Have you ever served on a jury? I have once and experienced voir dire twice

[demtenjeep]

I enjoyed being on a jury as a great learning experience.

We voted not guilty because even though we "knew the guy did the robbery, we couldn't put him 100% at the scene"


after we gave the verdict, we learned it was his 3rd burglary . We felt bad because we knew in our hearts he was guilty. Just couldn't prove it.



The other time, the DA conducted voir dire for 3 days before picking the jury. I wanted to be on it but was not.

[BigmanPigman]

1. What is voir dire?

[StarfishSaver]

2. It literally means "to see/to speak"

It's when the attorneys question potential jurors to determine if they should be accepted for the panel.

[BigmanPigman]

4. OK, thanks!

What is it called when the judge asks potential jurors if they have an opinion about the case before any attorneys begin questioning? Is that the same thing?

[StarfishSaver]

7. That's all part of the voir dire process

I should have been more precise. Not only attorneys question the potential jurors. Judges do, too. In fact, I once served on a jury after a voir dire in which the attorneys didn't ask any questions. All of the questions were asked by the judge - but most of the questions were probably submitted by the attorneys.

[BigmanPigman]

10. That makes sense.

My judge said I couldn't be on a jury since my mind was already made up and told me to go home. It was a case involving the physical abuse of dogs.

[StarfishSaver]

16. I love being on a jury, but am rarely chosen because lawyers often believe that lawyers will have to

over the other jurors and will have difficulty sticking to the evidence and instructions.

[HariSeldon]

6. The process of asking questions to determine juror bias

I was in a jury pool and participated in an unusual voir dire process, used because of the nature of the crime and the extraordinarily personal nature of the voir dire questions. Rather than ask questions of jurors in front of the entire pool, each potential juror filled out a questionnaire and was questioned in a conference room with only the judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel (and court reporter) present. I was not selected for that jury, for which I was grateful, though I would have served faithfully if selected.

[Towlie]

65. Did you REALLY not know that you could have typed "voir dire" in your address bar and found out?

 
?

[Beringia]

72. Didn't you know many people don't know what voir dire is. Why make people work and use google

[Towlie]

74. Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach them how to fish and you feed them for life.

 
?

[BigmanPigman]

76. I usually do Google for info

but I was being lazy apparently this time.

[demtenjeep]

81. it really isn't lazy

it further added to the discussion!!!!

[BigmanPigman]

82. Thank you.

That made me feel better since that comment was not a very nice one.

[StarfishSaver]

3. I've tried cases to juries and served on juries

Each time, I've been gratified at how seriously jurors take their duties and how hard they try to get it right.

[hlthe2b]

5. Voir Dire for a murder trial. The defense got cute with the gun questions and 'what constituted

self-defense'... While I had no idea what the circumstances of the case might be, my instinctive responses zeroed in on the problem for the defense (turns out the guy had actually left a fight with his neighbor to go home to get his AR15, return and shoot him)... So, while I was dismissed in the last rounds of voir dire, my answers had "mortally wounded" the intended defense, so they changed gears to ask for a competency hearing, which the judge (rather angrily, given the obvious 'Hail Mary' ) granted. Two years later, it finally came to trial (sans me, of course) and he was convicted after changing lawyers twice.

[Sherman A1]

8. Yes, a couple of civil cases in the 1980s

One was a fellow trying to get a car replaced because he claimed the dealer didn’t change the oil when he brought it in for service. The jury decided he should be refunded the $29.95 he paid for the oil change.

The second was a young lady who was suing a restaurant for damage to a tooth which she claimed was due to a piece of glass in a salad she consumed on site. We awarded her about $5k for the claim. Finding out as we we leaving that the restaurant was in bankruptcy.

[csziggy]

9. Yes, twice and I am going in for jury selection next Monday

First time on a jury, we never made it into the courtroom. The defendant plead out after she got into the court room. I guess the reality kicked in. She'd had so many speeding tickets - many in school zones - they took her license away. And she did it again so many times, the DA finally had her charged with felony level offenses. I'm glad we didn't have to go through the trial, but boy, we were all pissed she wasted our time and the court time.

The second jury was a guy who bit a woman's lip off. Complicated case, with indications he had some serious problems. But his attorney stipulated that pretty much everything was true so we didn't have much choice but to find him guilty. I felt bad for the young man who had just graduated from college, but the young woman will have horrible scars and nerve damage for the rest of her life.

