Jury Duty

[Musketeer_alum97]

I have been waiting for 11 years to get selected, and they won't pick me.:irked:

[Alabama Larry]

Gone 3 times, served on several jury trials, and been jury foreman on three different trials. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. If you get a chance to serve, do it. Some day you might need a good jury.

[madman]

I've never been served for jury duty and I'm as old as the cave man.

[atticus7]

Gone 3 times, served on several jury trials, and been jury foreman on three different trials. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. If you get a chance to serve, do it. Some day you might need a good jury.

 

That is what I tell jurors who say they just can't sit for some reason and I feel they are just wanting to get off. I tell them if everyone felt like you, you realize if you were robbed or even in a wreck and could not settle with your or the other guys insurance company...that there would be no courthouse to go to. I particularly don't like those who say they cannot sit in judgment of another for religious reasons but cannot say what part of the bible makes them feel that way. Those who sincerely feel that way I do release. Remember, if you ever wanted a hot shot lawyer to tend to your every need, sit on the jury. I have them come up and say, "juror no. 3 looks tired and needs a break" all the time. It is the most powerful you will ever be for those days you are on the jury.

[KYNINERSFAN]

Gone 3 times, served on several jury trials, and been jury foreman on three different trials. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. If you get a chance to serve, do it. Some day you might need a good jury.

I love jury duty.:jump::jump::jump: Been only picked 2 times though. They won't let you volunteer. My wife has been chosen 3 times and is currently serving. When she was picked this time I went to the County Court Clerk ,a friend of mine, and asked to fill in for her and he said they would'nt allow that. I could be a full time , life long jury member if they would allow me too.

[AcesFull]

4 times for state, 1 time for federal. I get kicked off of every jury, because of my line of work, it is truly a wast of time for me

This is one of the many problems with the system. People should be selected to sit on juries at random and only disqualified for cause. Neither side in either criminal or civil cases seems honestly committed to justice and arbitrarily booting people who fit certain profiles (lawyers, doctors, business managers, engineers, etc.) from serving on juries is wrong. The voir dire system is broken and needs to be fixed.

 

I was asked during voir dire in a judge's chambers once if I thought that the fact that the defendant had been arrested and charged with the crime made it more likely that she was guilty. My reply was basically if it didn't, then maybe we should just randomly arrest people and charge them with crimes - but I added that her being charged did not necessarily mean that she was guilty and that I could render a fair verdict in the case.

 

The judge did not dismiss me with cause and the defendant's lawyer apparently used one of his "free strikes" to replace me on the jury. His client got a slap on the wrist while her co-defendants received stiff sentences that were later overturned. Had I been allowed to sit on the jury, I would have argued that all of the defendants deserved the same punishment and that none of them should have been punished for having incompetent attorneys.

 

The boys that received the harsh sentences had numerous tatoos and wore some inappropriate attire to their trial for armed robbery. In short, they looked more like they belonged in prison and the girl looked like the girl next door. A wardrobe consultant advising them to wear button-up long sleeved shirts could probably have gotten 10 years knocked off the boys' sentences. Too often, we end up with juries of people too stupid to take their jobs seriously and not surprisingly, justice is denied everybody involved.

 

I agree 100% with Alabama Larry and Atticus - someday you may need a good jury and if you shirk your own duty to serve then you should not complain when you lose a lawsuit or find yourself unjustly charged and convicted of a crime that you did not commit.

[AcesFull]

I love jury duty.:jump::jump::jump: Been only picked 2 times though. They won't let you volunteer. My wife has been chosen 3 times and is currently serving. When she was picked this time I went to the County Court Clerk ,a friend of mine, and asked to fill in for her and he said they would'nt allow that. I could be a full time , life long jury member if they would allow me too.

I have only served one time and I also enjoyed the experience. The expression on a slip and fall lawyer's face when he loses an unwarranted suit after advising his client not to settle is priceless. The incompetence of a couple of public defenders was also a real eye opener for me.

 

I was shocked at how poorly prepared one lawyer in particular came for a murder trial. The same public defender handled the case of the two young armed robbers that I mentioned above in my previous post. The murderer was obviously guilty and I would have gladly voted for the death penalty for him had it been an option but every American citizen deserves a competent defense and he did not receive one, IMO.

