Jury Duty

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I HATED jury duty...the thought of having that much power over other lives really bothered me.
.

Never thought of it that way. I was a magistrate for a couple of years. Mainly I got to decide whether continued pre-trial confinement was necessary (in addition to search authorizations). That didn't bother me. I just followed the rules and standards that were to be considered and made my decision.

I imagine if you aren't around this stuff on a daily basis it could be pretty unsettling. I watched a murder trial once, drug deal gone bad. The defendant(s) had injected the victims (I believe two) with Tilex Mold and Mildew cleaner, thinking it would kill them. It did not and other steps were undertaken to finish the job. That was over 20 years ago and it still comes to mind on occasion.

[MRM]

What Paul says is totally a huge issues with juries. Always ask each potential juror if they have any qualms about sitting in judgment of another human. Some people have religious objections and some just don’t want the responsibility. Totally an issue to explore with every juror.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

The number of people that ask questions is staggering but what is really staggering is how little people seem to know about the system. Stuff that it doesn't take a law degree to know.

With all deference to the specialists...This basic concept is no longer taught in public schools.

Even the basic concepts of justice, which is so important not only in a court of law but everyday interaction have become foreign concepts.
Emotions trumps facts these days.

There are a myriad of factors involved,
Society itself has become exponentially more complicated,
And the system of Law with respect to language and procedures has become a separate element above the abilities of the common layman.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

We've been on break for the last 35 minutes.

The number of people that ask questions is staggering but what is really staggering is how little people seem to know about the system. Stuff that it doesn't take a law degree to know.

About 25+ years ago, at least in NY State, they only called people on the voter rolls. This meant you had about a 1.5 to 2 year cycle between call-ins.

About 20+ years ago, they expanded it to the driver's license database. Now you had EVERYONE in the courthouse. I sat in the courthouse one day and this woman nearby kept repeating, like a mantra, "They won't pick me. I'm just ignorant." She said it over and over again. And I think she mispronounced it...

It was the only time I was picked for a Jury. Civil jury. We got as far as the lawyers going through the list of jurors. Suddenly, the judge comes in and tells us the sides have settled.

The only other time I was close, was a DWI trial. They asked if any of us had any connection to DWI cases. I raised my hand. When asked, I said two of my neighbors had family members killed by drunk drivers. GONE!. I was willing to be unbiased. But I didn't want that fact to create a potential issue.

At that selection, one of the guys near me said he was going to tell the judge that he thought anyone stopped was probably guilty. He was also gone...

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I HATED jury duty...the thought of having that much power over other lives really bothered me.

One of the few pluses of being an Oregon old fart. Once past your 70th birthday, you can say no thanks.

That one trial I sat on was all for a 18 year old that broke the window of a car at school, and stole the change in the center console. It was less than two bucks.

We were not told much of anything about the defendant. I was surprised he was in court for such a small amount. Of course the car window was way more expensive to repair. Then one side or the other said something that I presume the judge had excluded, and a mistrial was declared and we were done.

I have always wondered what punishment we would hand down for his crime, or let him walk. We never got the chance to get that far.

[Tobra]

The way they draft juries in California is a bit whack.

They use driver's license info, but there are a LOT of people with driver's licenses that are not here legally, so that is an issue. If you are self employed, like me, you are taking an unpaid vacation that is at a minimum two weeks. You are sort of on call for that long, and don't know if you are going to have to go down there or not. There is a box on the form that is about 1/4 inch to give a detailed explanation if you want to get out of jury duty. That sounds like too small a box to write your response, but it is plenty big enough. They don't even look at those requests at all. They assume everyone takes at least a few weeks vacation, so you can spend that time on jury duty. I had an attorney give me the straight of it. You tell them you take vacation every year and can serve your jury duty then. You take vacation for the last two weeks of December. The courts are all closed for the last two weeks of December.

I know what you are thinking, that is horrible, jury duty is a sacred responsibility. That may be so. I already give them far more money than they should get. Not giving them time.

[KFC911]

Here, (now) you get a notice and have to call on the prior Sun. to see if you have to appear for the pool. I haven't had to go about the last 5-6 times, and simply forgot to call once. About 25-30 years, I sat with about 200 other folks all morning.... nary a person was called. When at lunch, my pager went off ... serious problem at work that only I could resolve so I bolted.

My cousin served on a famous murder trial over three decades ago... "The Black Widow" who poisoned several. She received the death penalty but it still hasn't been carried out ... and never will be.

[john70t]

I was called in for duty once.
Looking forward to it either way.
Sat in a room for an hour or so and then dismissed. Probably a plea deal reached ahead of time.

[Shifter]

I have been summoned 17 times. Only selected for a jury once.