Here, they do a cattle call for potential jurors about once a month and select jurors out of that pool for pretty much all the upcoming trials. So there will be about 150 people showing up, then they do a mass voir dire with general questions, then narrow it down for each trial.

[TomSlick]

11. I served on a jury once. Why either side let a lawyer serve is beyond me.

It was a criminal case. The young defendant was charged with stealing tools from his employer.

The undisputed evidence was that the employer had often allowed the defendant to take home tools at night for his side hustle. There was never any explanation for why he was arrested that particular time.

I allowed the jury to elect me as foreman so that I could speak last and not unduly influence the others. When it came time to consider, the first juror asked "why did they charge this kid?" After that ten more jurors asked similar questions. Then, they all turned to me for enlightenment. I said, "Don't ask me, I have no idea why they charged this kid?"

We were back with an acquittal before the judge could finish his coffee.

[StarfishSaver]

21. My experience was similar

[questionseverything]

29. The guy spent six months in jail for something he didn't do

So eventually the system worked,kinda

[StarfishSaver]

32. Yes, it eventually worked

[ProfessorGAC]

78. Very Similar

From jury instructions to court adjourned was 30-35 minutes.
Felony domestic battery case. The state proved nothing. And it wasn't because of a stellar defense.

[beaglelover]

12. Yes, I was chosen as an alternate juror over 10 years ago in an asbestos/lung cancer case.

Initially there were 3 plaintiffs, 2 settled once the jury was selected, and the 3rd one settled on the third day of the trial after the defense attorney's presented their case in the morning. We came back from our lunch break and the judge told us the trial was over because the 3rd plaintiff accepted a settlement and we were free to go home. I enjoyed the process and would like to be on a jury again some day. I learned a lot about lung cancer!

[Siwsan]

13. I sat on 3 - and all were murder cases

I don't know that I enjoyed it, but I sure learned a lot.

After the 2nd trial, someone screwed up and the family left the courtroom early and they 'encountered' us in a hallway. We were rushed into an elevator.

After that trial I started getting some really strange phone calls that didn't end until I told them I had contacted the police. I hadn't, but it worked, and the phone calls stopped. Coincidence? Who knows.

[CanonRay]

14. Once before I got into law enforcement

A burglary. Guy left his thumbprint on the cash box inside a safe. He claimed he'd gone there before to do the burglary but changed his mind. Someone else did the crime and his print was still on the box. Yeah, right. First ballot one guy actually voted not guilty. Taught me what a jury will buy.

[Ms. Toad]

15. Called multiple times, went through voir dire once.

I was appalled when my law school (I was a student at the time) actively discouraged me from serving. Seems to me it would have been a very helpful experience.

Ultmately I was not selected.

It was a criminal trial - they wanted to know about interactions with the criminal justice system - I've been raped, and my brother was convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to death.

They wanted to know if I knew any of the counsel - one of whom wrote an amicus brief for our appelllate adopton case (the only same gender second parent appellate case in our state).

That, and being in law school at the time meant no one wanted me on the jury.

[zipplewrath]

17. They won't pick engineers

When they asked, I tried to explain what engineers did, but he kept pushing for details. Finally, because I'm an Aerospace engineer I just said "at the end of the day, I'm a rocket scientist". Everyone laughed, and then he said "no really". And I replied "no, really I design rockets". That got me off the jury.

[hauckeye]

18. I've been on 2 juries

One was a street walking case and the other an armed robbery case. Guilt was clear in both cases. Another time I was in the pool for a case where a man was accused of molesting his 13 year old daughter. My daughter was 13 at that time, I suspect that’s why the defense attorney had me dismissed.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. Appeared a few times, but never selected.

I was close to being picked one time after the jury pool had already been significantly whittled down, but I raised my hand when one of the lawyers asked which of us was educated in the sciences or mathematics.

All of the hand-raisers among us were then dismissed because the lawyer proclaimed that we're less likely to understand "proof beyond a reasonable doubt". Whatever!

[LeftInTX]

57. LOL!!!

[secondwind]

20. I have never made it that far...

When I’m interviewed, they let me go ASAP, because my husband is a lawyer. And yet, I’m OBLIGED by law to respond to every request!!

[Tanuki]

24. When I served on a jury, one of my fellow jurors was an attorney and another

was a law student. They were both surprised they ended up on the jury.

