the clerk issued her a receipt for her payment of fine. The lady annoyed at her defeat in the court asked her curtly, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Keep it," the clerk advised politely. "When you get three of them, you get a bicycle, ma'am!"

Good. She has a sense of humor. When she gets done checking out more story-- if it comes to that-- she is going to need one!

[zcaveman]

Good. She has a sense of humor. When she gets done checking out more story-- if it comes to that-- she is going to need one!

The post does not mean it was the one you asked about. It was probably just a JOKE.

Z

[Taltarzac725]

The post does not mean it was the one you asked about. It was probably just a JOKE.

Z

Thanks. Seems there is a development in the murder investigation of Michelle Mitchell which created my interest in a niche in information for victims/survivors of crimes back in February 1976. Bombshell: DNA No Match For Woman Convicted of Murder 38 Years Ago (http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/Bomb-Shell-DNA-No-Match-For-Woman-Convicted-of-Murder-38-Years-Ago-248935251.html)

You will note that the murder of Michelle Mitchell was on my birthday of 2-24 and occurred in 1976. They doubt that they got the right person for who actually welded the knife which cut her throat.

There are more twists--

Cathy Woods would be tried and retried, convicted twice for Mitchell's murder.

She's behind bars today at the Women's Correctional Center in Las Vegas. But recently she asked that her DNA be tested with that found at the murder scene.

DNA was apparently found on a cigarette butt and it didn't match hers.

But as revealed Thursday at a press conference in the Bay Area, it did match the DNA in a series of unsolved murders there.

Those cases, called the Gypsy Hill Killings, also involved young women, some of whom had car trouble at the time of their murders..

A task force has been set up to reexamine and investigate those cases along with Michelle Mitchell's death.

And this too-- http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/New-Information-Uncovered-in-1976-Reno-Killing-248870521.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_Hill_killings

[Rasrreynolds]

We had questions on a pamphlet given to us by the sheriff's dept and she somewhat helped. Judges, I'm told, want their courts to run a specific way,meaning they want all cases handled by attorneys, so advice is prohibited by the court clerk and staff. We did not get anywhere. She was nice, although guarded in her comments. Her staff gave no help whatsoever when we stopped by on a different day to talk to her.

We walked away not accomplishing a thing, and I have a few years background in Collection of debts. All we could think of was, "This is what our taxes are paying for?"

Sheila






About the Clerk - Administration - Sumter County Clerk of the Courts (http://www.sumterclerk.com/index.cfm/about-the-clerk)

Anyone on TOTV know the Sumter County Clerk of Courts, Gloria R. Hayward?

I may be on Jury Duty next week and am wondering about what kind of experiences you have had with this Court and the Clerk?

I will try to maintain a somewhat low profile if I get on a Jury at least as much as I can depending on what kind of questions the Judge, Prosecutor and Defense asks.

Do you have any anecdotes about the Clerk, judges, lawyers, etc?

[buggyone]

Be sure you do let us know if you were selected as a jury member.

[DougB]

Be sure you do let us know if you were selected as a jury member.

And report to us at the end of each day so we can discuss the evidence.

[Taltarzac725]

Be sure you do let us know if you were selected as a jury member.

I do have to go in on the 19th of May, 2014 but probably as soon as they ask if any one has legal training I will have to say I have a JD from the University of Minnesota Law School (Class of 1989). I almost always get bumped because of that. The other degrees -- the MA from the University of Denver Graduate School of Librarianship and Information Management (Class of 1984) and the BAs from the University of Nevada, Reno (Class of 1980, Class of 1981)(Philosophy/History) never have seem all that interesting to Jury Member selectors.

I got bumped by the Federal Judge in Ocala in 2009 because he thought I was hiding something. I was, of course, but it would have taken me probably a few days to go over everything and I would have needed my supporting documents along. Thank God I sent most of the more important ones of these documents to the ObamaCare people a few months ago. Well, copies of these documents. I just hope that the ObamaCare people authenticate these documents. None of these have much of anything to do with Sumter County so there would be little point sending them to the Clerk of the Sumter County Court. Except maybe for my various attempts to get the Florida Victim Services Directory attached to the Sumter County Library web-site as well as the Sumter County Sheriff's Office. I had started that around 2000, at least, with respect to the Sumter County Library.

[Taltarzac725]

And report to us at the end of each day so we can discuss the evidence.

Funny. I will do it the end of the case if I actually get picked. The judge's outlining of the case often will tell me what the case is about and then a close scrutiny of the body language of the judge, lawyers, and especially the defendant/plaintiff tells me other stuff.

