What was that like?
I was on a jury for a civil case. We were told that the defendant had already been found liable, and it was our job to determine the amount of the damages to be awarded. It turned out that the defendant was found liable not based on the facts of the case, but because neither he nor his lawyer showed up to court on the day that question came before the court. Did not feel good about the process because of that.
@atheist yes, that was the assumption. But it was more complicated than that. His lawyer quit because he couldn’t afford to pay him.
@atheist you don’t get a public defender in a civil case. The guy barely spoke English and ended up representing himself. The court found against him on a technicality, not because of evidence that he was actually at fault, and we had to assign a value to the plaintiff’s loss without all of the information. It just wasn’t something I felt good about.
The lawyers interviewed me for jury duty in court on an insider trading sale case. When asked if I could be impartial I said, "yes I believe I could the meds I'm on shouldn't effect my reasoning". They didn't even ask what meds, I just got challenged. Nice paid day off work.
@atheist Well I was honest..lol
No, I wish I could. I'd love to be a part of the process. Unfortunately, as a CJ grad I'd be one of the first vetted out and I'll never get to. =(
Many times. I was even jury foreperson once. I don't find it that big a deal.
Yes. It was very interesting but sad. The defendant took his life while we were deliberating.
P. S. What a cute dog!
No! I want to though. I am a Social Worker and it seems we get screened out due to our natural scales of Justice and inclined to be a little over empathetic toward victims. I've been a registered voter since age 18. I've been included in the jury pool but never make it as a seated jurror. During my own civil suit I was allowed to be a part of jury selection for our case, that is when I learned that attorneys don't like Social Workers to be seated on a jury. I've thought about changing my profession that's listed on my voter registration.
They ask you when the go through the jurors and it would be at least unethical, if not illegal, to lie to the court.
I served on a jury one time. It was, in my opinion, a very interesting case involving DUI. I won't go into all the details, but we found the defendant not guilty after about a 20 minute "deliberation."
I served on a jury once. It was a drug trial. We decided the States "star" witness was a squirrel and we couldn't convict on his testimony. They got the dude later for murder though.
Nope. I got out of it. I haven't been asked since I was 18.
Called twice served only once as 1st one was a person suing city for a basement that flooded by the city sewer. (I then lived in a basement and my apartment often flooded so I was not wanted by the defense) The second was a complicated string of burglary (cars etc.) thing. I really enjoyed the experience. The person was convicted on most counts because of my input. Most people in the jury did not like the experience as it took two days. One expressed how terrible it was. I was the only one who appeared to have a good time.
@atheist I think a lot more of us would have been happy if they did. They gave us a lunch break (I walked about half an hour to a sandwich store at lunch) and they provided old pre-packaged salt, starch, and fat based (goodies). and there was a sink (for water) in the bathroom next to the jury room.
I am exempt and for most of my life not permitted to.Only because of my job not because I was a bad person.
@icolan sorry, not really comfortable and probably shouldn't. But it was nothing sinister, or super intelligent or anything. Just the places I was and things I knew, the legal system determined we would have been seen to have certain biases whilst admitting we wouldn't. So the reality is that even were I called up, either or both legal teams would have turned me down. In 2010 this all changed, now I live too far from a decent sized court to be called up.
Yes, I was chosen right after my 18th birthday, and was selected for two different jury trials.
Yes. Double murder in a small town. Guilty as charged. The evidence was airtight against him. Ended up with two life sentences to serve consecutively. He killed a young woman he was sleeping with and her friend.
Yes It was a vehicular homicide case. An alcoholic women caused a wreck that resulted in a death. We never heard testimony about her past because she never took the stand. This was her third DUI . We found her guilty but were shocked when she got 15 years. The judge explained it all to after the sentencing.
Yes, kept getting picked for jury too. Finally showed up with a green lantern "In blackest day and darkest night, No evil shall escape my sight" shirt. Picked for 3 cases before and not one after wearing that shirt.
I receieved the summons but I never had to sit through a trial... yet.
@atheist Right!? The thought had crossed my mind.