[rozwado1]

I've had jury duty this week and I just need to see if it's the same across the country. These people are the biggest idiots I have ever met in my life. They pool the general population, and I guess the general population has a negative IQ. I feel bad for the lawyers during Voir Dire bc these idiots can't grasp the idea of logical thought. It just turns into a never-ending loop of questions bc these people contradict everything they say. The lawyers end up giving up in disgust. I'd share stories but I'm not done yet (last day friday). I'll post more tomorrow when I get out.

Anybody else have Jury Duty before?

[ManOfSteal]

I've never been through it myself; however, what you have described I've heard from everybody else who ever has...sounds pretty universal to say the least!

[rjenkinson]

-r.

[Lancer409]

i'm a possible juror ... starting november 15th'ish ... now .. to see if they select me... i think this is my second or third time in as many years. lucky i go to the nicely furnished civil one where it's all about legalese and technicalities and not the dank nasty criminal court where it's about murders or some other bs in a dank court/jail holding cell building...

[hardcat1970]

Being in a jury selection for four days was the most torturous days in my life. And if your company doesn't pay you when you serve, the most you receive for serving jurors duty is only $40 a day.

Most people i met in the room were mostly middle to lower income class people and they all complaint that they lost a lot of money during the week.

[Rev-O]

Never done jury duty. Was called once. When they asked about possible biases, I let 'em know that my father was in law enforcement for 35 years, and I had a working relationship with one of the officers involved on the case, and smiled a sh!t-eating grin.

Imagine. I got the boot right away. Had the rest of the day off of work, too. Score!

[Mafia]

Originally posted by Rev-O:
Never done jury duty. Was called once. When they asked about possible biases, I let 'em know that my father was in law enforcement for 35 years, and I had a working relationship with one of the officers involved on the case, and smiled a sh!t-eating grin.

Imagine. I got the boot right away. Had the rest of the day off of work, too. Score!

niiice

[fireside]

Originally posted by rjenkinson:


-r.

hey, thats what i thought when i read the title. 'specially the idiots part.

[rozwado1]

this one kid has been called up to the jury box 3 times and he keeps playing the race card to get off. His bad luck keeps him getting called, so he'll probably get stuck on some long case tomorrow due to karma.

[Demonhood]

got called once. then, during the juror question/answer bit, i told the prosecuting attorney that i wouldn't be too bitter if i missed out on holiday fun while fulfilling my civic duty. she wanted to know who i would be bitter at. i shrugged, she laughed, the jury laughed.
then i joked around with the bailiff. then i got the boot.

[ThinkInsane]

I got popped for grand jury last summer. Every thursday for 3 months I had to go and listen to cases. It was actually pretty interesting, at the grand jury, you get to see all the evidence, not just what is going to be presented at trial. It wasn't like a trial jury, we didn't really debate the cases, we just raised our hands if we wanted to indite. It just takes a majority, it doesn't have to be unanimous. Mostly, it was drug stuff, theft, assaults and dwi's. But I did have to sit though a double homicide case, where a nice gentleman beat both of his elderly parents to death with a claw hammer. The worst part was the jury instructions. You can only here the statutes and definitions of a DWI charge so many times before your eyes start to glaze, and the DA had to read it every time we got ready to vote a bill. Over all, it wasn't a bad experience.

[MilkmanDan]

I actually want to do jury duty once in my life. But thats just me.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

Juries are always made up of dumb people. The intelligent ones find a way out.

[Sandbaggins]

Originally posted by JohnnyAppleseed:
Juries are always made up of dumb people. The intelligent ones find a way out.

Chuck Fishman : There are sure-fire ways to get out of jury duty.
Gary Hobson : Alright, well, what are they?
Chuck Fishman : One, you have an incurable disease, with less then a year to live.
Gary Hobson : Go on.
Chuck Fishman : You're self-employed, and you have a wife and four kids to support.
Gary Hobson : Next.
Chuck Fishman : You believe every man is guilty until proven innocent. It works every time!

[porieux]

"I will make a great juror because I can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them!"

[PurpleGiant]

Originally posted by porieux:
"I will make a great juror because I can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them!"

[turtle777]

Originally posted by porieux:
"I will make a great juror because I can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them!"