I have been on an actual complicated case as a Student Attorney with Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners. I am not allowed still to really talk about any case that connects me in some way with a former client. At least, that's my understanding of the law. I could be wrong.

[Taltarzac725]

Gypsy Hill Murders - Overview (http://gypsyhillmurders.com/)

I just sent an e-mail to the Sumter County Clerk's Office. I do want to serve on a jury but I do not want to blindside the court nor upset a bunch of potential jurors.

This e-mail was about my experiences with the Michelle Mitchell murder investigation. None really as the murder occurred on my birthday on 2-24 in 1976 and that certainly gave me an alibi. And I, unlike some of the other students of Mrs. Barbara Mitchell never knew Michelle Mitchell. They never questioned me about anything but they did question some of the other students.

A policeman came to the Earl Wooster High School and spoke at various classes. Mainly I just remember him admonishing us against how Hollywood and others glorify criminals like Bonnie and Clyde, Jesse James, Jack the Ripper, etc. and forgetting victims. He also talked about other famous murders in Northern Nevada like the April 5, 1963 killing by Thomas Lee Bean of an Olympic female skier Sonja McCaskie who had been at Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960. http://archive.rgj.com/article/20130405/NEWS01/304050014/50-years-later-an-Olympian-s-mutilation-Reno-still-shock http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/sonja-mccaskie-thomas-bean/

I had not realized that Thomas L. Bean was a student at Earl Wooster High School. We do have other famous alumni in addition to this infamous one. Like Patty Sheehan and Greg LeMond.

[dillywho]

And report to us at the end of each day so we can discuss the evidence.

Do you not know that jurors serving cannot discuss the case with anyone, including other jurors, until the trial concludes and the verdict is in...or are you just kidding around? They cannot listen to anything on TV or radio or read anything in print about it. Not only will they be thrown off the jury, but can be held in contempt as well with possible jail time and/or fines.

[zcaveman]

I hope you do not get disappointed when the clerk doesn't care about your background. All they do is check you in and ask you some simple questions. Then you sit and wait until you get called for a jury. Bring a book. After you get picked for a jury you answer more questions. You do not get to give a synopsis of your background unless they ask you.

Good luck.

Z

[Taltarzac725]

Do you not know that jurors serving cannot discuss the case with anyone, including other jurors, until the trial concludes and the verdict is in...or are you just kidding around? They cannot listen to anything on TV or radio or read anything in print about it. Not only will they be thrown off the jury, but can be held in contempt as well with possible jail time and/or fines.

I know this poster's style, he is joking. They do not allow cell phones, computers, etc. in the jury rooms nor even in the courthouse as far as I can tell.

If I do get a case, it will probably have absolutely nothing to do with Criminal Law, Prisoners' Rights, and any other area of the law I might be familiar with in any way. They seem to want people that are the easiest ones for the attorneys to persuade to their points of view.

[Taltarzac725]

I hope you do not get disappointed when the clerk doesn't care about your background. All they do is check you in and ask you some simple questions. Then you sit and wait until you get called for a jury. Bring a book. After you get picked for a jury you answer more questions. You do not get to give a synopsis of your background unless they ask you.

Good luck.

Z

I am hoping that they do not ask anything about the background. My problem is if they Google my name quite a lot comes up related to my victims' access to information fight and the genesis of it in the Michelle Mitchell murder in Reno, NV on 2-24. It is more about the influence of the Internet now. The first law librarian convention I attended co-incidentally occurred in Reno, Nevada that summer after I graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1989. I took off taking the MN Bar to catalog computer files from WESTLAW for a national project we were working on with SUNY Buffalo. They were cataloging LEXIS.

I kind of had to go to Reno, Nevada and the convention in 1989. It brought back a lot of memories and I ran into two University of Nevada, Reno Philosophy professors as well. Of course, I mentioned the Michelle Mitchell murder to the law librarians I was with but just in passing. As I was back in Reno where it had occurred 13 years before. I had picked up 4 degrees during that time and represented various prisoners with Legal Assistance to Minnesota Prisoners.

My huge problem was when the U of Minnesota Law Library staff started putting my mental health at issue a few years later because they did not like my criticisms of attitudes towards victims of crimes as well as the holdings for survivors and victims of crimes in that library as well as others in the Twin Cities area. Some of these U of Minnesota Law Librarians or just former Law Librarians were the most powerful ones in the world.

You Google my name and a lot of that battle from 1991 onward comes up.

[Bogie Shooter]

I hope you do not get disappointed when the clerk doesn't care about your background. All they do is check you in and ask you some simple questions. Then you sit and wait until you get called for a jury. Bring a book. After you get picked for a jury you answer more questions. You do not get to give a synopsis of your background unless they ask you.