[ladiesbballcoach]

Never been selected.

Always wanted to serve.

[Ram]

AcesFull, I agree. When I was selected the first time, I was excited, I wanted to serve. But, after being removed from, something like ten juries because I work closely with law enforcement and work in the medical field, I know that going to jury duty is just a waste of time for me.

 

I also agree with Alabama Larry, you never know when you are going to need a good jury.

[HammerTime]

Never for me.

[Hearsay]

That is what I tell jurors who say they just can't sit for some reason and I feel they are just wanting to get off. I tell them if everyone felt like you, you realize if you were robbed or even in a wreck and could not settle with your or the other guys insurance company...that there would be no courthouse to go to. I particularly don't like those who say they cannot sit in judgment of another for religious reasons but cannot say what part of the bible makes them feel that way. Those who sincerely feel that way I do release. Remember, if you ever wanted a hot shot lawyer to tend to your every need, sit on the jury. I have them come up and say, "juror no. 3 looks tired and needs a break" all the time. It is the most powerful you will ever be for those days you are on the jury.

 

Amen.

 

Jury duty should be viewed as a privilege, not an obligation. I often begin my opening arguments with a brief reference to the Magna Carta and nearly 800 years of western law.

[Hearsay]

This is one of the many problems with the system. People should be selected to sit on juries at random and only disqualified for cause. Neither side in either criminal or civil cases seems honestly committed to justice and arbitrarily booting people who fit certain profiles (lawyers, doctors, business managers, engineers, etc.) from serving on juries is wrong. The voir dire system is broken and needs to be fixed.

 

I was asked during voir dire in a judge's chambers once if I thought that the fact that the defendant had been arrested and charged with the crime made it more likely that she was guilty. My reply was basically if it didn't, then maybe we should just randomly arrest people and charge them with crimes - but I added that her being charged did not necessarily mean that she was guilty and that I could render a fair verdict in the case.

 

The judge did not dismiss me with cause and the defendant's lawyer apparently used one of his "free strikes" to replace me on the jury. His client got a slap on the wrist while her co-defendants received stiff sentences that were later overturned. Had I been allowed to sit on the jury, I would have argued that all of the defendants deserved the same punishment and that none of them should have been punished for having incompetent attorneys.

 

The boys that received the harsh sentences had numerous tatoos and wore some inappropriate attire to their trial for armed robbery. In short, they looked more like they belonged in prison and the girl looked like the girl next door. A wardrobe consultant advising them to wear button-up long sleeved shirts could probably have gotten 10 years knocked off the boys' sentences. Too often, we end up with juries of people too stupid to take their jobs seriously and not surprisingly, justice is denied everybody involved.

 

I agree 100% with Alabama Larry and Atticus - someday you may need a good jury and if you shirk your own duty to serve then you should not complain when you lose a lawsuit or find yourself unjustly charged and convicted of a crime that you did not commit.

 

I could not more wholeheartedly disagree. The voir dire system has been in place for nearly 800 years and is part of a legal process that is much bigger than you or I. There are a lot of people who frankly want to get on the jury for particular reasons, and peremptory strikes help as a hedge against that.

 

Your assertions that neither side is committed to justice and that juries are stupid is offensive, and frankly is a departure from your usual avoidance of Oprah Winfrey-ish type TV opinions.

[Hearsay]

I have only served one time and I also enjoyed the experience. The expression on a slip and fall lawyer's face when he loses an unwarranted suit after advising his client not to settle is priceless. The incompetence of a couple of public defenders was also a real eye opener for me.

 

I was shocked at how poorly prepared one lawyer in particular came for a murder trial. The same public defender handled the case of the two young armed robbers that I mentioned above in my previous post. The murderer was obviously guilty and I would have gladly voted for the death penalty for him had it been an option but every American citizen deserves a competent defense and he did not receive one, IMO.

 

It is attitudes such as those expressed in the first paragraph that merely reinforce why peremptory strikes are necessary.

[Einstein70]

Twice for me but never was pick for the jury.

[Big Slick]

I have never been picked, but if I got full pay from work, I would love it.