Jury Duty

[RonBoyd]

A friend says she just tosses her summons in the garbage, but I'm just too honest or something to do that.

I couldn't find the cite quickly but In Colorado there is a Warrant for your arrest issued and IIRC the penalty is severe... on the other hand, you might get the opportunity to see the jury system in action.

 

[freebird5825]

Either scowl openly at the defendant or tell the defense attorney you watch a lot of Law and Order, as in nightly, 3 episodes in a row.
Guaranteed toss out.

 

[Nords]

Just filled out my worksheet for the 2010 jury pool. It'd be interesting to see if either side of a case would want a retired military officer on the jury.

There is some thought in the U.S. that a professional jurist (judge) system would render more even-handed and reasoned verdicts for defendants and save time and money too. It takes many years for most civil cases to come to trial. I don't think it would ever happen as trial by jury of one's peers is such an ingrained part of English law.

A good example of why I think the jury system should be scrapped. There are a lot of dumb people around, and they shouldn't be making decisions on people's guilt or otherwise.

The whole concept of "jury of your peers" is what inspires so many lawyers to settle out of court. And a professional jurist system would merely dilute the bribery pool that already has to be shared among so many judges...

 

[WhoDaresWins]

When my son was living in NYC right after college, he was called for jury duty twice but was dismissed both times. His feeling was that when they learned what he did for a living "they did not want analytic people on juries, lawyers want people they can lead."

 

[Free To Canoe]

Have been on jury duty a dozen or so times. Never once on a jury. Every time was tossed by one or the other party's attorneys.

Two years ago, was tossed when the judge asked if anyone had legal training. I asked the judge to define legal training. Immediately after his explanation I was excused. Three months ago, my jury number was higher than the range required to report.

"Oh there you go asking intelligent questions again. What are you an engineer or something? You are excused again Mr. Free to canoe."

The process of finding "peers" is kind of scary.

Free to canoe

 

[playaman]

I get summoned every few years but haven't served since I got a law degree (which I never have used). Pre-law degree I was on a couple of federal criminal cases, each of which was most interesting.

 

[youbet]

Called for jury duty three times, served on a jury once. Extremely interesting case. A town was being sued due to a collision between a squad car on a high speed pursuit and a civilian car.

 

[M Paquette]

I used to get called in for jury duty every 2-3 months, in spite of the official policy being once a year. I didn't mind. I was on a first name basis with the clerks, and that got one of them to thinking...

It turned out that they had 5 different entries for me in their database. They removed four of them, and now I'm back to once a year.

Oh, I was never picked to be on a jury. Something about being an engineer, with an extremely good memory, and a habit of reading local papers front to back got me dismissed by one attorney or the other every time.

 

[Nords]

Oh, I was never picked to be on a jury. Something about being an engineer, with an extremely good memory, and a habit of reading local papers front to back got me dismissed by one attorney or the other every time.

OK if I borrow that summary for my next jury-duty muster?

 

[CuppaJoe]

I find it very scary. They call me every year. Last year I barely escaped being on a six week trial (in the middle of the summer).
....

Maybe I'm a wimp, I also find it scary. Last time I sat in a jury room, I was terrified that a gang member would hunt me down if I served and a guilty verdict came in. I watched them for five days go though 121 out of 145 potential jurors and was relieved that my paper remained at the bottom on the pile. Not surprisingly, the guy was acquitted and is back on the streets after shooting a snitch in the face point blank, (self defense).

I also get called every year, sometimes oftener and probably will take the city up on its offer to opt out at age 70.

 

[Walt34]

Being "on call" for a whole month really stinks!

It depends on the jurisdiction. Where I'm from they also have a "one day or one trial" policy and that's it for at least the next three years.

I was called for a jury trial once, on the same day I was also scheduled to testify as the arresting officer in another trial. They said the jury trial took precedence, but I was thrown off anyway since I'd worked with those arresting officers for the previous 20 years.

If you're called and don't want to serve, just tell the judge something to the effect of "Well, if he got arrested he must be guilty of something."

Or just wear your tinfoil hat to court.

 

[CuppaJoe]

It depends on the jurisdiction. Where I'm from they also have a "one day or one trial" policy and that's it for at least the next three years.

....