[Tanuki]

22. Yes, I was on a jury in a first degree murder trial. It was extremely stressful

and depressing. I have also been called up twice but didn't have to serve after I got there because they filled up all the juries before they got to me.

[leftyladyfrommo]

23. I don't get called any more because I can't hear well. nt

[Journeyman]

25. Yes. Had a surprise mystery witness, a confession in open court, and an immediate arrest . . .

It was all very Perry Mason-ish. Who would have thought we'd have so much excitement in a case involving switched price tags (which gives you an idea how long ago this was)?

The defendants roommate was the surprise witness. He threw the courtroom into a tizzy when he confessed to the crime. He was immediately arrested.

Like you, we knew the defendant was guilty. But he was in the country on a visa and would have been deported if convicted, so we assumed his buddy copped to the crime to keep his friend in the U.S. Under the guidelines the judge gave us, we couldn't convict, despite our unshakeable conviction of his guilt.

Afterwards, the DA (a young guy trying one of his first cases) asked us what our thought process had been. He understood, but conceded the roommate wouldn't be tried at all. His lawyer would just claim someone had already been tried and found innocent of this crime, then wonder if the DA was just picking up people off the streets willy-nilly and charging them. Probably more to it but you get the gist.

[empedocles]

26. I was on a jury in 3 police officers were sued. One of the cops was

clearly bad. On tape threatening, screaming, and intimidating the plaintiff.
Credible, plaintiff alleged he was hit and thrown against wall. Had pictures
of bruising.

Largely educated, suburban jury just couldn't bring themselves to go
against the bad cop, even.

Exposed as a lawyer, I reminded the jury of weighing the evidence.
Not beyond a reasonable doubt. Weigh the credibility of the witnesses.

Depressing, but important experience.

[mcar]

27. Never

Lived and voted here since 1993. Hubby called twice but excused cuz he's a teacher. I'd be happy to serve.

[demtenjeep]

31. I'm a teacher. Probably why I didn't get picked on the 2nd trial? DA asked what my fav t-shirt was

I said I'd rather be a democrat because who ever heard of a nice piece of elephant

[Turbineguy]

28. I did.

A car crash case. Against the Judge's instructions, one of the Jurors talked about the trial to another Judges Clerk during lunch. After lunch the Judge declared a mistrial and we were done.

The next day I was not selected to serve on the trial of a guy who kicked his wife's car and put a dent in it.

Then they told me they'd call me if I was needed. They never did.

One of my neighbors got a murder trial, and they acquitted on reasonable doubt.

[Aristus]

30. I served on a jury a long time ago.

I've been summoned several times since, but have been excused because of my work at the clinic.

Our guy was up on multiple drug charges, including possession, possession with intent, and possession of a legend drug without a prescription.

We got hung up on two of the charges, but it was my argument that swayed the rest of the jurors to convict on the legend drug charge.

The defense council kept repeating that the burden of proof is on the prosecution. But I told the rest of the jury that, burden of proof or not, if I was a defense attorney with a client charge with possession of a legend drug without a prescription, the first thing I would do is get on the phone to a doctor and see if the defendant had a prescription. He never produced one at trial, which meant there wasn't one. The very fact that the charge was on the docket is proof of the defendant's guilt.

We voted to convict.

[Hekate]

47. Possession of a "legend drug"? I would call that an epic case of auto-correct, Aristus!

[Aristus]

50. How so?

It’s the FDA term for a drug for which a prescription is required.

[Hekate]

55. My blushes. I have never heard the term before. One learns something new every day, it seems.

[stopdiggin]

61. nor I ( was sure it was a misspelling) -(nt)-

[Elessar Zappa]

75. I couldn't serve on a possession case

because I'd acquit every time. I dont believe in punishment for drug use.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

33. About 20 years ago I was called for jury duty.

Spent the entire day in the voire dire part, and had selected the jury, were now going to select the alternates. Finally I was questioned. Alas, we were going on vacation two days later, already had the tickets purchased and so I was immediately dismissed.

I'm honestly astonished that in my semi-long life (I'm 72) I've only ever gotten the one call.

In a related matter, I used two know two educated people -- she was a college professor -- who didn't register to vote because they were afraid they might get called for jury duty.

