Jury duty experiences, want to share?

[kasar]

Well, I just wrapped up my civic duty of serving jury duty (4 day trial, 2 days deliberating!). It was an extremely difficult case and I'm completely drained. I was so consumed by the case and I'm finding it difficult to stop thinking about. I'm not really happy with the verdict but the D.A. and the police did a really crummy job proving their burden. I'm tempted to write to the D.A. to tell him how shoddy the case was but I'm not sure if that would be welcomed or even allowed.

I'm proud of the work we did - we really deliberated in a very fair and balanced way. I wish everyone involved knew how their case was treated with such care and concern by all 12 of us, we looked at all sides fairly and expressed our opinions honestly and with respect. In fact, I think we took more care with this case than the police did (which is the true crime, given the nature of the accusations!). All in all, it wasn't that bad but not something I'd like to repeat any time soon. I really need to get it out of my head though - I think I see the defendants everywhere I go, which is completely silly. Please share your experiences.....

 

[Breezy_Carol]

The only time I was called for jury duty, I didn't get chosen.

It sounds like you took your job very seriously and with much thought. Thank you for doing your civic duty.

 

[luvdisney81]

I was called and picked 3 times for cases that lasted about half a day each. 2 were for DUI's and one having neon lights that were an illegal color on the car. We decided guilty for all 3 and I found it very interesting. I am a college student and most people were telling me ways to get out of it, but I think it is important and part of our duty. One man defended himself, and I see why we should have lawyers, they know what they are doing. One DUI case we almost let the lady off, they had video we watched and everything but we didn't feel it was a strong enough case. Then we saw the papers she signed after being taken in, waiting and going through procedures. Her signiture didn't stay on the line. It was at a severe angle. After 2 hours of sobering time, she still couldn't sign her name legible or correctly. That is what ultimately convicted her. I loved serving jury duty!

 

[jipsy]

I just went for the first time. Sat in a room all day with about 100 other people - everyone was dismissed but my panel. They began calling jurors and had the 7 chosen before they got to me. I went home.

 

[Pooh67_68]

I have only been called once for jury duty, and everytime one of the lawyers would look at me I would look them right in the eyes.
After doing this about 5 times, they stoped looking at me and eventually I was never choosen.

 

[Margie J]

I served on a jury once, a three day trial. It was a case of alleged sexual abuse of a minor, which had been bounced around in the court system for years. The ex-wife was claiming that her ex-husband touched their toddler DD in a sexual manner. The claim was then made that the child told her GM "daddy touches me there" as her diaper was being changed.

In defense the fact that the father worked nights and had to care for his child (including diapering and bathing) during the day was brought out. How could he not touch his child's private parts if he was cleaning and diapering his DD? Was the one statement of "daddy touches me there", which was not witnessed by anyone else, an innocent comment or something more?

We found the ex-husband not guilty. After we were dismissed one jurer was in tears. She was a mother and was upset about the possibility that this child may have been molested. As a jury we could not find him guilty. There was no substantial evidence.

I found the process interesting and was happy to serve. Serving also teaches you to look at things objectively and weigh each side presented. If you do it properly you can't and shouldn't jump to conclusions. Our Judge kept reminding us of that.

 

[DVC-Don]

I served three months of grand jury duty last fall (Oct - Dec) here, 2 days a week. I found it VERY interesting and am still following cases in the paper that we indicted. It is amazing seeing, hearing (and holding) the evidence compared to what the reporters write about. Are they at the same case?

 

[kasar]

Originally posted by Pooh67_68
I have only been called once for jury duty, and everytime one of the lawyers would look at me I would look them right in the eyes.
After doing this about 5 times, they stoped looking at me and eventually I was never choosen.

I'm trying that next time!

Here's a question for anyone who's been on a jury: When you were let out for lunch or to leave for the day, did you walk out a separate door and did you park in a specific place for jurors? Here, we had to come in and out the door with all the defendants and their huge groups of friends and family hovering around which was very disconcerting. Our cars were sometimes parked next to theirs. It was a very serious case and I have to admit, I felt very nervous and intimidated by them although they never said anything to us or anything. Just curious.

 

[minniepumpernickel]

You sound like an excellent jury person. It's great that people like you get picked.

I've never been picked, and I always vote for every election. I would like to serve on a jury. I watch all of the Law and Order shows, and all of the shows about crime, etc.

