Jury duty this morning for the first time ever.

[Drunken Irishman]

It's downtown at the big courthouse, if that means anything. Other family members have all had theirs at the suburban courts.

We'll see how it goes!

[av8rdave]

1. Enjoy the civic experience. I get to do it every two years.

[ChoralScholar]

2. Nobody ever calls me for jury duty.

And this would be a perfect time since I teach in the evenings.

[MicaelS]

19. Twenty-two times.....

I have a co-worker, and he has been called 22 times --- TWENTY-TWO in the last 10 years. The reason is because, he, his father, and (deceased) paternal grandfather all have the same first and last name, middle name is the only difference. And the county uses voter registration records to get potential jurors, and they don't purge the records. The people at the courthouse all know his face!!! He has only served 3 times.

[Iggo]

3. Jealous!

I get called at least once a year, sometimes twice, but I don't qualify (previous troubles with the law).

I think I'd be a great juror. I can do dispassionate at the drop of a hat.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. I've only been called once and was placed on the jury...

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...of a first-degree murder trial. Fascinating, heavy, VERY disheartening.
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I ended up being JUST like Henry Fonda in "Twelve Angry Men"... except in our
deliberations, I helped change the vote, not from guilty to innocent, but from
almost all second-degree murder to almost all first-degree murder. Part of the
problem was that no one else on the jury had had ANY experience with guns and
they had all completely misunderstood the prosecutor's explanation of how the
gun had been used and what it said about how the victim was killed.
.
We ended up with a hung jury -- 9 1st-degree, 2 second, 1 manslaughter (a bigot
and a homophobe, he had only voted manslaugter -- as opposed to NOT FUCKING
GUILTY -- when a couple of the rest of us talked about going to the judge about
him...which, as it turned out, is EXACTLY what we should have done. We just
didn't know that it COULD have been done).
.
I felt TERRIBLE... and sought out the victim's parents in the hallway outside
the courtroom after it was over and apologized and hugged them both.
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The killer was tried again within a year and that time she was found guilty
of second-degree murder.
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The most depressing AND disgusting thing about the process (aside from the
obvious about that one juror) was that two of the other jurors were self-employed
contractors and their focus -- their LOUD, CONTINUOUS and INSISTENT focus
seemed to be reminding us about how the longer we took to deliberate, the
more money we were "taking out of their pockets".
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[nolabear]

11. I had an interesting reaction to your story.

It was just a typical MFM interesting story all the way til the end when I found out your perpetrator was a woman. I guess I still think women just don't DO that shit. Silly me.

[MiddleFingerMom]

15. As I wrote that section... I realized that this mistake of presumption would occur...

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...as I catch myself doing that on occasion -- I LOVE telling people
about "my doctor did this" and "my doctor did that" and hold off on
using the pronoun "she" for as long as I can. From personal experience
(that I'm still working to change), I would probably be jolted a little
bit by a man with a female doctor -- something like that sometimes
reminds me that I've still got self-improvements to work on.
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I really NEVER trust completely anyone who says, "Why... I don't have
a prejudiced bone in my body."
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We ALL do -- the more enlightened we become, the fewer the number
of dem bones. But anyone making the above "bone" statement is lying --
either to me or to themselves.
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[driver8]

5. I was on a murder trial -- interesting experience.

Pretty heinous crime -- a guy doused another guy with gasoline and set him on fire.

Some of us wanted to give him first degree murder, but we all ended up settling on second degree murder.

Andy Richter from the Conan Show was our jury foreman.

[laundry_queen]

6. Good luck!

I served on a jury once, it was fascinating to see how the law worked.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Well that was uneventful!

I get there at 8:00, sit in a room for an hour and then the bailiff comes in and says one of the cases was settled, so if he reads your name you get to go home.

Well my name was read and I'm done for at least two years.



This is the room we all had to wait in.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. My dear Drunken Irishman...

And that's something that happens all the time...

Sorry you didn't get to see the real inner workings, but trust me, you will!

Cool pic!

And thank you for serving.