Good luck.

Z

:a20:

[Taltarzac725]

I wonder how this plays out in Vermont???

I have fought for access to practical information for survivors of crimes in every state in the US as well as the territories. I got a copy of the National Organization for Victim Assistance Directory of Victim Assistance Programs http://www.trynova.org/ by buying it from them. This was from 1991-1992. I wrote victim assistance providers from every state-- including Vermont-- and asked them what they would like to see in libraries. I did get answers and copied these and sent them to librarians of all kinds in Vermont and pretty much every other state in the US. Very taxing work and PRO BONO. (at my and my family's financial and psychological expense). I did this while in Sonoma County, California as well as sometimes near Palo Alto, CA while mixing with Stanford University students.

[Taltarzac725]

I will bet that I will be on my way home by this time tomorrow from the Sumter County Courthouse in Bushnell after being bumped from Jury Duty. Now if they give me the chance of hearing a dog bite liability case.... ;)

I cannot see how they can ask me to try to boil 38 years of extremely emotional experiences with the legal system into a few very pithy sentences. That's why I sent them the few e-mails. Just to show them that I am not trying to hide anything. "To tell the truth and nothing but the truth...." NUTS! http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nuts/

I like this "Nuts'" story more-- http://www.army.mil/article/92856

What I am trying to get at with this "Nuts" reference is that life can be communicating via a few words, but the listener/reader needs to know what you are talking about.

Many TOTVers know my complicated story from reading my posts over the last seven years or for however many years the posters have looked at TOTV. As far as the potential JURY MEMBERS tomorrow, I will just be another face in a crowd of probably 100 or more.

[OBXNana]

It's much different in PA. They asked me if I drank alcohol, if I ever had a DUI, and if I objected to people that drink alcohol. I was picked for the jury and it was a DUI case. This seemed to be the way every jury selection was handled. In our county there are no major news worthy cases and it may be different by region.

I was picked at random through being a resident of the county. I had the option of not going, but didn't have any reason not to serve my duty. In this day and age, I'd guess those that agreed to show up, had a fairly extensive background check before they arrived. Then, I felt, it was a matter of seeing if those picked for the jury weren't bias and relatively sane.

[Taltarzac725]

I would have lost that bet. It was a criminal case of some kind. The defendant plead guilty before it went to the jury. Saved the Court 16 weeks of docket trials according to the Judge.

So, the Judge said we were dismissed.

Not sure about any of the actual facts of the case. We spent all the time from 8:15 AM up though 11:00 AM or so in the Jury Room.

There were around 30 of us in that Jury Room and it seemed like just about half were Villagers. Of course, that makes sense considering how big the Villages is.

It will probably be in a paper tomorrow that covers Bushnell legal cases.


It never came to them asking about my experiences with Criminal Law. I am fairly certain they had read my e-mail about the re-opening of the Michelle Mitchell murder case and the Gypsy Hill murders. No one said anything but I can usually pick up on a vibe. I am glad that I did not have to finesse my way with communicating this without upsetting the other jury members. And, I sometimes can get a little emotional when talking about this. It seems to be often this way when there is some case that had a dramatic effect on you. I can be objective when the case had no personal connection as that is what they taught you in law school.

I will bet that I will be on my way home by this time tomorrow from the Sumter County Courthouse in Bushnell after being bumped from Jury Duty. Now if they give me the chance of hearing a dog bite liability case.... ;)

I cannot see how they can ask me to try to boil 38 years of extremely emotional experiences with the legal system into a few very pithy sentences. That's why I sent them the few e-mails. Just to show them that I am not trying to hide anything. "To tell the truth and nothing but the truth...." NUTS! Nuts - Rotten Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nuts/)

I like this "Nuts'" story more-- The story of the NUTS! reply | Article | The United States Army (http://www.army.mil/article/92856)

What I am trying to get at with this "Nuts" reference is that life can be communicating via a few words, but the listener/reader needs to know what you are talking about.

Many TOTVers know my complicated story from reading my posts over the last seven years or for however many years the posters have looked at TOTV. As far as the potential JURY MEMBERS tomorrow, I will just be another face in a crowd of probably 100 or more.

[zcaveman]

Glad it is over and you are back with us.


z

[Taltarzac725]

Glad it is over and you are back with us.


z

Thanks. They did have a coffee machine that sounds like a dog crying. At least, it does that on Mondays according to one of the Clerks. I wonder if these court staff will miss all the strange quirks of their work place if the court gets moved to the CR466A area? I saw in a news article that they are thinking of moving the Bushnell government offices to up near Wildwood, probably near where the new Library is or somewhere around there.