 

[chell]

Originally posted by luvdisney81
... Her signiture didn't stay on the line. It was at a severe angle. After 2 hours of sobering time, she still couldn't sign her name legible or correctly. That is what ultimately convicted her. I loved serving jury duty!

Did you have one of when she was sober to comapre it to?

 

[KatelynnsAuntie]

Originally posted by kasar
I'm tempted to write to the D.A. to tell him how shoddy the case was but I'm not sure if that would be welcomed or even allowed.

As someone who works with federal prosecutors I just want to say that they are always, always interested in what the jurors thought, what worked, what didn't work, etc. I would definately write to the D.A. It just may help him win his next case.

Your case sounds kinda like O.J.'s...I've read that most of the jurors thought he was guilty, but they didn't think the prosecution proved it...so they felt they had to come back with a verdict of not guilty.

 

[Grog]

I have been called a few times and chosen once. It was a murder trial. The defendant had been getting drunk with his Wife and Brother when they got in an argument. He pulled a gun and threatened to start shooting. The Brother and Wife ran for it. When they got to the driveway, the brother ran one way and got away. The wife ran into a hedge and got tangled and her husband walked up behind her, put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger. She was only 19.

His lawyer never denied that he had shot her, but was trying to make an argument to get him convicted on a lesser charge. The trial lasted a week and the initial vote was about half for Murder, about half for Voluntary Manslaughter, and one for Involuntary Manslaughter. We deliberated for two days and found him guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter. Due to having a history of violence we gave him the max of 20 years.

A couple of years later I ran into the defense attorney at a restaurant and reminded him of the case. He told me that apparently there was a problem with a piece of evidence the DA had presented and the verdict was overturned. Instead of going through another trial, his client made a plea bargain and got 10 years.

It was an interesting experience and I wouldn't mind serving again.

 

[Briar Rose 7457]

I've only been called to jury duty once. when the plaintiff's attorney found out what I do for a living, he turned to defense counsel and asked if I could be dismissed "for cause". you don't want someone who practices in the property and casualty insurance field to sit on an auto accident case.

on the other hand, my mother, a retired attorney, recently sat on a medical malpractice jury. she found it very interesting to be sitting on the other side of the fence.

 

[kasar]

Originally posted by KatelynnsAuntie


Your case sounds kinda like O.J.'s...I've read that most of the jurors thought he was guilty, but they didn't think the prosecution proved it...so they felt they had to come back with a verdict of not guilty.

Yes, a bit. It wasn't as bad as that case (it was an abuse case which didn't result in death although it easily could have) but I wish that we had a hundredth of the care and detail that went into the OJ trial. Nobody really cared enough about these people to put in much effort which was really sad and the victim deserved much better, in my opinion. The assistant DA seemed to be going through the motions, I just wanted to shout out questions for him to ask (silly things like times and dates? ), it was frustrating. I don't really watch many Law and Order type shows, but I can see that scriptwriters haven't spent much time in everyday courtrooms.

 

[doxdogy]

I have only served on one jury and it was for a murder trial. The man had essentially stalked the woman and then he did eventually murder her. We did find him guilty and sentenced him to death.

 

[mum4jenn]

I have served several times and one case was a murder case and things got really ugly in the deliberation room.The accused admitted that he killed the person but said it was self defense. We had an old guy on the jury that was trying to say he did not think the accused shot the man!!! The accused man took the stand and stated he killed him and this man still could hardly be convinced of this!!!!! We got so loud shouting at this idiot that the judge called us back into the court room and told us we had to control ourselves.


Another case that stands out in my mind was a theft at a Sears. The guy was walking out of Sears into the Mall carrying a shipping box of jeans and said he was looking for a bathroom. I think the box had something like 25 pair of jeans in it!! When we got into the deliberation room we decided in about 2 seconds he was guilty but we were embarrased to go back out so soon so we sat in there for about 10-15 minutes so it would look like we had to really think about it.

 

[froglady]

I sat on a jury many,many years ago. It was right after the voting age was lowered, so I was the youngest juror (at the time) to serve. I had to be dismissed from one case when it became apparent that my name might be in a medical record that was introduced as evidence...it was an assault case.

Since moving, I've been summoned twice, 10 years apart. BOTH times I was nursing an infant, so was excused. I'm waiting for the next summons...it's about time, and I don't (Thank God) have an excuse this time.