Mwahahaha.

Gladly, I will never be called.

-t

[SimeyTheLimey]

I came up for petit jury duty last year in the DC superior court. My favorite part was the inspirational video they showed us. The judge in the video emphasised that we were taking part in a civic tradition that goes back centuries and that "hundreds have found the experience rewarding.

I got bumped by the defense on the first round of peremptory strikes, probably because of my legal training (the other one bumped was a lawyer). I was kind of disappointed because it was a murder trial and I would have liked to see a real trial.

[OldManMac]

I've been called twice, but never got to a case. Both were settled just before trial.

[djohnson]

I got called last year... For a city 350 miles away I doubt I will get called here though. If so, I get the day off with pay Gonna have some fun!

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by MilkmanDan:
I actually want to do jury duty once in my life. But thats just me.

Same here, I think it would be interesting.

[residentEvil]

Many get dismissed if they have a 4 year degree or better and/or work in the IT field. Too 'smart' for most selections. It isn't a matter of did someone do the crime, it is all about the high profile cases and winning. They don't want 12 or 14 smart people deciding their clients fate.

Let's get idiots we can control and persuade. Jury selection is a science and those that can pick a selection that wins their client's cases make big $$$. Jury consultants are in high demand. Jury consultants don't care about the crime or if one is guilty.

[wolfen]

I always just throw the notices away.

[Ghoser777]

Got called, went to serve, waited around for a couple hours, all the cases were dealt with, I went away.

[tooki]

:cue zombie thread:

So I have jury duty tomorrow. It could be fun, I think. But a friend of mine who's done it a few times suspects they'll dismiss me during voir dire on account of my piercings. Either way, it'll be something to do!

Oh yeah, for hardcat1970 who complained that it's only $40/day there in NYC: here in Baltimore County, it's $15/day. (Which, since I'm not working now, is still sorta like free money, LOL.)

I plan to take a bag with me with gatorade, change for the junk food machines, some reading material, pen and paper, and a linguistic atlas from which I need to write a paper. I figure I can keep myself busy with all that.

The only part I'm not looking forward to is getting up at 7am in order to deal with traffic. It'd be only a 25 minute drive right now in the middle of the night, but by morning, the beltway will be a mess, and it'll be faster for me to drive through downtown to get to the other side of the county... sigh...

tooki

[Cadaver]

I was called once. Sat around 2/3 of the day, then they let us go. I did nothing; didn't even see the inside of a court room. Drank coffee and read old magazines. Wasted my time. I coulda done that at work

[tooki]

Well, my friend lent me a fascinating-sounding book on the creation of the 96 Ford Taurus. It looks like it'll be a great read! (Any by what many people say, I'll have plenty of time to lend to it!)

tooki

[ghporter]

I've been called three times. Each time I had some military function already in the advanced planning stages (i.e. I was being sent somewhere to do some job) that prevented my serving. However, my wife, who has been a registered voter here EXACTLY the same amount of time has never been called. I'm quite puzzled about that.

The state just passed a new law that raised the pay for jurors from $6 a day to $40 per day-after the first day which is still $6. $6 is not enough to pay for the parking lots near the courthouse here in San Antonio, so this new law is a good thing. Supposedly it will reduce the number of "I can't afford to serve" excuses. I'm not sure it will really work, but it's a help.

[OB1]

Originally Posted by turtle777

Gladly, I will never be called.

-t

How so?

[cpt kangarooski]

Originally Posted by ThinkInsane

I got popped for grand jury last summer. Every thursday for 3 months I had to go and listen to cases. It was actually pretty interesting, at the grand jury, you get to see all the evidence, not just what is going to be presented at trial. It wasn't like a trial jury, we didn't really debate the cases, we just raised our hands if we wanted to indite. It just takes a majority, it doesn't have to be unanimous. Mostly, it was drug stuff, theft, assaults and dwi's. But I did have to sit though a double homicide case, where a nice gentleman beat both of his elderly parents to death with a claw hammer. The worst part was the jury instructions. You can only here the statutes and definitions of a DWI charge so many times before your eyes start to glaze, and the DA had to read it every time we got ready to vote a bill. Over all, it wasn't a bad experience.

