[Robert Urbanek]

In the mid-1980s, I sat on a jury in a Beverly Hills court deciding the fate of actor Walter Gotell on a charge of drunk driving. The German-English actor is best known for his portrayal as a KGB chief in James Bond movies.

The actor admitted he had drunk liquor at a couple of bars, then visited a woman and, before leaving, had another drink, “one for the road,” he explained. He was pulled over for erratic driving, failed a breathalyzer test, could not walk in a straight line, and could not recite letters of the alphabet. At the end of deliberations, I was the only juror holding out for a guilty verdict.

As I recall, the jury was about evenly divided between Black and White members, who quickly chose a Black woman as the jury foreman. She wore a hat during the proceedings.

During the trial, the actor said he could not walk a straight line because he had suffered a stroke. He said his doctor said it was good for his health to have an occasional drink. He said that in the school he went to, they did not memorize the alphabet, so he could not recite the letters from memory. His attorney claimed the breathalyzer test could not be relied on because the device was overdue for an accuracy check.

During deliberations, one juror said the actor was only arrested because police had to meet a quota.

After the defense attorney polled jurors to detect the outlier, the judge dismissed the charge against Gotell. The actor died in 1997.


Walter Gotell

[ness31]

You lead an interesting life Sir.

[Puffer Fish]

I know someone who got into a vehicular accident, was somewhat badly injured and very scraped up.
They had been drinking, more than they should have, but the accident was caused by a slippery surface from rain on the road. The vehicle was crashed down off the road and inoperable. They waited there for between 28 to 36 minutes. Some people saw them and told them they were going to call the emergency services. They said no, please don't do that, but the people did anyway, probably naively thinking medical help would arrive. Well, medical help did not arrive. The police arrived, within less than 6 minutes.
The officer asked them to walk in a straight line. Well, they could not do that, having suffered a minor concussion in the accident, and with their leg badly scraped up and in pain. It was also in the very early hours of the morning by this time, and they were dazed and confused from the accident, having slid off the road into the ditch less than an hour before.
They were arrested. Who knows if an ambulance was actually on its way. They were arrested before an ambulance came. And by the way, they did not receive adequate medical attention while being held two and half days in jail. Went to the hospital immediately after being released, to scrub out a wound to prevent infection. The hospital workers said a finger could have been lost from infection if they did not do that.

Most likely the greater reason they failed the test was not the alcohol, but the fact they had just gotten into an accident, was in pain and dazed from the impact of the accident, and that it had been a long night and was now very early in the morning and they were tired. The police officer just assumed that they were drunk on alcohol and that must have been what caused the accidental slide off from the road.

Had they not gotten into the accident, they would have been able to pass the test.

[Potemkin]

During the trial, the actor said he could not walk a straight line because he had suffered a stroke. He said his doctor said it was good for his health to have an occasional drink. He said that in the school he went to, they did not memorize the alphabet, so he could not recite the letters from memory. His attorney claimed the breathalyzer test could not be relied on because the device was overdue for an accuracy check.

He deserved to get away with it just for his sheer chutzpah.

[Robert Urbanek]

During a break in the trial, a juror broke the rules by striking up a conversation with a prosecution witness. She was replaced with an alternate.

In his testimony, Gotell said he had visited the woman to discuss becoming a godfather to her two sons, which to me seemed an account fabricated to win sympathy with single mothers on the jury.

In his closing presentation to the jury, the prosecutor, a chunky Hispanic man, presented a picture concealed by twelve panels. He explained that removing each panel would be like revealing a new piece of evidence, which in the end, would show the whole picture of the evidence against Gotell. After he removed all the panels, the final picture showed an Alpine setting of a peasant woman holding a basket of cherries.

[Rancid]

Jesus Christ, i bet he could have gotten away with murder if he wanted to.

I was on an assault with deadly weapon Jury.

I shit you not, after Jury selection, the defendant looked at us all in the Jurors box. Whispered something to his Laywer, and the trial ended before it started. The defendant took a plead deal after taking a look at us.

Also, I'm summoned again for Jury duty in a few weeks. This time is municipal court though, probably some dude fighting parking tickets or something.

[Tainari88]

:lol:

He deserved to get away with it just for his sheer chutzpah.

Wasting time in these US jury duty crap scenes is one of the thing I loved about LEAVING the USA.

How are you?

I spent yesterday looking at these pots and pans in Thornton. Expensive things those suckers are! But I love that brand of French cookware! Kind of pricey though....about $300 each. Ouch!

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