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I got selected for jury duty. I'll show up with massive bed-head, in dirty clothes, spouting every line of conspiracy theory known to man and be out of there before lunch. Anybody else have any jury duty stories?

I did jury service and served on a drugs trial. A small gang was captured with about a hundredweight of cannabis resin.

There were four defendants. Three were convicted and got about 6 years each. The fourth was let off because there wasn't any solid evidence against him. He had just been driving the car when the police arrested them. There was documentary evidence against the rest of them.

After the verdict, the family made threats against the jury and we were dismissed and let out through the judge's secret escape tunnel. I was a bit worried because the gang's lockup was down the street from where I lived at the time, but nothing happened.

I was selected the week of final exams...for my students. I felt they
were reasonably okay so I didn't push for any hardship. My principal
insinuated that I should have lied, lol.

I couldn't though. I was working off some guilt that I had from
college when I had gotten out of jury duty.

Malpractice suit against a doctor. After the trial (maybe a week?) we
met for maybe half an hour. It was pretty clear that there
wasn't grounds for malpractice. At the end of it, our judge
spoke to us about how infrequently malpractice lawsuits win.

I was only selected once, a civil suit that basically boiled down to an ambulance-chasing lawyer bullying this old couple into suing a doctor because there was no treatment for this guy's chronic condition. We deliberated about a day and a half, mostly because half the jurors were idiots who thought they were bravely setting an important precedent. The judgment was for the defendant. Most of the other times I was not selected all I was able to find out was that the defendant was some anonymous crack dealer who would spend his whole life in and out of jail. I'll keep Dakka updated about my efforts to avoid doing my dubious duty.

malfred wrote:Malpractice suit against a doctor. After the trial (maybe a week?) we
met for maybe half an hour. It was pretty clear that there
wasn't grounds for malpractice. At the end of it, our judge
spoke to us about how infrequently malpractice lawsuits win.

Most(but not all) malpractice suits not involving surgery are flagrant wastes of time for everyone involved. Unless you can genuinely prove that the doctor has no idea what they're doing or you genuinely know better than the doctor(not THINK you know better, you actually DO) what's the best way to be treated, malpractice suits tend to be patients backlashing against the doctor for not doing something/everything the way the patient believes it needs to be done, despite said patient not having any inkling of medical knowledge. My father has been sued frivolously for malpractice many times, and mostly by the people who cause their own medical problems. He's a Podiatrist who specializes in Diabetic Medicine, used to work at the Carville Leperosy Hospital/Colony, when he says change your life style or you'll lose your foot, you really should listen...

Let's see...

The last time I was selected for Jury duty:
- a couple people gave "grudging" answers that they could be impartial, and this got them removed from potential pool

- one guy came in looking like a homeless guy, ranted and raved about how he wouldn't do it, and that the judge could lock him up, etc, etc... He got to stay for a "private discussion" after the rest of us were released.

Good luck, warpcrafter - let us know how it goes.

I don't think they enjoy putting convicted felons on jury duty.

I guess, in that respect, I'm a lucky guy.

I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country. I find it really pathetic when I hear people go into it with the attitude of finding anyway possible to get thrown out.

Kilkrazy wrote:I did jury service and served on a drugs trial. A small gang was captured with about a hundredweight of cannabis resin.

There were four defendants. Three were convicted and got about 6 years each. The fourth was let off because there wasn't any solid evidence against him. He had just been driving the car when the police arrested them. There was documentary evidence against the rest of them.

After the verdict, the family made threats against the jury and we were dismissed and let out through the judge's secret escape tunnel. I was a bit worried because the gang's lockup was down the street from where I lived at the time, but nothing happened.

Wow, there's no way I would have ever admitted they were guilty. That's awful.

I've been summoned 5 times but 4 were during medical school and so much is compulsory assessment I couldn't miss a week and once a couple years ago as a doctor, but working as an intern preculded me.

Fallen668 wrote:I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country. I find it really pathetic when I hear people go into it with the attitude of finding anyway possible to get thrown out.

It's because the system is mired with pointless crap. For every crack or meth or weed dealer that goes to jail, another one slide in and takes over. Most violent crime is done in the heat of the moment and can't be prevented by the threat of punishment. That's why my brother gave up his job as a paramedic. He got tired of basically cleaning up after drive-by shooting and convenience store robberies. "Civic duty" is a little like the flu, those who are stuck with it have no-one but themselves to blame.

Fallen668 wrote:I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country. I find it really pathetic when I hear people go into it with the attitude of finding anyway possible to get thrown out.

You've never done jury duty, have you?

Chrysaor686 wrote:I don't think they enjoy putting convicted felons on jury duty.