[relayerbob]

34. Twice

Both were really open and shut shoplifting cases. In one, the guy was so dumb, he fought on camera with a guard, then went across a parking lot and waited for a bus. When they caught him, he was in possesion of meth and something else. After seeing that he was thoroughly screwed in the morning session, he pleased out to the shoplifting in exchange for dropping the drug possesion charges/

[Raine]

35. Once, it was one of the worst experiences of my life it

was a hung jury. I don't ever want to serve again, hated being in the position of trying to decide the fate of someone else.

[The Polack MSgt]

36. I was on a Grand Jury for 6 months

Not all in a row. We met every Friday at 8 am and heard testimony until the docket was cleared.

Usually 1230-130 in the afternoon.

It was depressing, and I came away convinced to never speak to cops without an attorney present, not only "IF" I was innocent, but "ESPECIALLY" if I was innocent.

We once asked the States Attorney whether we could True Bill the deputy giving testimony for lying and were told no. The amount of errors, exaggerations and lies were pretty startling

[Sgent]

67. Same experience

at least in the state I was in all felony's had to go through a grand jury, and my #1 take away was that 90% of convictions wouldn't happen without and admission by the perp.

[a kennedy]

37. I still feel sick bout my only jury experience.......haven't told anyone about this either.

A female with a toddler was on trial for buying drugs I think. Can’t really remember it was quite awhile ago. Anyway, I didn’t want to use an informants info on her just because he was an informant and I just didn’t trust his info. I was the only one that felt that way, we convicted her and I still feel bad. I didn’t make to big of a fuss, just mentioned that I didn’t believe the informant and not one other person felt that way, so I didn’t push it. Still feel bad. She did get prison time, and don’t know what happened to her toddler. 😢 😢 😢

[Glorfindel]

38. Many times. Grand juries, criminal and civil juries, and even

a coroner's jury once. I got a jury summons in Vietnam, but they wouldn't let me come home to serve. Can't think why. I can't say I ever enjoyed the experience, but it was nice to observe how seriously everyone took the whole process.

[Retrograde]

39. Never served on a jury (aside from DU)

I once got as far as sitting in the courtroom while prospective jurors were interviewed, but the filled the jury long before they got to me, so I was dismissed and excused for the rest of the year. The only other time I had to go to the courthouse I just sat in the jury room and read all day, then was dismissed and excused for the rest of the year. I haven't even gotten a summons in over a decade - and I'm getting close to the age when one gets automatically excused.

My husband has been on 2 juries, and was scheduled for one just when Covid shut everything down.

[brooklynite]

40. I was on a criminal jury and a Grand Jury...

The criminal case ran for a week, involved being sequestered and ended up in a mistrial.

I've been voi dired multiple times for civil cases and have never been picked.

[hunter]

41. I think it would be interesting. Alas, they always ask me a few questions, thank me...

... and send me home.

It's not like I have tattoos on my face or anything.

If I did they'd be Feynman diagrams.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feynman_diagram

[LeftInTX]

58. They don't like smart people on juries.

[redstatebluegirl]

64. Exactly!

[bedazzled]

42. been on three.

one slip and fall (boring)

one drug case

one assault

i get called all the time. last time i was vior dired they were looking for folks who would allow the state to keep assets after a pot conviction. surprisingly, after i said pot should be legal , and i don't agree that assets should arbitrarily be taken, they didn't take me

[ShazzieB]

43. I experienced voir dire once, for a murder case, but was not chosen for the jury.

It was definitely a great learning experience, but serving on the jury would have been an even better one, imo. I was disappointed not to be empaneled.

I've been a registered voter since 1972, and it's a mystery to me why I've only been called for jury duty twice in almost half a century. The first time I got a jury summons, I had just moved to a different jurisdiction and was no longer eligible to serve in the one that sent it. The second time was the experience described above. I really hope I get a chance to actually serve on a jury someday.

[ShazzieB]

48. I just remembered an interesting (to me) detail.

One of the other prospective jurors said in voir dire that as a Christian, she did not believe she had the right to sit in judgment on anyone else. Yeah, I don't get it, either.

She was quickly sent home. If I could have, I would have liked to ask her how she thought the guilt or innocence of a person accused of a crime should be determined, and whether she thought all juries should be made up of only non Christians. Her stance made absolutely no sense to me.

[herding cats]

44. I have.

A felony jail escape case.

I was the juror who felt excessive force was used on a kid (they tossed him in prickly pear cactus and then held him down in a fire ant hill) and held out to get him probation to run concurrent with his previous sentence.