Typical. You know, grand juries are intended as a check on prosecutors -- not the rubber stamp that they usually end up being. If you're on one again, you might want to debate more, ask the prosecutor questions, ask the person facing charges questions, etc.

Myself, I haven't been on a jury. I've been called twice, but I'd already moved elsewhere each time. I'd like to, though. It'd be neat.

[memento]

I was called a couple weeks ago. sat around for 2 days. on the 3rd day we finally went for juror selection. my number was called on the 4th day, morning. It was the case of someone being accused of dealing cocaine.

I argued with the defending lawyer when he questioned me. But he was a true "spinmeister" and I hate playing games. He kept coming back to me because I would say things that others wouldn't. And eventually there were a lot of "me too" comments after I spoke up. I couldn't believe that nobody said anything when asked about the person's attire who was on trial. He was wearing hip-hop clothes. In court! geez. show some respect. But I know the spinmeister had him dress that way because he kept asking about it. He also kept referring to an analogy of a child's mistake when taking a cookie and fibbing about it. But this mistake was an adult selling cocaine. uh... just a small difference. In 2 days of this I was the only person who called him on it. Child's fib over a cookie or adult consciously breaking the law? no analogy there. I called him on that one.

I also mentioned that if you hang around drug dealers and drug users, you're bound to get mixed up with the law. innocent or not. He should have distanced himself from the obvious crimes going on. THAT got a big reaction from the other potential jurors. Then the spinmeister asked me if I "saw anything negative if a police who was patrolling the area had seen the person repeatedly". I told him that I see it as being a positive correlation in that the officer was more likely to correctly identify him due to face recognition. That was sweeeet. He was so easy. I knew that he wouldn't pick me. I ended up being dismissed by lunchtime. I also emphasized that I have 2 engineering degrees and work in a very intellectually challenging job as a mechanical/civil/electrical/chemical/thermal engineer.

[BoomStick]

I got picked by the prosecution on a habitual violator case.

I convinced the rest of the jury to let the guy go because they arrested him while he was putting gas in his car. The keys were in the gas cap and not the ignition. The way the law read, the person must be operating the vehicle and he clearly was not at the moment.

He may have been drinking, but he wasn't driving when he was arrested.
Not to mention he admitted right off he was an HV and all the prosecution dwelled on was his past.

All the cops had to do was wait another 30 seconds and let him crank the engine.

[Mastrap]

^ A friend of a friend of mine got killed a couple of weeks by a drunk driver who ignored a red light.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by OB1

How so?

I'm, German, so I'm biased

-t

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by BoomStick

All the cops had to do was wait another 30 seconds and let him crank the engine.

So you let him go because the cops were stupid ?

-t

[ghporter]

I think turtle is talking about following the law. That's what it's all suppposed to be about, you know. If the law says "operating a motor vehicle," and the guy is pumping gas when they bust him, he simply IS NOT "operating" the car.

[turtle777]

Yeah, I'm so glad that the INTENTION of the law is happily neglected all the time. That definitely makes me feel safe from stupid lawsuits

-t

[memento]

that's rediculous. If he obviously drove to the gas station, then he was operating a motor vehicle. If you're going to be that nitpicky, then you can say that - unless the cop is running along side the car and handcuffs him while he's actually driving - nobody actually operates a vehicle when being arrested.

There's following the intent of the law and there's looking for a loophole that can be blamed on the wording of the law.

(turtle - your post snuck in while I was typing - I agree with you)

[mitchell_pgh]

I just say "I'm only biased if the defendant comes from my home planet that resides on the visualized plane of the 47th vibration of the color yellow."

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by Zimphire

Same here, I think it would be interesting.

If you say that... they won't pick you.

[MaxPower]

Nice Mighty Wind reference, mitchell_pgh

[JHromadka]

Originally Posted by JohnnyAppleseed

Juries are always made up of dumb people. The intelligent ones find a way out.

If that's your attitude, I hope you have reason to have a dumb jury decide your fate.

I got the call last month and ended up getting picked. It was the first time I didn't have a legitimate reason to get out of it (other times I was a student or out of the country), and I saw no reason to try to get out of it (you are under oath btw) because I found the process interesting. The judge was really cool and pretty much gave a civics lesson on the court system and how it worked in Texas. I could see that some of the potential jurors were annoyed by his lecture, but I found it very educational.