I guess, in that respect, I'm a lucky guy.

Tell story! Tell story!

Fallen668 wrote:I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country. I find it really pathetic when I hear people go into it with the attitude of finding anyway possible to get thrown out.

I am ashamed that I did it. Sure, there's a lot of pointlessness to Jury Duty, but it's what
we wanted in our country and it's what we want. I don't think you can streamline right to
a trial by your peers so that only "important" cases get heard.

warpcrafter wrote:I got selected for jury duty. I'll show up with massive bed-head, in dirty clothes, spouting every line of conspiracy theory known to man and be out of there before lunch. Anybody else have any jury duty stories?

Careful.
If you seem to be obviously trying to ditch it, the judge can AND WILL cite you for contempt of court.

Eric

Fallen668 wrote:I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country.

So was compulsory military service, and we don't do that anymore, either.

If you have absolutely nothing to do as a productive member of society, jury duty is a fine thing.

However, the vast majority of us have to work.

And jury duty will typically cost people a week's regular pay in exchange for free parking.

Perhaps longer if it's any sort of significant trial.

It's a pretty expensive obligation that, interestingly, doesn't have to be met by anybody that is actually involved with creating, enforcing, or interpreting the law because they automatically give themselves passes from this kind of service.

IMO, it's utter crap and should be outsourced to a professional state-paid juries, or else reimbursed at full wage value.

Trial by jury is utter crap. How can a bunch of randomly selected citizens come to a verdict on a year and a half fraud case involving highly comples economics? They can't. I couldn't.

MagickalMemories wrote:

warpcrafter wrote:I got selected for jury duty. I'll show up with massive bed-head, in dirty clothes, spouting every line of conspiracy theory known to man and be out of there before lunch. Anybody else have any jury duty stories?

Careful.
If you seem to be obviously trying to ditch it, the judge can AND WILL cite you for contempt of court.

Eric

I'll be subtle. AND, my powers of visible apathy and my ability to appear utterly incapable have stood me in good stead. I've gotten out of many, many undesirable tasks by simply not looking like I could do it.

Greebynog wrote:Trial by jury is utter crap. How can a bunch of randomly selected citizens come to a verdict on a year and a half fraud case involving highly comples economics? They can't. I couldn't.

What is most interesting to me is, in the US, if you're a graduate professor of Economics, you wouldn't be allowed to use any of your knowledge or training in deciding the case.

Totally slowed.

JohnHwangDD wrote:

Greebynog wrote:Trial by jury is utter crap. How can a bunch of randomly selected citizens come to a verdict on a year and a half fraud case involving highly comples economics? They can't. I couldn't.

What is most interesting to me is, in the US, if you're a graduate professor of Economics, you wouldn't be allowed to use any of your knowledge or training in deciding the case.

Totally slowed.

I agree with John. Can someone check the temperature in hell? I think it's about freezing...

Doctor Thunder wrote:

Fallen668 wrote:I will never understand this idea that people have about shirking their civic duty. Yeah sure... jury duty sucks, but it is part of being a citizen of this country. I find it really pathetic when I hear people go into it with the attitude of finding anyway possible to get thrown out.

You've never done jury duty, have you?

I have been called up twice but was vetted in the voir dire. I made no attempts to get out of it and answered true and correct to the best of my knoweledge on all questions asked.

JohnHwangDD wrote:So was compulsory military service, and we don't do that anymore, either.

If you have absolutely nothing to do as a productive member of society, jury duty is a fine thing.

However, the vast majority of us have to work.

And jury duty will typically cost people a week's regular pay in exchange for free parking.

Perhaps longer if it's any sort of significant trial.

It's a pretty expensive obligation that, interestingly, doesn't have to be met by anybody that is actually involved with creating, enforcing, or interpreting the law because they automatically give themselves passes from this kind of service.

IMO, it's utter crap and should be outsourced to a professional state-paid juries, or else reimbursed at full wage value.

About that working thing... I work in the court system as a clerk for night court. When my summons came up I had to go just like everyone else. Infact... I went in to work at midnight on Wed. night and stayed till 7AM the next morning. From there I went and got some food and walked right back to my building for jury duty. The fact that I worked there and knew the DA running prosecution did not get me out of there any earlier than anyone else. So... no... the people who are in the profession of carrying out the law are not imune as you so claim. My supervisor had to do the same thing for a week straight one time when he was having to cover for someone out on leave. He had jury duty by day and work by night... all in the same building. Two of the judges I work with have had the same experiences. Please come back when you know what you are talking about in regards to people in law enforcement getting out.

