thoughts on jury duty

[cathy63]

In another case that I served on, I was astounded at how gullible the others jurors were for a case of a guy accused of falsely returning lawnmowers for a refund. The guy had returned something like 20 mowers in one month to Kmart stores and the other jurors thought that might be credible.

I've been amazed at different perspectives and knowledge gaps sometimes too. On the last jury I was on, a key piece of evidence was a check written by the plaintiff that had been cashed by the defendant. We looked at this check pretty much every day during 4 weeks of testimony as most of the witnesses were asked about it. Then when we got to deliberations, one jury member (the youngest, about age 22) started off with "we all know that check is a forgery right? Because if the plaintiff had actually given it to the defendant he couldn't have had it in his files."

It would never have occurred to me that younger people would not know that you can get your checks back after processing if you want to, and that all accounts were that way at one time; but once he said it I could definitely understand how he came to that conclusion. Of course, once we older jury members explained why the plaintiff had the canceled check, we found out that the young man been so distracted by his "forgery" idea that he'd missed at least half the testimony.

 

[Senator]

I have been on a jury.

If you do not want to serve, just denounce your citizenship.

 

[samclem]

I recently served on a jury for a shoplifting case, and I've had to report several times and was not selected. Jury duty is just part of the price of citizenship--I doubt anyone looks forward to it. My gripe is that there seemed to be too many folks inconvenienced--only about one third of the folks who reported that day were even subjected to voi dire. Maybe it's tough to know how many people will need to be interviewed before filling the jury, but it always appears to be a big waste of a lot of people's time.

 

[scrabbler1]

I have been called for jury duty 3 times going back to 1987, the first year I was called. The process and treatment of jurors has varied over the years, and I have found some improvements from 1987 to 1996, the second time I served, and some roe improvements to 2007, the third time I was called.


That first time, in 1987, I ended up getting on the jury of a shoplifting case. The Central Jury area was an auditorium with uncomfortable fold-down chairs we sat in while we waited for our names to be called. It took most of the day before I was called for a criminal case in the other courthouse.


The case itself began that day and continued into the next day. The 6-person jury I was on was all older men (I was 24 at the time). I would later find out why. The next day was a holiday so the courts were closed and I returned to work. The next day, we get to the courtroom and were told the trial could not continue that day (Thursday) so the next day and we were to report back on Monday. We got credit for a day served so we didn't have to go back to work.


I went back to work Friday, much to the confusion of my coworkers who couldn't
figure out why I kept showing up at work while I had gotten on a case. On Monday, the case wrapped up and we went to verdict, convicting the 39-year-old housewife and mother. That day, we were treated to lunch even though we hadn't yet begun deliberating because the judge felt bad about how we had been jerked around.


I spoke to the prosecutor after our guilty verdict, as he wanted to know what he could have done better. He also told me why all the women were dismissed from being on the jury (was this legal in New York in 1987?). None of the older men were frequent shoppers, and the case hinged on the suspect's handling of a shopping cart which held the shoplifted goods. I was a frequent shopper, so I knew her story was BS, and I convinced the other jurors it was, too. The prosecutor was a young man, too, and said little about this key element of the case.


I was actually fascinated by the whole process. I received full salary for the 4 days served. The commute to the county courthouse was a lot shorter (15-20 minutes) and easier than my commute from LI to Manhattan on the trains (60-75 minutes). And, once I got on the case, I didn't have to arrive at the courthouse until 10 or 11 AM, I forget which, so I could sleep in. There was also a good place to eat lunch nearby, so I ate well.


The next time I served, in 1996, I got called for a case my first day. Jury selection was ongoing and I was among the bunch still being questioned when we adjourned for the day. But when we arrived the next day, the prosecutor and defense lawyer were working out a plea deal so we got sent back to central jury. We were in a different building than in 1987, and this central jury area was much more pleasant. We had comfortable tables and chairs, like a lounge. There was a TV area and we could borrow board games from the Central Jury leader. We played joke on one Monopoly payer when she had to use the rest room. I filled in and as a gag we pretended to mortgage all her properties and hid her cash. She was dumbfounded when she returned. We got her good!