That was a grand jury. Fun sounding, sure. One week a month for eighteen months. With possible extension. I was excused after two months due to the fact I had a job, and couldn't miss a week a month, plus at that time, I was traveling two to three weeks a month.

In the grand jury, the da brought charges forward to see if they had enough evidence to go arrest the person. You would think that would be interesting, but they gave you very specific information and how to interpret the information.

Exaggerated example:
"The law says Don't drive impaired. Suspect was caught driving. Focus on the word 'Drive' in the law, suspect was driving, so we want to arrest them."
Was the driver impaired?
"We are focusing on the word 'Drive' don't pay attention to the rest of the law"

What I saw of the process really left a bad taste.

[GH85Carrera]

I have been called for county jury duty four times as I remember. Federal jury duty once. They used to use the voter registration list as the pool. They switched to drivers license list some years back.

I will get paid a whopping $20 for my day of jury duty, and it cost me $8 to park.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

One of the questions/concerns that I heard expressed numerous times was the length of jury duty. There were people under the impression that today was IT and nothing further was going to happen. Another question was: "So, after I show up tomorrow that will be all?"

I looked back at the summons and it did not state how long to expect, literally contained no guidance to help folks manage their expectations. So I'll cut them some slack. But I bet most of them followed the OJ trial or any other big trial that lasted weeks/months. How can you not make the leap that you could get locked up on a jury for a long time, not just one day?

Most people don't think any further than what flavor soda they want or what they want for dinner.

[masraum]

At our old house (17 years), I got called down at least 5-6 times, probably closer to 10. Twice I made it to when they were asking questions, but was dismissed. Several of the times, they'd changed the rules so that you went down on Mon, and then if you were dismissed, you had to call in the evening the rest of the week. When we lived near downtown, I got called twice, but was dismissed after sitting around both times. I think they mailed me a check for $7 for at least some of those instances, and I think I paid $5-10 for parking on those days.

[Crowbob]

The only time I sat on jury was for a murder trial wherein the wife stabbed her husband in the heart which quite suddenly ended the argument they were having at the time. She claimed she armed herself in self-defense whereupon the deceased stumbled forward into the weapon she was holding in an offensive manner versus in a defensive manner per the bloody handprint on the knife admitted as exhibit no. 1.

We learned all about blood splatters, splashes and smears, knife angles, anatomy, etc. We saw lots of bloody forensic photos and heard expert testimony for the defense by the coroner son of a very, very famous coroner with a european accent. Said expert was brought up from the city and was very, very experienced testifying. He was dressed sharp, spoke very well and as arrogant as he was handsome. The female jurors nearly swooned, of course.

A major piece of evidence, specifically an accordion-type door concealing the washer and dryer all three of which were splattered with blood, disappeared.

After two days of deliberation we acquitted the lady after one juror, whom I’ve known intimately every second of my life, finally gave in losing an heroic 11 against 1 battle. The pressure to acquit was intense.

Sure enough, a few years later, the slick-as-****-from-a-goose expert coroner was convicted of defrauding the county he worked for. The lawyer for the defense is currently in prison for hiring a hit man to kill another lawyer who sued him for defrauding him on a large land deal.

The missing evidence was never found.

[hcoles]

This might be getting OT - @matthew
I'm following along with a buddy that is the victim of battery. It seems to me that DA here doesn't move forward unless they feel they have a very strong case. They advertise they use the 4 prong test. So if I'm a juror on a criminal case I figure the person is very close to guilty if not actually guilty.

[rwest]

I got my summons smack dap in the middle of COVID lockdowns and they had stopped doing jury trials, so my time frame expired before they resumed and I didn’t have to go in.

I understand the need, would be happy to serve and do my part, but glad I didn’t need to.

[matthewb0051]

Steve's comments reminded me. I recognized today that I needed to sit all the way thru the process rather than try to get out today. The staff kept saying that if they excused you for most reasons today that they would simply reschedule you at a later date.

Pretty sure a lot of folks that had 'excuses' today didn't realize that fine point.

[gregpark]

I got out of the last call by stating during the selection phase "I will judge on evidence and evidence alone". That's the last thing a defence attorney wants to hear.... "You're excused"

[john70t]

gp: /end thread

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by MRM

What Paul says is totally a huge issues with juries. Always ask each potential juror if they have any qualms about sitting in judgment of another human. Some people have religious objections and some just don’t want the responsibility. Totally an issue to explore with every juror.

Funny, I was never asked that question...

[jcommin]

I have been on a federal grad jury since April of last year. It is an 18 month assignment that meets once a week.

It is a once in a lifetime moment and I have learned allot about the law as well as other things. If you get the opportunity to serve, I highly recommend it.