I'm doing Jury Duty right now, ask me anything

[MrScorpio]

Some questions I will answer, others I will not.

I’ve gotta three hours to burn before I report to the courtroom.

Let’s go!

[First Speaker]

1. Do you have to get to a ballgame...?

[MrScorpio]

2. The jury's out on that

So far, nope.

[USALiberal]

3. Felony? Nt

[MrScorpio]

4. No idea

I can’t answer that right now anyway

[USALiberal]

5. This is boring then. Nt

[global1]

6. Have You Made Up Your Mind Yet?....

Guilty or not-guilty? Did you tell the judge before the trial?

[MrScorpio]

8. I haven't even heard the case yet

Haven’t passed voir dire. Either way, nope.

Waiting to get selected, and if I do, I’ll have to decide on both the evidence and the law. I have not spoken to the judge. Not planning to either.

Unlike the Republicans, my goal today is to be a good and dutiful juror.

[global1]

11. That Hasn't Stopped Moscow Mitch Or Leningrad Lindsey From Making Up Their Minds....nt

[MrScorpio]

16. Hence why I can't be a Republican Congresscritter

[jberryhill]

27. So?

Perhaps you should offer to cooperate fully with the defense.

[FakeNoose]

7. Do you get free coffee? Free lunch?

I'm assuming once the trial starts, there's no tweeting allowed.

[MrScorpio]

9. They only offered a free soft drink with the lunch special

I had a chicken sharwama instead

[lpbk2713]

43. Coffee would necessitate more frequent potty breaks.

And the judge wouldn't like the trial interrupted so often.

[brewens]

10. Last one I was on this kid put on a clinic on what to not do while oout on parole for meth.

In north central Idaho, he had an astonishingly open minded jury too. The kids lawyer did a good job. He even got the K-9 unit officer to admit the dogs will sometimes give a false alert. That was huge. The defense had to call him back the next morning to try and walk that back. But the lawyer didn't have much to work with. We came back guilty on possession with intent to distribute and the parole violation.

[USALiberal]

12. Kid? How old? Nt

[brewens]

24. Maybe 25. Kid to me anyway. n/t

[MrScorpio]

14. Once we render a verdict and get released I'll give y'all highlights

That is, if I get picked. Otherwise, nada for now

[cilla4progress]

13. Does truth win out

In the end?

[MrScorpio]

15. It should always

[jberryhill]

28. No, it shouldn't

There are numerous situations in which the truth should not win.

Decisions about what evidence you are allowed to see, or not see, have already been made - independent of whether it is "true".

If it is a civil trial, then true information about insurance coverage and claims is being deliberately kept from you.

You are being asked to make a determination on the basis of some, but not all, of the relevant information.

Because some of the information being kept from you, even if true, is either prejudicial or inadmissible through some procedural defect.

For example, the suspect may have truthfully confessed to the crime, but due to a defect in the way that confession was obtained, you will not know that. Convincing evidence of guilt may have been found, but due to a problem with the search warrant, you will not hear about it.

Do not believe for one moment that truth "should" always win in the US legal system. Procedural fairness should win. And it sometimes wins over truth.

[Hortensis]

17. What are your favorite fantasies or imaginings to fill the time?

The possibilities are endless, of course. I once spent a lot of time wondering what on earth's going on with those who have to sit through the almost endless preliminaries over, and over, and over, and over. Are they somehow doing something? Did they permanently retreat into a dissociative fugue long before and are just propped up each day?

Another time I imagined how I might turn a closed gas station/restaurant across the street in the middle of town into a home to live in. Required a LOT of jackhammering of pavement to put in my imagined garden, but the town was in Southern California and stacked "stone" walls of broken concrete are fairly common. The trees were almost mature and the bathroom about due for remodeling before I got out of there.

[MrScorpio]

19. Chilling in Amsterdam

I’ve done that a long time ago. I’d love to get back at it.

[Hortensis]

25. Oh, that's a great one. If only I had the memories

to work from, I might be there right now. Enjoy your service.