At the end of the second day, the leader gave us a choice. If we wanted to leave early, we had to return the next day. If we stayed later into the afternoon, we could be done if we didn't get on a case. This split up all of us pretty equally, with me in the first group because I had some stuff to do that evening. I was getting full pay anyway. I returned the next day and wasn't called for a case, so I was done. I did get a minor digestive mishap from an area pizza joint, though.


The third time was in 2007. By then, New York had vastly changed its jury system in that many of the automatic exemptions had been repealed, expanding the jury pool and lessening the length of time someone had to serve. After calling in two nights earlier and seeing my number wasn't within the range of those who had to report, my number was up for the second day. I reported to the same building as the one in 1987 and they had greatly improved the central jury room to like what was in the other building. I was quickly called with about 30 other people for questioning for a civil case. Unlike criminal cases, the lawyers run the show, no judges here. They were a pair of yakkety lawyers who took all day to find 6 jurors and one alternate. By the end of the day, I was one of maybe 5 people whose names hadn't been asked any specific questions, as everyone ese was either on the jury or dismissed and sent back to Central Jury. The ~5 of us were given a receipt and told not to return the next day. We were done, yay!


I was working part-time at the time, so I got full pay for the one day and wasn't scheduled to work the day before. Unfortunately, that good lunch place from 1987 wasn't around any more, so lunch sucked!


I haven't been called back since 2007. But I wouldn't mind it this time because I am retired. I could volunteer if I wanted to, so I've heard. But I'm not that eager to do this again.

 

[Sunset]

It would help if they sent you to the court closest to your house instead of the one that is 2 hours each way.

This is my big beef with Cook County jury duty, as OP has pointed out.
It is a H_LL of a drive down to California Ave. where the Jail and Courthouse are located.
By the way that area is so rough, you pray you don't get a flat tire, because you will be dead meat if you do.
It's where houses are demolished and if standing, most are boarded up.
Groups (gangs) of young men hang around watching you drive by...
The parking garage is guarded and has a fence around it and you can ask for an armed guard escort to your car.

There is a court within the suburbs but we don't get called for that one. I think it's a plot to get jury members who are NOT the peers of the accused.

 

[skipro33]

If you think jury duty is bad...

We used to have the draft. Yes, you've been selected to go to some place bad that you never wanted to go and carry a rifle and shoot at people you don't want to kill and then you get shot full of holes and die.

Makes Jury Duty look kinda tame eh?

Yea, I was going to point out the same thing; nothing like getting drafted at 18, terrorized for 8 weeks of boot camp, another few months of combat training and then off to some place half way around the world where everyone you are with has the stink of fear on their breath.

Jury duty I always thought of as a break from work. Sorta like a mini vacation.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Skip, yes glad I was a woman during this time.

 

[Lakewood90712]

There is a court within the suburbs but we don't get called for that one. I think it's a plot to get jury members who are NOT the peers of the accused.

Actually some truth to that. Both sides do NOT want prospective jurors that are likely to be personally familiar with the places or people in the trial. This goes for civil or criminal.

The attys. and the court insist jurors to use only the evidence presented . Being familiar with the crime scene, accident scene , etc can alter that. Especially when a juror knows something in the evidence presented is inaccurate.

The jury is the blind lady weighing what each side presents. Imperfect ? you bet. Better system ? none I know of.

 

[SonofCohoes]

I agree with all of your points, but the last one just won't happen. Certain lawyers want the uninformed and easily convinced person on a jury. Many times they do not want educated or higher understanding jurors.
I despise whenever I was given notice, most times being a long way from home and sure as F*** I would not have been a jury of the defendant's peers! Only good thing was that I did get paid by work, but i was still the poor stooge that had to ruin my day(s) going down to the courthouse waiting to see if i was selected. Complete waste of my time every single time.

Two times summoned, two times seated on a trial jury. I must be dumb.

 

[Another Reader]

I did two ten year employment stints with government agencies. They paid your salary when you were on jury duty, so most potential jurors that were employees of these agencies were fine with being called. However, once the jury folks found this out, you got on the list to be called every year. For years, even after I left the jobs, the notice would arrive every February, without fail. I hear from them every three to four years now.

I twice had employees that got called and seated for capital murder cases when I worked for the government. One was gone six weeks, the other four. We (or rather the taxpayers) paid their full salaries while they served on the juries.

In the private sector, I had one employer that said anyone that could not get out of jury duty was stupid. As a result, no one went.

