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Have you ever sat on a Jury?

Have you ever served on a Jury in a criminal trial?


  • Total voters
    35

Chuz Life

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A few years ago, I sat on my first Jury.

One Homeless man jumped by two others, stabbed with a screw-driver and robbed of 16 dollars or so so the two homeless who robbed him could go buy some more booze. (they had all been drinking together earlier that night)

We (the Jury) found the two- guilty of the assault and the robbery.

Who knows what the whole ordeal cost the taxpayers.

And after the first trial was over,... we went immediately into another trial on one of the same two who were accused.

We later found him guilty of being a 'habitual offender' and off to prison he went.

I'm curious as to how many others here have ever served on a Jury.
 
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A civil case, I was 18. Denied the plantiff ~200k in a traffic accident claim.

I was elected jury foreman (I can't remember, is that what it is called?) and we got a certificate from the judge for being an excellent jury. I hope he doesn't give one to all his juries, because we felt pretty special.

At one point in our deliberation I had to convince a couple jurors that we cannot award the plantiff half of what he was asking just because, as their argument went "who can be sure". Can you imagine? An 18 year old jury foreman needing to explain to middle-aged adults that the "who can be sure" method doesn't cut legal mustard.



Bah. I returned to answer the poll and did so before I noticed that it specified "criminal". I must be tired. My bad.
 
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i have, they seemed a bit angry, but i did manage to make it out uninjured, albeit with someone's toupee stuck to my arse.
 
I was called to be on jury duty once. I asked the judge if I could be excused after I was put on one jury, because it was a sexual assault case and I couldnt be objective about the evidence. So, I wasnt on jury duty, afterall. I had to go to the courthouse for a week everyday, in case there was another case I could be on. None came up. Around half of the cases were for sexual assault. Made me wonder just how often this happens.
 
I was called once, but they already had enough jurors so I didn't actually get to serve on a jury.
 
I've been on a jury several times, I'm really not interested in doing it anymore because it's so political. Our legal system isn't really interested in getting to the factual truth, just in being expedient and plea bargaining. Therefore, I no longer take part and when I'm called, I very honestly tell them I have no confidence in the current American legal system and that always gets me excused.
 
Yes I have even though the judge didn't want me to. He thought that since I was a student I should be in class, but after I explained to him how I wanted to be a lawyer and this would be a good learning experience he agreed. I also think the fact I told him I would not be missing any classes either helped too.
 
Yes I have even though the judge didn't want me to. He thought that since I was a student I should be in class, but after I explained to him how I wanted to be a lawyer and this would be a good learning experience he agreed. I also think the fact I told him I would not be missing any classes either helped too.

So, are you now a lawyer?
 
I have been called twice now but I have never made it past selection.
 
Just got called on the 7th of this month.

The case was a Murder 2 case. Guy took a bat to friends head and friend died later. Only 6 were picked out of 40 of us, so that was that.
 
Just got called on the 7th of this month.

The case was a Murder 2 case. Guy took a bat to friends head and friend died later. Only 6 were picked out of 40 of us, so that was that.

Were you one of the six?

I see by your vote,... that's a no.
 
Never been called, and would actually like to be. Not only would I like to see the process, but I would think that serving the community like that is important.
 
Were you one of the six?

I see by your vote,... that's a no.

Nope I was not. If I was, still mite be at trial and not posting here, lol. It would have been cool too.

I will also add being a former LEO, the chances of me actually being picked for anything other than maybe a civil case are slim to none.
 
I've been called a few times, but when they find out I'm a trial attorney, I get excused. Understandably; no lawyer wants another one on the jury second guessing him or her or seeing through the objections and whatnot...
 
I've been called a few times, but when they find out I'm a trial attorney, I get excused. Understandably; no lawyer wants another one on the jury second guessing him or her or seeing through the objections and whatnot...

This statement makes me a bit sad. In my mind the best use of the legal system would be to have it be something that everyone can understand and participate in with the goal of discovering the truth of a situation in order to establish guilt. Unfortunately, trials are often a lot of showmanship and bluff. It seems to be as much about good presentation as it is about facts or laws.
 
I get called all the time but I have never been picked
 
This statement makes me a bit sad. In my mind the best use of the legal system would be to have it be something that everyone can understand and participate in with the goal of discovering the truth of a situation in order to establish guilt. Unfortunately, trials are often a lot of showmanship and bluff. It seems to be as much about good presentation as it is about facts or laws.

Yes and no...

Sometimes during a trial, what is seen by the jury is just as important as what is not seen. Some evidence should not be available, as it is prejudicial or inadmissible for some other reason. And sometimes the lawyers make arguments about that evidence that may be somewhat incomprehensible to a jury for good reason. For instance, if a lawyer says "Objection; Rule 556!" the judge and the other attorney understands and the judge can make a decision accordingly, and this doesn't affect their judgment, whereas a lawyer on the jury would say "Whoa, what do you mean this defendant has a criminal record for doing this exact same thing?!"
 
Been called 3 times. Only once did I make it to the court room. I was dismissed. It was a DUI case. I worked in emergency services (fire). Guess the defense did not want me.
 
Been called 3 times. Only once did I make it to the court room. I was dismissed. It was a DUI case. I worked in emergency services (fire). Guess the defense did not want me.

Its weird, both times I have gotten dismissed after mentioning my profession (computers) as well. I am not sure what one has to do with another though or if it was coincidence.
 
I've been called to jury duty about 8 times, but never served on a Jury.

The funniest way I've ever been disqualified form being on a jury was one time when the third person questioned for the jury selection process was an older black woman, and she was asked if she had ever been the victim of a crime and she said "Just last week I had my purse snatched by some young man. Come to think of it, that boy over there look familiar."

They determined that this statement might have introduced bias against the defendant for all of us and we all got sent home. :lol:
 
My favorite story was when the DA said "Now, one of our witnesses will be Trooper Smith. Does anyone here know Trooper Smith?"

One hand went up.

"Yes? And how do you know Trooper Smith?"

"I AM Trooper Smith."
 
yes
federal court
criminal case
possession of a weapon by a convicted felon
guilty
 
Have you ever sat on a Jury?


Nah. I've been called up three times, but I've always gotten out of it.
Can't afford to miss the work. We live paycheck to paycheck.
I wish employers would be forced to pay you for days you miss while serving jury duty, because I'd like to be on a jury someday.
 
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