They left the yard gate open and he walked out, he never ran and stopped walking when they caught up to him 2 blocks later. He was 17 at the time. It was dumb, but not the level of crime it was alleged to be by the prosecution. He was facing 10 years in prison for walking out an open gate for 2 blocks. Then stopping when he was caught. Again, it was dumb, but still a crime. The way they dealt with him was excessive and sent him to the hospital.

The DA and his assistant were waiting to speak to me at my vehicle when the trial was over. They asked me what they could have done differently to sway my opinion. I told them they lost me when they called the young man a "dog in a cage" and their dehumanizing him, after the way he was treated, was how I managed to flip the holdouts who had wanted to sentence him to 10 years.

It was one of my better moments as a human being, looking back on it.

[ShazzieB]

49. Good for you!

[herding cats]

51. Aww, thank you!

It was my one moment and it was in the latter '00's.

I think of that young man often. I hope he's doing well, but everything statistically isn't in his favor.

[Maeve]

46. Twice--one when a woman originaly pled guilty to a traffic issue, then tried to back out of her plea

Last edited Tue Apr 20, 2021, 08:53 AM - Edit history (1)

when she found out how much it was going to cost her and opted for a trial (bad move, lady--guilty).

Second was a man charged with drug possession with intent to sell--the evidence was from an undercover cop who provided the drugs. Not guilty (but watch who you associate with in the future).

[robbob]

52. All I know about Voir Dire I learned from My Cousin Vinny

[FreeState]

53. Yep - hope I never have to again

It was not a good experience for me. Murder trial - I was the last juror chosen. The murder happened outside my window. I heard the gun shots and screams.

[shanti]

84. Outside your window

and they still picked you? Wow...

[Hekate]

54. Just a few times. A bogus injury, a very serious injury, and a serial rapist...

Once the jury was impaneled so fast it made my head spin, & I think it was my question during the morning that caused the complainant to quit during lunch.

A young woman, a college student with no money, rolled into the rear bumper of a middle aged woman’s fancy car in a parking lot. The middle aged woman claimed pain (neck injury) and damages (to the car). I listened carefully, and as always, with a neutral face. There were big photos of the allegedly damaged car. There was something about the extent of the complaint that bothered me — it seemed disproportionate.

I asked: “Can you please hold up that picture so I can see it?” I frowned slightly, because I saw no evidence of damage. Not a smudge. So did everybody else. During the lunch break a fellow juror commented to me that he thought it was a bogus case, but I just rolled my eyes, mindful that we had been warned not to discuss anything.

Got back after lunch and boom! We were notified it was over as soon as we sat down.

Second one, years later, took us some days to hear all the evidence, and only one or two days to reach a verdict. A landlord was being sued by a tenant for severe burns she received from an improperly installed kitchen stove. It was Thanksgiving and she had a turkey in the oven and a tall pot of rapidly boiling water on the back of the stove. As she bent down over the open oven, the pot of water slid down and spilled across her back.

Fortunately the injured woman had a friend there who got her in the shower and sluiced her down with cold water before the ambulance came, but she still had significant hospital time and a couple of months of daily debridement at the Burn Unit, to which she could not drive herself.

So of course the landlord’s attorney brought in lots of technical evidence to show that it could never have happened like that. There were charts and photos. There were exacting measurements of the degree of tilt (such a teeny-tiny degree of tilt). There were testimonials about what a nice man the landlord was.

And indeed, he was not one of our notorious slumlords, of which we have a few. He was a self-made immigrant with calloused hands. At the time of this lawsuit he had purchased 3 houses on his block, some inhabited by family, some by tenants. He was accustomed to doing most if not all of the labor on his properties himself.

And therein lay the problem with the newly-installed stove. I don’t think he ever read the instructions — they were found in a package on the counter top. He figured he knew how to do this, he’d installed appliances before, and he did it.

But as I pointed out to my fellow jurors, there were at least 3 points at which he had failed to follow manufacturer’s instructions, not just the leveling issue. I said, I’m not an engineer or mechanic, but my dad worked for Lockheed Aircraft and every job he did around the home was as meticulous as I assumed his aircraft work was — electrical, plumbing, you name it. As for the leveling and the teeny-tiny degree of tilt — I turned to a man on the jury who was a home builder and again pointed out that while I didn’t have his expertise, isn’t there something important about that? And all of a sudden it was the home builder who got it, and who explained it, and by golly we all found for the injured woman.