In my city, it's also "one day or one trial" but if you get excused in the morning, you could well be in another jury room in the afternoon. We can be called back in one year after serving in the civil section, two years after a criminal case. I'm free until Nov. 2010.

 

[audreyh1]

If you're called and don't want to serve, just tell the judge something to the effect of "Well, if he got arrested he must be guilty of something.

I don't mind serving - I figure I gotta do my part. But the federal court jury questionnaire did specifically ask if I had an engineering background - right next to the question about legal experience.

So I figure likelihood of being kicked off due to my engineering degrees to be high.

However, being an engineer didn't keep my husband from being picked, and he had to sit on a week long jury trial for a child custody/divorce case!

Yes, in Texas, you can request a jury trial for your divorce case!

Audrey

 

[TromboneAl]

This is the scary part for me: the glacially slow bureaucratic process that must be followed. For example, the same instructions, word for word, that must be given to each potential juror. I realize why it has to be this way, but it's not easy for someone who gets bored watching the credits of movies.

 

[MichaelB]

I was on a jury – a 3 month long murder trial. We were sequestered for 4 days.

The only scary thing to me was the composition of the jury pool. Originally 300, heavily over-represented by weirdos and anti-social people with serious authority issues, followed by seniors anxious to serve for the $14 per day jury compensation (plus lunch).

In spite of frequent criticism, when compared with other countries our judicial system heavily favors the accused and the burden is really on the accuser.

That said, my single most important lesson was the importance of the attorney – both ability and chemistry.

 

[RonBoyd]

That said, my single most important lesson was the importance of the attorney – both ability and chemistry.

What he said.

 

[Nords]

I realize why it has to be this way, but it's not easy for someone who gets bored watching the credits of movies.

A short attention span would probably automatically disqualify you for jury duty, especially if you can't keep up with the lawyer's voir dire.

What were we talking about again?

 

[Sue J]

I've been summoned twice. For the first one I spent a couple of half days sitting at the courthouse and then the potential cases were settled or postponed. I think I had to call in and check if I was needed for 2 weeks.

For the second time I had to appear on the first day and within an hour I was on a jury. The case was a break-in by a guy who had just gotten out of jail and was supposed to be in a halfway house. The woman was home when he kicked in her front door at 9am and she got a good look at him and his car. He drove out of the neighborhood and headed to the freeway and just before the entrance ramp a police car spotted him. The description had just been on the radio and the perp made eye contact with the cop and started acting like he knew he was in trouble.

Not a tough case to decide but we did deliberate and go through all the evidence and took it all very seriously. It was a good education in how it all works, some of it was JUST LIKE ON TV! Other parts were slow and boring and involved waiting for lawyers to hash things out.

I came out of the experience with a respect for the judicial system and a fear of random acts of violence and creepy criminals out on the street. One problem that I saw in this case was that it was clearly obvious that the defendant's lawyer was appointed by the court. He was a real lightweight who was just going through the motions. But even a legal expert would have had a tough time getting this punk acquitted.

I think we got $13 a day and had to pay for parking and buy our own lunch.

 

[Ronstar]

First time - County Court summoned me but I was in Texas working, so I didnt show up
Second time - County Court summoned me, but a full jury was chosen before I was interviewed
Third time- Federal Court summons, but I wasn't interviewed

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Got put a on a trial. Case settled. Thank you for your service. Those are the kind I like. So much drama that went on in between though

 

[vicente solano]

WhoDares: I totally agree with you that in your case it´s virtually impossible to change from a jury system to one of professional judges. On the other hand I never would have thought that after a system of professional judges that has been with us forever, we would change to the jury system with practically no preparation of the citizenship at all....
Our Constitution reinstalled it because it seemed more democratic......
I personally think that Democracy is perfectly compatible with professional judgment.
Our last outrageous jury verdict: A straight youth goes to a popular gay´s bar, is chatted up by 2 gays, has several drinks with them and is invited to more drinks at their place. He ends up killing them both with a knife in their flat. Did it by knifing each of the gays no less than 30 times. Then set fire to the place. No sign of physical violence on him.
The jury acquits him accepting his plea that he was mortally threatened by the gays.
The decision was revoked, naturally.
No professional judge would have reached the same verdict no matter how brilliant and eloquent the defense lawyer might have been.
Who benefits from these situations? The sensationalist mass media, of course.