Statewide commercial on jury duty features Franklin County employees, residents

Several Pasco and Franklin County employees are getting their 30 seconds of fame in a new statewide commercial about the importance of jury service.

The Administrative Office of the Courts debuted Thursday the public service announcement, or PSA, on its YouTube page.

The commercial also will appear on some broadcast stations across Washington.

“Without you, there is no justice” is the theme of the public service message that was produced by TVW, Washington state’s public affairs network.

It was shot last spring at the Franklin County Courthouse and several other Pasco locations, including Volunteer Park and on the walking path near the blue bridge.

City and county employees and residents were asked to either read a line for the commercial, or to help fill seats in the jury box.

“One aim of the message is reaching groups with low response rates to jury summonses,” said a news release from the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The PSA is available in English and Spanish.

It was created at the request of the Washington Pattern Jury Instruction Committee to encourage broad participation in jury service. Project costs were covered by the committee as approved by the state Supreme Court.

The Public Trust & Confidence Committee of the Board for Judicial Administration was a partner on the production.

The English version opens with retired Pasco firefighter Aaron Beasley saying, “It’s an opportunity that others have fought and died for.”

Pasco firefighter Edgar Arteaga replaces Beasley in the Spanish-speaking version.

The PSA includes historical black-and-white images of Martin Luther King Jr. and demonstrators with the civil rights and women’s liberation movements.

“It’s a right that many didn’t have in the past,” adds court interpreter Ana Armijo of Pasco.

Citizens are asked to “please answer the call” when they receive a jury summons in the mail. The spot ends with jurors in the box fading away because if they neglect their civic duty, “there is no justice.”

Franklin County Clerk Mike Killian said he was asked earlier this year if TVW could film the PSA in Pasco because of the beautiful historic courtroom and the diversity in the community.

His office sent out 26,000 jury summons in 2016, or roughly 2,000 every two weeks, except for when a high-profile case calls for a larger jury pool.

“I thought (the PSA) was done very well,” he said. “Looking at other jury public service announcements across the country, this one is from the perspective of the jury, rather than a judicial officer telling prospective jurors the importance.”

Killian, who served two terms on the Public Trust & Confidence Committee, agreed to coordinate production from his end. He appears in one scene as a defendant with Kennewick lawyer Edwardo Morfin speaking to the jury, while Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn sits at another table.

Judge Alex Ekstrom with Benton-Franklin Superior Court initially was set to appear in the commercial. However, a month after TVW employees got footage of him, Ekstrom learned he was being challenged in his re-election campaign. The state Public Disclosure Commission made him back out of the project.

Judge Michael G. McCarthy with Yakima County Superior Court replaced Ekstrom in asking, “Has the jury reached a verdict?”

More information on jury duty in Washington can be found on the Administrative Office of the Courts' website.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Statewide commercial on jury duty features Franklin County employees, residents."