The third one was emotionally gruesome. A young man was accused of raping a young woman at the beach. They were both students at the community college, I think. We had to sit all day listening while the attorneys tried to choose a jury, then were all told to come back in a week.

I had been among those who raised my hand yes when asked if I believed I could be impartial, but once I got home I became haunted as I tried to remember the names of all the women and girls who over time had told me about how they’d been raped. I could hardly sleep. I remembered my own childhood molestation. In my life I have been pretty good at compartmentalizing bad things so I could just get on with it, but this just broke down the defenses.

The following week we again assembled and listened to attorney-talk. Among other things, we were asked to review about 20 names on a whiteboard, a number of them from a county about 200 miles away — did we know any of them? Uh no. Because they would be coming to testify about his prior behaviors. Had we heard of a case there in which the defendant and several of his friends had been accused of assaulting a girl or girls in the restroom of the high school they attended? Because they’d been accused, not convicted. Oh shit no. He came to my town dragging this shadow. I’m sure his parents thought he’d be getting a fresh start.

At some point after that the judge asked us again if we had any doubts about our ability to go forward as impartial jurors, and if so, he would be glad to see us one by one in a separate room. It was kind of shocking how many women raised their hands, not just myself. I was dismissed out of that side-room almost before I could get the words out.

Later on I heard that the young man took a plea deal for 6 years, no trial. I’m sure he’s been out several years by now. For his own and everybody else’s sake, I hope he reformed, but I wouldn’t bet any money on it.

[Tree Lady]

56. Two juries

One attempted rape and other don't remember exact charges but something that happened at music festival.

First one I felt sorry for the guy zero proof he did anything and girl even testified he didn't touch her so why file? Mexican guy in rural white area, had custody of his teen because ex had drug problems, no money for bail so lost job, house he was renting and custody of kid as he was in jail for many months. I was angry at the system. Few conservative women on jury wanted to find him guilty without a shred of evidence that he did anything. What happened was he went to girlfriends house late after work before she got there, she told him daughter 18 not home so he goes in the dark lays down on bed in living room and jumps up when daughter is there and went to bedroom. Her button was undone when she woke up so she thought he did it, could have come undone just by rolling over. Luckily teacher was foreman and led us to right result not gulity.

Next one I don't remember as well but we said guilty on one charge not on other.

I find it interesting and like beng on jury.

[SeattleVet]

59. A few times. I was voted jury foreman for the last one.

When we got to the jury room, someone on the panel asked if anyone had ever been on a jury before. I was the only one, so they voted for me as foreman.

We finished up in 15 or 20 minutes. I started out by asking if there was anyone in the room that did NOT have reasonable doubt after hearing contradictory testimony from the 2 cops. One had said that he parked in a certain way when they approached the suspect; the other later said that *he* had parked the car. I mentioned that only one of them could have been driving, and said, "Let's take a quick vote to see where we stand." All voted Not Guilty.

I went to get the bailiff, and they thought needed something. I told her we were done. They recalled the judge, attorneys, and other personnel (some of whom were already headed home, since it as near the end of the workday and they figured we'd deliberate into the next day.)

[RANDYWILDMAN]

60. No, but I get called every two years, Teachers get called a lot

and we serve a lot cause we have a union that supports that service.


I never get past the questionnaire,
Four strikes
My wife is an attorney
My bff works on the local police force
I coached a student who dad is one of my counties judge and he and I are still friends
I teach at risk children who have been in and out of criminal system

[stopdiggin]

63. once. and stricken during voir dire.

Surprised that I made it as far as I did. It was a drug case, and I was pretty plain in voicing an opinion that the 'war on drugs' was a calamity. Legalize!! Could I convict if necessary? Yes -- reluctantly. The thing that struck me -- and is still my lasting memory of something that happened several decades back -- is a judge that refused to dismiss a number of people in the pool who had quite valid conflicts and compromises significant to the case. (one guy related a vicious home invasion and attack on a family member. similar profile.) Nope! Not good enough. Even as a layman, I'm looking around saying "WTF?" "Judge is a 'F'ing tool!" Thankfully -- once we got around to the place where the lawyers were allowed their 'strikes' -- calmer heads prevailed.