[jcmaine72]

18. I have a question.

Is it hotter in the summer than it is in the city or is it colder in the winter than it is in the country?

[MrScorpio]

20. Never been in the country during winter

No idea

[jcmaine72]

21. .

[jberryhill]

30. It feels more like it does when you get there than it does here

[jcmaine72]

46. Absolutely! Especially when you go to that thing that's next to the other thing.

[jberryhill]

48. Oh yeah

Most people like where it is now better than when it was in the place it used to be.

Remember that guy who lived over where the other thing used to be? I saw his ex-wife’s sister’s friend’s daughter (the older one) last week and she said he’s still there!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

22. Are you running for Jury Foreman? nt

[MrScorpio]

23. Haven't even considered it

Probably not

[Vinca]

26. During voir dire are you going to tell them the accused is definitely guilty?

Or innocent? That's a fast trip out the door if you want it to be and it's downright presidential these days.

[jberryhill]

29. That's too obvious

The better approach is to act disinterested, and reflexively say "guilty" whenever your name is called for roll.

Like, "Guilty! Uh, oh, sorry, I mean present!"

[MrScorpio]

33. Naaaah

Actually I won’t mind getting picked

[Srkdqltr]

31. If you are the oldest you will probably not be picked.

[MrScorpio]

32. The are some older than me

[asiliveandbreathe]

34. My last jury duty was a murder trial (late 90s)...just before the Thanksgiving

Holiday..the defendant was brought in..there had to be about 60 jurors..the judge went around the room and asked who had flight tickets..they were dismissed..then we were told the death penalty was on the table..I immediately raised my hand..the judge acknowledged me, and I explained I was against the death penalty..he told me to have a nice day...

Arizona, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a defendant has the right to have a jury, rather than a judge, decide on the existence of an aggravating factor that makes the defendant eligible for the death penalty. The Court based its judgment on the broader constitutional principle that the Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury encompasses the right to a jury finding of all facts that are necessary to put a defendant to death.

[MrScorpio]

35. This is Michigan, there is no death penalty here

At least I don’t have to worry about this trial being so dramatic

[asiliveandbreathe]

36. I am so happy for you and MI...it wasn't even a moments hesitation for me

at the time..I was new to AZ from Mass..where the fight over the death penalty went on for years..An attempt to reinstate the death penalty failed on a 73-80 vote in the House on March 29, 1999 - finally put to rest in '07..

Be well..I enjoyed the morning visiting with fellow jurors at the time..called in afternoon..

[DeminPennswoods]

53. In PA, they ask on the voir dire form

if you have a "moral objection" to anything. I marked yes and when the judge asked what that was, I replied opposed to the death penalty.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

37. Are you at the Frank Murphy courthouse? Did you find cheap or free parking?

These are important jury questions, of course.

[MrScorpio]

40. Nope, Macomb County.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

50. Darn. So I still have to search for cheap or free parking.

And when the new Wayne Co. jail and courthouse is built, it'll probably be even worse. Less parking, fewer restaurants.

[aikoaiko]

38. What are you wearing?

[MrScorpio]

39. I was wearing a polo shirt and black slacks.

[aikoaiko]

51. They make us wear ties in my town.

And will provide hideous ones if you don’t own one.

They made a guy wear a tie with his polo shirt.

It looked terrible but the judge was pleased.

[jcgoldie]

41. Whats the difference between a duck?

[MrScorpio]

42. Is this duck cleaved in two?

[lpbk2713]

44. Are you still beating your wife?

[MrScorpio]

47. I am not now nor have I ever beat my wife.

[Amimnoch]

49. I always get booted out during the selection questioning..

The second I refuse to apply the law as it’s written because I believe in the right of juror nullification, I’m taken of there. Killed a whole county case in one selection.

[FM123]

52. What movie do they have playing for all of you to watch in the waiting room TV?

The last time I served, they had Avatar on - for some reason I still remember that...