:hi:

[struggle4progress]

9. That's what happens to me every time, except it's more like

(1) Show up by 8:00 so the sheriff doesn't have to lock up your ass
(2) Watch the video on jury duty again
(3) Read until noon
(4) Listen to the familiar announcement that it's lunchbreak and please be back by 1:30
(5) Go eat lunch
(6) Kill some time
(7) Be back by 1:30 so the sheriff doesn't have to lock up your ass
(8) Read some more
(9) Around 3:00, listen for the inevitable announcement that no jurors are needed today
(10) Go get car, pay for parking, go home

[Curmudgeoness]

10. Why is it that I am always stuck with jury duty so often, when

there are so many who have never done it before! I hate jury duty, but I seem to get stuck on the jury all the time. Hate that more. In fact, the last time I was on a jury I told the judge after it was over that I would do ANYTHING to not sit again. He said it wasn't that easy, but I told him not to push it.

Ask me if I know anyone involved in the case---I will say yes, I know that the defense lawyer is a pig. Ask me if I have any reason that I cannot be impartial---I will say that I don't like the looks of the defendant. I will raise my hand for every question until they give up.

Last time I was on a jury, I almost killed one guy who refused to even listen to discussion in the jury room. He had no reasons for his opinion and would say nothing more than "I just think it was a stupid argument". Next time, I am really afraid that I will kill that one who is in every jury room.

[grasswire]

17. next time say that you are an advocate of jury nullification

It is a Constitutionally allowed principle that lets the jury decide the law as well as the facts of the case. No prosecutor or judge will let someone who is for this sit on a jury.

You can learn all about it at www.fija.org (Fully Informed Jury Association).

I actually am an advocate of jury nullification -- it stands between us and tyranny.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. Thanks for the link, and the suggestion. I have to do more research

on this, because I have asked in the past about questions that were not asked by either lawyer but I want to know about. I have been told that it is the lawyers' duty to ask all questions, and if they do not do this, I have to decide based solely on what I heard and what was presented. I have no right to ask questions as a juror. This site tells me that I do have a right to answers from witnesses. Interesting.

But most of the time, I am the one who wants to throw the book at someone instead of seeing them as victimized (but not every time). I have to deal with people who keep making a million excuses for criminal behavior. Example was a drunk driving trial where they were all unsure if the blood alcohol test done was correct. It was over three times the legal limit but they didn't like the technician who did the test because she was so nervous on the stand. I sympathized with her, but they thought she "looked like she was lying". After the verdict and trial was over, we were told that this person had been charged with twelve DUIs previously. I never thought he was being victimized.

However, I do agree with jury nullification principles from what I have seen so far on your site. How awesome to have that much power! I guess that means that you do not want to declare that you are an advocate.

[nolabear]

12. Went only once and didn't get through voire dire. Im just as glad.

I appreciate the Democratic process but can't help but be glad my number hasn't come up. In my profession I might be able to get out of it, though. I have before.

[Skittles]

13. take a book

lots of waiting

[Roon]

14. I sat on a jury for a stabbing once

we weren't allowed to talk about the case during breaks..so we would talk about the OJ trial that was going on at the time.

The girl probably did stab the other girl in the dark bar parking lot. But the prosecuter could not prove it. We quickly aquitted.

[Drunken Irishman]

22. Eh, the person probably had it coming...

:P

[Pithlet]

16. I got called for federal court this summer.

The pay and amenities are better, I have to say. The case I sat on, a civil case, only lasted a couple of weeks. It wasn't a very interesting case, but I guess that's better than sitting on a murder case. I wouldn't want to do that. It's the first time I've ever been seated on a jury.

[elleng]

18. One of the best experiences of my life!

Federal case, guy 'cheating' 9/11 fund. Couldn't find for the Govt, tho we all wanted to, but Govt just didn't make its case. I could see that the judge understood our problem, but agreed with our decision.

[littlewolf]

20. I have been called 3 x ... never served ...

I worked for DOC ... so I showed up in uniform .... heh ...
one guy I use to guard ... he did his time and went home ...
and went back to B & E ....
the Judge asked me if I knew him and I said yes ...
so I was told to go home and come back tomorrow
for a different case ... lol
the Defense never wants me on the jury .... I feel so so
so rejected .. SOB ... heh