The heating and cooling in the Court building also was very uneven. With some rooms being too hot, some too cold. That was what the small talk of the Court Clerks was about.

They did stop people from speculating about the case we might get because some of us could not have heard what was being said.


I do have a very strong faith in the Jury System. That's probably the best part of the US Judicial System. I just would like to see better informed jurors (using the Internet) BEFORE we ever get to the COURT Buildings.

Juries do screw up and better informed ones about the law might stop this. I am just thinking about the Cathy Woods http://crime.about.com/b/2014/03/06/fbi-task-force-probes-1976-gypsy-hill-case.htm debacle and the Gypsy Hill murders. http://gypsyhillmurders.com/ I never went to any of these Court Hearings but would sometimes run into Wooster High School students who were obsessed with the Michelle Mitchell murder investigation, prosecutions, appeals, etc. I would look for materials accessible through libraries and would seldom if ever find anything of much practical value.

I did not see anything so far about yesterday's case but it will probably show up somewhere soon. Legal news does not seem to be a big priority in the Sumter/Lake/Marion County area. http://www.dailycommercial.com/

If someone hears anything I would be interested. This was a Fifth Circuit Court case-- http://www.circuit5.org/c5/ The case was heard by the Honorable Michelle T. Morley, the Circuit Judge for Sumter County.

[Taltarzac725]

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/ccm/?county=60

Anyone hear anything about the case the Sumter County jury was supposed to hear for May 19, 2014? I did a search using the above resource for this past week and could not find anything.

I suppose this could be a case brought in from one of the other Counties in the Fifth Judicial Circuit with a Change of Venue.

I am not finding anything that would tie up a court docket for 16 weeks or so as mentioned by the Honorable Michelle T. Morley, the Circuit Judge for Sumter County on Monday.

The Court Clerk in the Jury Room had asked if anyone had brought it newspapers and the two Court staff in the room checked them and said that there was not anything that might influence the Jury.

The 5th Circuit for Florida covers Lake, Marion, Sumter, Citrus, and Hernando Counties. http://www.circuit5.org/c5/about-us/

[Taltarzac725]

https://www2.myfloridacounty.com/ccm/?county=60

Anyone hear anything about the case the Sumter County jury was supposed to hear for May 19, 2014? I did a search using the above resource for this past week and could not find anything.

I suppose this could be a case brought in from one of the other Counties in the Fifth Judicial Circuit with a Change of Venue.

I am not finding anything that would tie up a court docket for 16 weeks or so as mentioned by the Honorable Michelle T. Morley, the Circuit Judge for Sumter County on Monday.

The Court Clerk in the Jury Room had asked if anyone had brought it newspapers and the two Court staff in the room checked them and said that there was not anything that might influence the Jury.

The 5th Circuit for Florida covers Lake, Marion, Sumter, Citrus, and Hernando Counties. About Us « State of Florida Fifth Judicial Circuit (http://www.circuit5.org/c5/about-us/)


Has anyone heard anything about a case that would have tied up the Sumter County Circuit Court for 16 weeks as stated by the Honorable Michelle T. Morley? From the clues she presented to the 30 or so of us in the room for prospective jurors, it sounded like it was some kind of automobile accident with fatalities. But, no details were really given. I am sure that as soon as I started explaining my JD and survivors/victims' rights campaign, even when given as succinctly as possible, I would have been booted off the jury. Especially with what still comes up when you Google my name which one of the attorneys or their aides would have done.

I had e-mailed the Court so as not to blind side them with something I might say about my experiences with the legal system but I see no reason why they would have shared those e-mails with the attorneys UNLESS I got on the jury.

[Taltarzac725]

I received the $15 yesterday for the morning I spent at the Sumter County Court House in Bushnell on April 19, 2014. No allowance for gas mileage though. I still do not what kind of case this might have involved?

I suppose I could send them another e-mail.

Has anyone heard anything about a case that would have tied up the Sumter County Circuit Court for 16 weeks as stated by the Honorable Michelle T. Morley? From the clues she presented to the 30 or so of us in the room for prospective jurors, it sounded like it was some kind of automobile accident with fatalities. But, no details were really given. I am sure that as soon as I started explaining my JD and survivors/victims' rights campaign, even when given as succinctly as possible, I would have been booted off the jury. Especially with what still comes up when you Google my name which one of the attorneys or their aides would have done.

I had e-mailed the Court so as not to blind side them with something I might say about my experiences with the legal system but I see no reason why they would have shared those e-mails with the attorneys UNLESS I got on the jury.