Jury Duty

[Tony in Tarzana]

Well, I got my notice, showed up at the courthouse yesterday in my suit and fedora, read most of The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, and went home. They didn't need me, so I've done my bit and can't be called again for a year.

Anyone have any jury duty stories they'd like to share? I was relieved that I didn't get called, but disappointed in an odd way as well.

 

[Zemke Fan]

About ten years ago...

... I served on the Montgomery County (Maryland) grand jury for three months. Service was once a week on Thursdays and there was no way to get out of it. (Everyone can serve one day a week they said.) It was one of the most rewarding and yet depressing experiences of my life.

For those of you unfamiliar: "A grand jury is part of the system of checks and balances, preventing a case from going to trial on a prosecutor's bare word. It, as an impartial panel of ordinary citizens, must first decide whether there exists probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed."

I say that it was rewarding in that you felt part of the judicial process, keeping the prosecutors on their toes. I say that it was depressing because an alarming number of cases involved child sexual abuse. I was truly stunned at how many children are molested.

 

[Lincsong]

I went a couple months ago in Oakland. It was a civil case. A guy on a bicycle was riding on the sidewalk, a woman was pulling out of a gas station and the two met. He was representing himself, she was from Connecticutt. She flew to the other side of the country to appear in court. When it came to selecting jurors, his main questions to potential jurors were; Do you ride a bicycle? Have you ever used alternative medicine? Have you ever rented a car? I wasn't called but it was very entertaining.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I know it's my civic duty to go to jury duty once a year. But, with the illness I have, there is no way I'd make it through an entire day sitting in a court room. I just got called up again, contacted my doctor, and she wrote me a note to get out of it. Once again, I know it is my duty, but I really can't sit for long periods of time. My doctor thinks it's funny that the state asks for my medical records as proof of illness. Last year they were sent to the state in 4 large boxes. Hey, they wanted them. It's someones job to actually read these records and determine if I really can't do the job. I'm pretty sure they just looked at the giant brown boxes, and made there determination based on the size of my medical records.
I would like to sit at some time, I have heard some very interesting stories about people sitting on juries here in Boston.

 

[raiderrescuer]

Jury Duty...

I got called when I was in the Military...seems the state of Oregon didn't want to ship me from my Air Base in Turkey just for a petty criminal trial.

Now, I work at a Correctional Institution and it automatically disqualifies me...might sentence the little buggers to where I work and yes, a high percentage of our inmates are Meth Heads and Child Sex Abusers.

 

[Honey Doll]

I'm probably in the minority on this one...

I would LOVE to be called for jury duty. I'm a trial lawyer tho and this is kind of my bag. I will probably never be picked for a jury though because I am a lawyer. I think it would be pretty interesting to hear it all from the other side of the box.

Honey Doll

 

[The D.A.]

I've never served on a jury, and as a prosecutor and former cop I doubt that I ever will. Attorneys and cops are usually the first ones struck in jury selection. I actually wish that I could serve on a jury in a criminal case sometime, as I think that it would be fascinating to see a trial from that point of view. Of course, with my luck, I'd serve on a case where the jury had to be sequestered for months in some flea-bag hotel.

 

[Girl Friday]

I have to go on the 19th. I haven't had to in 10 years. I'll let you know. I think in am number 600 and something so chances are I will not get picked.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

WOW! So many people in Law Enforcement on The Lounge. I had no idea, that is great!! Now, if I ever need a lawyer (hopefully I won't) I'll know where to go. My brother is a patent lawyer, I don't even know what it is he really does, he's a doctor of physics turned lawyer, go figure, don't think he'd be any use to me if I got in trouble.
Well, just wanted to say I think it's great how many lawyers and law enforcement people we have around.

 

[Quigley Brown]

When I was working as the photographer for a paper back in Iowa I was called for duty for a case involving a man who threatened to bomb a Job Service office. I covered that incident for the paper, got a shot of the guy being arrested and so forth. I had already formed an opinion (not guilty) about the case before I even walked in to the court room. I told the lawyers all this yet I wasn't dismissed from the jury.

 

[scotrace]

Two Interesting Cases

The first about 1994. Two Cubans driving through Ohio are stopped, mainly because they have FL plates and look suspicious, by a trooper. They spoke no english. He searched their car and found a 5lb. brick of coke under the back seat. We were hearing the case against the car's passenger, who claimed no knowledge.
The jury hung. I was foreman. The debate was somewhat ugly, with some older men on the jury wanting to "send a message" to persons of color "down there."
The driver of the car ended up walking on a plea bargain.

The other was last year. A civil case filed by an Argentine oil company against their US representative, a one-man operation who was doing business by the seat of his pants, had no written contract, etc. The Argentine company was awarded a partial settlement. A very confusing case. I was foreman for that one also.

It's a lot of sitting. But you really do learn a lot about people and get to know fellow jurors very quickly.

 

[Barry]

I was in for jury duty on the 29th of August. I was called for the first panel and then when we were out in the hallway the clerk said "I have good news. You can leave for the day." I also might not have been selected anyway based on who I was working for at the time.