[HAB911]

66. voir dire three times

Wife was a legal secretary for a very large insurance company. Never chosen.

[MineralMan]

68. Yes. Twice.

The first was a trial of some protesters at a nuclear power plant. We acquitted them all.

The second ended in a mistrial. I was the foreman of that jury, only because I was the only juror who had been on a jury before. That case was about a Black man who was about to be sent to a mental hospital after his original sentence for a burglary had been served. It was an obscure law that was rarely used, and the evidence required to keep him in custody was slim and may have been a lie.

But, he was Black. So half the members of the jury voted to send him into a mental hospital indefinitely. The other half wanted him released. The jury deliberated for a very long time - several days. One juror even made a comment that was racist during the deliberation, something about "those people."

In the end, the jury was hopelessly deadlocked. The District Attorney for the county declined to retry the case, and the man was released. I guess the DA figured that any jury in that county would end up hung and did not pursue it further.

I was very, very disappointed in the jurors who voted to keep the man in custody, despite his serving his entire sentence. It was clearly a racist decision on their parts.

[Happy Hoosier]

69. Ya know, the standard is NOT 100%

It's a reasonable doubt standard, not a "No doubt" standard.

[Ilsa]

70. My spouse did.

He wasn't allowed to tell me anything about the trial, except which trial and who was prosecuting. Those two things told me everything I needed to know before the trial was over.

[mnhtnbb]

71. I did, once

in a small town in Missouri. The defendant was an African American from out of town up on assault charges for knifing a white guy. All white jury. The defendant had pleaded not guilty. He admitted to knifing the guy, but claimed self defense. His mother flew in from Los Angeles to testify to his character on his behalf.

It was a quick case. Took two and a half days. When we retired to deliberate, we decided to take a quick first vote to see where we stood. 9 guilty and 3 not guilty. I was one of the three. We turned the rest of the jury to a not guilty verdict.

The guy who was knifed admitted to starting the fight and taking a swing with a bar stool at the defendant and showed us on the stand. He claimed he was using it in self defense, but the way he held it was clear he was swinging it. We were never told why they were fighting, but the white guy ran, bleeding, from his residence to the ER--instead of driving in his truck which was in his driveway--and we suspected it was a drug deal gone bad and the drugs were in the truck. He claimed he was going to get there faster by running. Not credible. The defendant had picked up a knife in the kitchen--hadn't come armed--and was using it to keep from being battered by the bar stool.

When the verdict was read, the defendant's mother started crying, he turned and mouthed 'thank you' to us, and the white guy in the back of the courtroom stood up and was clearly pissed.

I've often wondered what happened to the defendant and whether he steered clear of "trouble" after that. He was damn lucky the three of us were on the jury.

[OriginalGeek]

73. Same as you

Voir Dire twice and picked once. Ours was a drunk driving case and the prosecution had security video of the dope stumbling out of his car and trying to open the gate to a gated community (that he didn't live in) but mostly just falling on his ass.

We voted guilty.

[ProfessorGAC]

77. Yes, March of 2020

Felony domestic battery. Also, not guilty.
In fact, our consensus was the prosecutor proved something MIGHT HAVE happened.
They were light years from proving the defendant did anything wrong.
I think the system got dragged into a family feud. Turns out the mother of the young woman who was the alleged victim, had a restraining order preventing her from contacting her ex..
The defendant was a jail guard for the county, and we were all convinced he did nothing illegal.
We deliberated for 20 minutes. I was foreman, and I called first vote. 12 not guilty votes.
From jury instructions to court adjourned was under 35 minutes.

[Notek]

79. Yes,

I was chosen as an alternate juror for a murder trial about 40 years ago; I found it quite interesting.

[hardluck]

80. Tried civil cases to a jury but never been on one

Would love to be on a jury but I never been selected. Mostly I just sit it the jury room all day and then am dismissed. Filled out a jury questionnaire once but that’s as far as I’ve made it.

[Orrex]

83. In 2009 I served on a jury for 3rd degree murder & other charges

We knew without doubt that the defendant was guilty, but the prosecutor was unable to make the case, due largely to a lack of evidence but also to a key witness recanting her earlier statement to police.

It was clear to us that she'd been coerced; she was crying and terrified on the stand, even in the face of the prosecutor's threats of charges.

In the end we convicted on criminal conspiracy but had to find him not guilty of 3rd degree murder.