Wow, chalk one up for Florida!

[legion]

Part of the problem is the people who typically sit on juries are those not smart enough to think up a decent excuses to get out of jury duty...

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I've been called for jury duty four times and interviewed by the lawyers once. I found it very interesting that the defense attorney dismissed me right after I responded "I have a Master's Degree" when they asked my level of education.

...and that's exactly the way defense attorneys want it.

[Hugh R]

I sat on that jury because my employer at the time paid unlimited, and I hated the job that I had. So I thought, "Why not". It was interesting, not sure I'd want to do it again.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by idontknow

I always thought of a warning shot as a bad idea. Chambering the first round is the only warning a potential ne'er-do-well would get from me. When you fire a warning shot, it's a bullet that you've released somewhere into the world. You know where it exited the ceiling, but you have no idea what it's trajectory is or where it will fall back down to earth.

Chambering a round in the heat of a situation is a way to get killed. If you carry, you carry in condition 1: Round in the chamber, safety on. The only notice a bad guy will get from me is the "snick" of the safety coming off. And this is only with my 1911 style weapons. The rest of my carry weapons are DAO, double action only, which typically have a very long, stiff trigger pull and are safe as is.

The idea that a bad guy will think twice when hearing an action being racked is BS. The bad guy probably has more experience with guns and if a good guy is walking around in condition 3, he has proved it.

Racking the slide, or even better cocking the hammer on a semi-auto, is a movie/tv thing.

Warning shots are actually illegal here in Texas and will cost you your CHL. You are either shooting to stop, or you are being reckless.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I've been called for jury duty four times and interviewed by the lawyers once. I found it very interesting that the defense attorney dismissed me right after I responded "I have a Master's Degree" when they asked my level of education.

About 10 years ago, it was the first time I was put in the jury pool AND we actually had to show up for court. They had recently expanded the jury pool from only registered voters to a much wider swath.

At the court, a woman about 60 in front of me kept muttering: "They'll never pick me, I'm ig-no-rent." In my mind I thought that this is exactly why they'll pick her. And they did!

Me? Engineer. Not picked.

[URY914]

You smart guys need to lighten up on us guys that always get picked.

[red-beard]

I was nearly picked for a jury in California in 2003. I was 2 people away when they had enough for the jury plus alternates. Of course, I'm in management now.

[legion]

Originally Posted by URY914

You smart guys need to lighten up on us guys that always get picked.

Well, you clearly must live in an area where the educated outnumber the ignorant, forcing defense/plaintiff's attorneys to have some smart people on juries. Where I live is much like that. In fact, our county has the lowest jury awards of any in the state--people understand who pays for the big awards here.

Go to big cities, and juries are almost all made up of people who didn't finish high school and who have a "lottery" mentality when it comes to the courts. They are also very likely to not convict career criminals and to award huge payouts to the undeserving.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by legion

Well, you clearly must live in an area where the educated outnumber the ignorant, forcing defense/plaintiff's attorneys to have some smart people on juries. Where I live is much like that. In fact, our county has the lowest jury awards of any in the state--people understand who pays for the big awards here.

That's how it is where I live too. The fed. court in Alexandria is called the Rocket Docket and they have plenty of hard-as$ judges. When I was called, they sent U.S. Marshals out to find the no-shows and bring them in for the $1000 fine and a few days in the joint. I don't think any idiots got picked for the case I was called for. The 21 yr. old gang banger was looking at the lethal injection and the after the jury was seated, he copped a plea and is now doing life without parole. I think his lawyers knew the jury was gonna be hard on him.