And another thing... with your wonderful professional state paid juries idea... what is the make sure they are not stacked in a manner to meet the states requirements for a certain conviction percentage. At least with the system as it is right now the Voir Dire phase allows for vetting of potential bias from both sides of the matter. With your idea it would be The State choosing state employees that could be compelled to think a certain way vs the defense.

When I've been called up, the Judge asked if anyone was an officer of the court and let them go.

Well... It does not work that way in Texas.

Greebynog wrote:Trial by jury is utter crap. How can a bunch of randomly selected citizens come to a verdict on a year and a half fraud case involving highly comples economics? They can't. I couldn't.

Several proposals have been made in the UK to reduce accounting fraud trials to judge only. Of course, judges have no more training in accountancy than jurors -- less, actually, since a jury could well contain qualified accountants.

However, studies have shown that ordinary people are quite capable of understanding accountancy if it is explained properly. Really it is the job of the court to make sure this happens.

I am strongly in favour of the jury system and civic duty. The creation of a 'professional' verdict delivery system would be open to all kinds of abuses. At the least, the jury system ensures that no-one gets banged up on the say-so of a a bunch of government employees alone.

The main reason for wanting to avoid jury service is the loss of working time. This is especially bad if your are assigned to a major case that could take months. The answers to this are (a) to make trials happen faster (a lot of them are dragged out far too long) and (b) to pay a more reasonable rate of compensation. That said, employers with proper civic responsibility will make up your pay to the normal level while you are away. I even made a slight profit on my jury service, as I got the daily allowance and my normal pay.

The jury system is perhaps like democracy, a terrible system whose only advantage is that the others which have been tried were worse. It has a tradition of over 1,000 years in anglo-saxon law, and has served pretty well.

Japan, which for decades has tried cases by a panel of three judges, has recently introduced a 6-person panel of 'lay judges' which sits alongside the professionals to consider the verdict.

Seeing jury makes me sad sometimes.

Its like...

They dont care about whether the accused is really guilty.
They just want to find someone that was a suspect, and then sentence someone for it.

The main thing that makes it sad is...
If the suspect is indeed innocent, well sucks for him.
BUT it also mean the real guilty person is still runnig free.

JohnHwangDD wrote:When I've been called up, the Judge asked if anyone was an officer of the court and let them go.

That sounds like a particular judge and a particular case.

malfred wrote:

JohnHwangDD wrote:When I've been called up, the Judge asked if anyone was an officer of the court and let them go.

That sounds like a particular judge and a particular case.

I don't know about the USA but in the UK, Judges and lawyers aren't allowed to serve on juries, and maybe it's the same for other officials.

LunaHound wrote:Seeing jury makes me sad sometimes.

Its like...

They dont care about whether the accused is really guilty.
They just want to find someone that was a suspect, and then sentence someone for it.

The main thing that makes it sad is...
If the suspect is indeed innocent, well sucks for him.
BUT it also mean the real guilty person is still runnig free.

My experience of service was that out of 12 people, one just wanted to convict because obviously they were criminals or they wouldn't have been accused and he wanted to go home quickly. One other wanted to find not guilty because obviously the police are fascist thugs and the system is corrupt and he wanted to go home quickly.

The other 10, whatever their level of education, experience, standing in society and personal eloquence, all took their responsibility very seriously, considered the case at length for several hours, and gave the best verdict they could arrive at, and took time to debate with the other two members and explore their attitude. veryone was given the chance to speak and express their views.

I was very impressed with people's sense of responsibility in the performance of their duty.

Chrysaor686 wrote:I don't think they enjoy putting convicted felons on jury duty.

I guess, in that respect, I'm a lucky guy.

Can i ask what you did to get on that list?

Fallen668 wrote:
I have been called up twice but was vetted in the voir dire.

So, you didn't actually get robbed 2 weeks salary and time, then?

I made no attempts to get out of it and answered true and correct to the best of my knoweledge on all questions asked.

It sounds like you have a love of the country you happened by chance to be born in and have a sense of duty and loyalty to it.

An admirable trait.

Just know that not everyone shares it.

One thing I have noticed in both here and in the "meatworld" is the odd number of people who have been called up/asked multiple times. I've never been asked at all- and I'd do it if possible-- and most of the people I know haven't. But 2 people I know have been asked 3 or 4 times each. Again here there's people with multiple requests.

If I wasn't so heavily drugged I'd suspect some form of conspiracy.

I am strongly in favour of the jury system and civic duty. The creation of a 'professional' verdict delivery system would be open to all kinds of abuses. At the least, the jury system ensures that no-one gets banged up on the say-so of a a bunch of government employees alone.

seconded.