On the date of November 27, 2000, I visited the Hillsborough county Courthouse and witnessed the Thirteenth District Circuit Court of Florida in its proceedings. The case was the State of Florida v. Michael Canady and his honor that presided over the case was Judge William Fuente. The case was called at 10:30 AM and opened with the Judge splitting the charges against the defendant. The defendant was charged with a count of second-degree possession of cannabis with intent to sell and second-degree felon in possession of a firearm. It came to my attention from one of the bailiffs that the defendant was already sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for burglary. The judge says that jury selection for both cases will be today followed by the cases on the next day. The public defender assigned to the case asked for a continuance, which the judge denied. A jury panel of twenty-two members was brought in and by the bailiff. Judge instructs the panel to the specifics of the!
             case and introduces all parties involved. The case that the jury was being questioned for was the felon in possession charge. The judge instructed the jury of the duty being asked of them and explained that in a criminal case, the prosecution must prove its case rather than the defense must disprove it. He then briefly explained reasonable doubt. The judge proceeded to ask if anyone in the jury had any bias towards firearms. He then asked if anyone had ever served on a jury for a criminal case before, to which four potential jurors responded. The judge then turned the voir dire questioning over to the state attorney. The prosecutor then asked if anyone had ever been accused of a crime or known anyone that had been accused of a crime. Seven people responded to the question. Through his questioning the prosecutor found two members of the panel that had plead guilty to soliciting a prostitute and one that was accused of public indecency. He then asked ...