One good thing about turning 70 is that you can request a permanent exemption. My father failed to do that and was still getting notices at 80, with advancing Alzheimer's disease. Took a while to fix that after I found out. Ummm, no, he can't sign the exemption request...

 

[donheff]

I dislike jury duty, primarily because waiting around to be called on a panel is so boring. I also wish they would pay a reasonable fee. Still, it is a reasonable duty of citizenship. Professional jurors? No thanks.

 

[zinger1457]

It's strange the way jury duty selection works, I lived in California for a number of years and got called up at least once every year, sometimes twice in a year. Been living in Arizona for the last 24 years and got called up once during that period and never even had to show up, just called in to check and was told not to come in. Maybe the benefit of living in a rural area, not enough big crimes.

 

[MichaelB]

I spent much of my adult life living abroad where justice was determined by judges, not juries. If I’m ever arrested and tried I’ll take a jury every time.

I’ve served a total of close to 3 months on jury duty and will serve again without complaint if called.

 

[pacergal]

One thing that I notice these days is that people talk a lot about their rights, but not about their concomitant obligations or duties. Should you be charged with a crime, you have a right to a jury of your peers. To make that right a reality, someone else has a duty to be a juror. And, in turn, to afford someone else their right to a jury trial, you have a duty to obey the summons to jury duty when you are called.

+1 Thank you

I have been called to jury duty at least 5 times, most recently filled out the form for US District court, I may be "randomly selected" anytime from 12-19 to 12-21--two years!
I have only been chosen to actually serve on a jury once. It was interesting.

 

[CRLLS]

I have been seated on 3 juries. Only one, a right of eminent domain case, went thru to the end. All that we could do was to decide a fair compensation amount. One, a doctor malpractice suit was declared a mistrial by the judge during the opening statements due to one prejudicial attorney's remarks. The other was a drug dealer who changed his plea to guilty after seeing the makeup of the jury.

It is an interesting look into real court proceedings, which are not like what I see on TV. I have not been called in the last 14 years since I moved to different county.

 

[Bamaman]

I've been called to jury duty, and a couple of times been grilled by attorneys.

They keep rejecting me as a juror. Something about being white, a college graduate and a career in the financial world. They think I'd be too judgmental.

 

[COcheesehead]

I made it into the jury box and was let go by the defendant's attorney in the last cut. Was it something I said? LOL.
Anyway, I felt it was an honor to try and help. Your results may vary.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I was impressed by the power of the state to force me to make the hour-long journey downtown, stay for the day, and make the hour-long journey back.

Just be happy you weren't summoned to be on a grand jury...that service can be pretty long.

 

[easysurfer]

I served as a juror twice. Once on a criminal case that only lasted on day. The other a civil case that lasted about 4 days. Also, once got shuffled into the jury box, someone cried uncle and the case settle just before the court session started.

I've never been eliminated during the judge/attorney weeded out process so either I have an honest face or look like a chump .

 

[Mdlerth]

You'll git a fair trial before we hang ye

"I should be on every jury. I can tell whether a person is innocent or guilty just by looking at them."

Anybody who wants to get out of jury duty should remember this line.

 

[braumeister]

The last time DW was on a jury her comment afterward was "We all agreed that it just boiled down to deciding which side was lying less than the other."

 

[GravitySucks]

Have been called twice and empaneled both times. Not a fun time but not to bad. Part of being a citizen.

 

[samclem]

Last time I checked, most places still use voter roles as the starting point for sending out notifications for jury duty. So, if a person wants to avoid jury duty in those jurisdictions, a foolproof way is to just not vote/register to vote. Some citizens who can't be bothered to sit on a jury and are willing to give up their vote to avoid it--well, it sets up an interesting dynamic.

Some places/jurisdictions now use drivers license rolls instead/in addition to choose jurors. Maybe some places use property ownership records? You'd have to be careful not to inadvertently skew the pool of potential jurors with some of these methods.

 

[Another Reader]

The civil grand jury here is voluntary and in my opinion politicized. Here's the description of the application process.

Civil Grand Jury - Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara

The civil grand jury also hears the largest and most controversial criminal cases, including cases involving public officials.

 

[ncbill]

Last time I was excited to be the first juror selected...never got out of the waiting room before!

Sadly, I was one of the first the defense (peremptory) excused, probably because the alleged crime took place right outside my neighborhood.