Barry

 

[ortega76]

I've been called twice but wasn't selected both times. Both times have been in Champaign county. I brought a book, read for most of both days. In the first case, I was disqualified because I was a student (at the time) and the case was a civil matter between a student and a resident (car accident). The second time, I just sat around and waited. I guess thery settled their issues outside of a trial. Not very exciting.

 

[McPeppers]

Thanks to college and eventually graduate school I wont be getting called up any time soon...drat ><

 

[Rosie]

I ALWAYS seem to get called during my summers off. The last time I was called was about a year or so ago. It was a case I was glad I wasn't picked for, some guy was accused of taking advantage of a mentally challenged girl.

 

[McPeppers]

Yeah I know I would not have gotten a callback for that case...probably wouldn't have been impartial... as much as I would like to think I could be

 

[Haversack]

I've been called a couple of times. Each time, however, was for a murder trial which was estimated to last three months. As the company I work can provide only three days jury duty compensation, I've had to apply for and receive a hardship excuse. There is a reason why juries tend to be made up of retirees.

Back in the old days of San Francisco, juries were made up of people hanging around the courthouse. It was reletively simple to have your friends hang around the courthouse on the day of your trial and end up on your jury. Various gangs and corrupt officials made a practice of this. Murderers routinely walked despite eyewitness testimony. It ended up finally with the first Commmittee of Vigilence being formed.

Haversack.

 

[Andykev]

Long time ago

I was called a couple times, but have never been selected. I would love to sit on a jury.

I do have a rather "bad" story to relate, and it is one of the tricks used by some to avoid being called. The guy I know owns his own business, sole proprietor. He was called for jury duty, and just couldn't afford to shut down his business for a couple of weeks. It was a drunk driving with injury case. So the lawyer is asking the potential jurors the questions (Voir Dir) http://members.aol.com/richrwg/advtt/hbjury.htm
and this guy is asked "Sir, would you take the word of a police officer over that of a citizen?" After a brief moment of reflection, the guy anwers "That depends". Mildly annoyed, the attorney askes what does it depend on.

The guys answers "Is the officer white or black". He was immediately excused. And he was given dirty looks by everyone in the courtroom. So, he lied to get out of his civic responsibility. I was shocked at hearing this, and the guy doing that.

But we have articles every so often in our paper about the juries being slanted one way or the other.

 

[The Captain]

A case of murder

The last time I served on jury duty was several years ago. After the trial was over I wrote the following to send to some of my friends who were interested in the outcome:

Well, the jury that I have been on these last five weeks finally reached a meeting of the minds and Friday morning we found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree. We also found him guilty of two lesser firearms violations. After we were released, we went out into the hall and were confronted by several members of the victim’s family. You know me, I can get pretty emotional, so when this little black lady with tears in her eyes, clutching a picture of her murdered daughter, comes up to me and gives me a hug – well, it was all this old Italian could do to keep from losing it right there. There was hardly a dry eye in the whole place.
When we – all the jurors – had received handshakes and hugs from all the relatives, we went into another room to have a few words with the prosecutor. Man, did he ever prove we had made the right decision! You know how the court system works, as a juror we knew nothing of the defendant’s past crimes; We were to decide his fate on the merits of the evidence presented to us pertaining to this case and this case alone. The first words out of the prosecutor’s mouth were, “If you had known what a bad person he really is, you would have been in the jury room building a scaffold instead of deliberating this case”. We were told of a life of crime dating back to when this guy was a teenager. He had shot three people, had been a dope dealer all of his life. This time he burst into a crowded bar and shot his wife seven times. The wife had secured a restraining order against him just three weeks previous to the killing, and at that time said that he had threatened her, her son and her family with death. She also requested that a 9MM pistol be taken away from him. She told the court that she had disposed of another 9MM that she suspected that he had used to murder someone. As a convicted felon, he was not supposed to be in the same house where there were weapons, let alone have one. As it turned out the weapon that killed her was a 9MM.
After the shooting, which was witnessed by several people that knew him, he talked to a detective in Eureka and tried to say that he had never left Richmond –“Ain’t been budgin’”, as he put it. When it was evident that his alibi was bogus, he fled to Lake County and started dealing again using an alias. Several months passed before he was apprehended in a drug bust in Clear Lake Oaks.
I feel good about being a part of the system that took this person off of the streets and, as this looks like his “third strike”, hopefully no one will ever be hurt by him again.

 

[Briscoeteque]

Being 19, most people don't get asked, let alone actually serve. I did both over the summer. It was really boring, mostly because the defense lawyer was a huge windbag. It ended up being six days long. But upon going to the courthouse in pinstriped DB with fedora, the security guard stopped me in jest, accused me of being 'in cahoots' with someone, so picking the most recognizable pick, I said 'Yeah, I've worked a little with Meyer Lansky'. Then he told me that he thought I was working for Dutch Schultz (my favorite gangster). Naturally we got into this big talk, and he told me that the Dutchman used to live in a hotel down the street while on the lam, and that he genuinely liked the city of Bridgeport.

That's the most interesting story, everyone else thought I was just a lawyer.