jury duty

[pavulon]

Reported for JD last Monday. Defendant was admitted to hospital less than an hour before jury selection to begin. Looked at the other 30-some people that had reported for duty and am deeply worried about ever having to be a defendant in a jury trial.

[VaSteve]

Yup....and nearly every thread about JD here is about how to get out of it.

[mikesride]

The problem with jury trials most often is that honest, productive members of society try and get out of it, in order to maintain their income or family responsibilities....Kinda leaves the dredges of society to make judgement on the accused. Still a better system than anything else I have seen.

[GH85Carrera]

I have been called for county, state & federal jury duty. Only served on the one county jury. The judge declared a mistrial on the second day of the trial. I never did find out why or if the thief was convicted in the next trial.

The worst part of jury duty now days is no cell phone or iPad allowed in the courthouse.

[5String43]

Seems to me that a trial by one's peers is one of the cornerstones of our way of life. That said, I think of it as my responsibility to be a part of the judicial system for precisely the reasons outlined above. If we all try to dodge this responsibility, who will be there for us if, say, for instance, we are accused of something and badly in need of a thinking jury to help sort things out? So while I can't claim to be happy to be selected for jury duty, when it happens I always go and do it with but minimal complaint - well, except for complaining about the paucity of lunch joints around some of our local courthouses. But that's just me.

[sc_rufctr]

Been there done that... And it was awful. They hold nothing back in a criminal case.

But I didn't try and get out of it and at the end I felt like we had made a difference.
Would I do it again by choice? No.

[gacook]

I'm 37 and have hit the jury duty lottery 3 times. I've never actively tried to get out of it, but I've also never had to take the trip to the courthouse.

First time, I was living in a foreign country (military), so of course they excused me.
Second time, I was out of state on business. Called, let them know what was up, and they said OK.
Last time, Arizona's got some new thing where you call the court (or some call center--I dunno) on the Saturday before you're supposed to show up, and they tell you whether you need to actually come in or not. They said my appearance was not required.

So, thus far, I've never sat on a jury, or even through the selection process.

However, I wouldn't say that only the dredges of society get picked for JD...my mom was on a pretty high profile murder case back when I was a kid. She had no problem being in the jury (kinda extended time) because she was a stay at home mom; certainly not a dredge of society. And believe it or not, there's still a lot of people who are stay at home parents. Also, a lot of companies offer one form or another of "jury duty leave."

[95avblm3]

I've been called twice, had to report once (just about 2 months ago). Admittedly, I didn't want to go but wound up on a jury and actually found the experience pretty interesting. The fellow jurors I served with represented a pretty broad spectrum of gender, race, socio-economic status and interests. During breaks, it was fun to compare notes on our favorite places to eat, go, do etc. The actual trial was a relative farce... a jury trial for petty theft < than $100 but I was interested in how the system worked... We all pretty much thought the guy was guilty but we all were able to put that aside and objectively consider the evidence presented to us and determined that the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. With the burden of proof on the prosecution, there was no way to find the guy guilty. In this case, "innocent until proven guilty" actually prevailed. Now, had the prosecution been a little more thorough and prepared...

[Tobra]

Self employed. Neither I nor my employees can well afford to close the office for the two weeks that would be required.

[gacook]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Self employed. Neither I nor my employees can well afford to close the office for the two weeks that would be required.

I can definitely see that. Do you ever take vacations, Toby?

[bmcuscgr94]

I get called every 3 or 4 years. I always go in suit and tie, usually gets me excused by the attorneys if I get "examined" during the jury selection process.

I have served on three juries, foreman once. Two were not fun, bad felony cases with lots of "extras" that went a couple of weeks each.

Best one was we were called in and had been seated for the start of jury selection and the defendant took the plea deal and we were excused. He must have taken a look at us and figured his chances were better with the DA.

[Tobra]

I am taking my first actual vacation in a few years. Disneyland, LEGOLAND, San Diego Zoo and whatever else. Taking a week off and the conference only lasts for 3 days. Will have grandkids and kids along, so it ought to be pretty awesome.

[gacook]

Enjoy your trip! Hopefully, the office will survive your absence

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by bmcuscgr94

I get called every 3 or 4 years. I always go in suit and tie, usually gets me excused by the attorneys if I get "examined" during the jury selection process.

I have served on three juries, foreman once. Two were not fun, bad felony cases with lots of "extras" that went a couple of weeks each.

Best one was we were called in and had been seated for the start of jury selection and the defendant took the plea deal and we were excused. He must have taken a look at us and figured his chances were better with the DA.

I've been "called" four times and served once. I'd hate to be a foreman so you have my sympathy.

(in Aus) It's supposed to be random based on the electoral roll but somehow I think
my name got on a shorter list because statistically what's happened to me is improbable.

You must be on a similar list

[Scott R]

They have a "one day one trial" system in my county and it was mostly fun, but a very long day. Guy was angry over six month old dry cleaning and assaulted a store clerk and the arresting officer. Guilty on all counts and they gave him 48 hours in jail, 28 days suspended. Coffee was good, rest of the people nice; people from all walks of life.

[bmcuscgr94]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I've been "called" four times and served once. I'd hate to be a foreman so you have my sympathy.

(in Aus) It's supposed to be random based on the electoral roll but somehow I think
my name got on a shorter list because statistically what's happened to me is improbable.

You must be on a similar list

The worst part was having my name read out loud in Court at the end of each of the 20+ charges we found the defendant guilty of and having him stare at me when I had to stand and say every vote was true and correct.

[jwasbury]

Originally Posted by pavulon

deeply worried about ever having to be a defendant in a jury trial.

Shouldn't be a worry unless you are engaging in illegal activities, right?

I hear you though. I was called to JD in VT superior court, and ended up serving on three cases.

In one case, I found it amusing (and scary) how some of my fellow jurors were so easily confused into reasonable doubt by some fancy/fast talking by a slick defense attorney.

In another case, I was really shocked at how cavalier some jurors were in rendering a guilty verdict. This case was a sexual assault charge...that's rape. The statute was abundantly clear that sexual assault involves penetration of some form. The defendant in this case was a massage therapist and the situation was that the massage "got a little freaky" where he touched the victim's coochie area. This guy was clearly a dirtbag, but was apologetic. The victim's testimony was unclear and inconsistent with respect to whether there was any penetration. The defendant was guilty of something, no doubt, but was he guilty of rape? Initially, about half of the jury, myself included, was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this guy was guilty of sexual assault...sexual misconduct, lewd and lascivious behavior, absolutely. We deliberated for the remainder of the day after the trial, and had not reached a unanimous decision. We returned to court the next day to continue deliberations. It was the day before Thanksgiving. After a few hours, everyone except for me and one other guy had decided they were "ok" with calling him guilty...SO THEY COULD GO HOME! Yes, it sucked to be sitting there the day before Thanksgiving, but when I saw these jurors flip only because they didn't want to be inconvienced any longer I was pretty disgusted. We ended up a hung jury, so it was a mistrial I guess.

[GG Allin]

Sorry, but I blow it off every time. And that's only because, every time I get the notice, it's for 50 e. Washington, downtown Chicago. There are two other courthouses out here in the 'burbs where MY peers actually have court. I'll avoid going downtown, or all of Chicago for that matter if I can help it.

[VaSteve]

I went to court today for business. Downtown DC. I usually don't interact with the public much. It was an interesting place for sure. The man out front yelling on the megaphone was a nice touch. The police talked to him and then he started talking about Officer Whatever on the megaphone. Then just rode off.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by jwasbury

Shouldn't be a worry unless you are engaging in illegal activities, right?

I hear you though.

I now believe everyone should worry a little about being tossed into a jury trial. You don't have to be doing anything illegal to find yourself in front of a collection of WalMartians who as you say "just want to go home." I'd bet that at least one jury gets it really wrong for similarly messed-up reasons every day in this nation. I just had no real feeling for it until this week. It's not a debilitating concern...but it's there.