It was a DUI case, and I honestly didn't expect to get picked because I've had friends that got them and have two uncles that are police officers, but those questions never came up.

I think most people hate jury duty because their job may not compensate them (mine does) and the pay isn't great ($6). You also spend a lot of time waiting for a panel to make.

Just chalk it up to being your contribution to living in a democracy.

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by MaxPower

Nice Mighty Wind reference, mitchell_pgh

The judge didn't think so

[nredman]

i was on jury duty about a month ago, didn't get on any trials though. had to do it for two weeks, went in twice...the first case i didnt even make it to the final 12 or 14 they pick from for the 5 jurors...and the other case was settled. pretty much a waste of time.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by memento

that's rediculous. If he obviously drove to the gas station, then he was operating a motor vehicle. If you're going to be that nitpicky, then you can say that - unless the cop is running along side the car and handcuffs him while he's actually driving - nobody actually operates a vehicle when being arrested.

There's following the intent of the law and there's looking for a loophole that can be blamed on the wording of the law.

(turtle - your post snuck in while I was typing - I agree with you)

If they had seen the guy drive up, they should have arrested him THEN. They obviously either did not see him drive up, or were dumber than dirt and waited. Either way, THE LAW SAYS THE PERSON HAS TO BE OPERATING THE VEHICLE TO BE "DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED," and the arresting officer did not actually see the defendant driving. Maybe he was riding with someone else and gassing it up while the driver took a walk. Maybe he was doing something else. THE LAW makes no assumptions-if the driver is not driving, then he's just a pedestrian. You MUST stop the person while he is driving to make a valid DUI or DWI arrest, and that is all there is to it.

This wasn't a loophole-it was a bad bust. The hard part of being a juror must be to have to acquit someone who's guilty, but hasn't been proven guilty according to the law.

[iXavier]

I was summoned to serve a couple of summers ago.

I got to sit in the room, drink free coffee and read old magazines. The defendant plead guilty, so I didn't have a chance to see the trial.

If I get summoned again, I'd definitely go. I love watching Law and Order, I would like to see a real court trial.

x.

[tooki]

So I went, and there ended up being no jury cases that day at all. In my county, it's a "one day/one trial" thing where if you go one day and get no cases, that's it, you're done and aren't eligible again for 3 years. The county owns the garage, so they'll validate your parking (repeatedly, if you leave the garage over lunch). They pay $15 a day, so I and a couple of others went to the superb Chinese restaurant nearby and got a nice meal. We ended up just chatting the whole day!

We had a training video, clearly produced with mid-80's midrange equipment, introduced by a catatonic judge who had not only not memorized his speech, but was reading it off word-by-word, making him sound like an illiterate toddler.

Before the video even started, one guy was fast asleep in the back, snoring louder than I thought humanly possible.

After the intro video, they played some god-awful Disney movie with Gloria Estefan. Half of everyone got up and moved to the "quiet" room so they could chat.

All in all, it was not too bad. I kinda would have liked to sit on an actual case, but at least this way, I don't have to drive up again so early in the morning.

tooki

[Randman]

Just saw A Mighty Wind a few days ago so Mitchell's line was pretty funny.

Never been called and wouldn't be allowed on a jury anyway (journalist). I have covered a few trials though including a murder trial where this dude hacked his girlfriend and her mom to death. But I got to go home each night and still got paid.

[scaught]

Originally Posted by tooki

So I went, and there ended up being no jury cases that day at all. In my county, it's a "one day/one trial" thing where if you go one day and get no cases, that's it, you're done and aren't eligible again for 3 years. The county owns the garage, so they'll validate your parking (repeatedly, if you leave the garage over lunch). They pay $15 a day

michigan is one day/one trial too. but you can get called every year. we get 15 a day, but you have to cover your own parking (like 8 dollars across the street from the courthouse).

i did jury duty twice. once i got called to sit in a jury, but they excused me when i said i wouldnt take one mans word over another mans word with no supporting evidence. the other time, they picked a jury they liked and i didnt get questioned for it, and was excused shortly after. the problem is both times i was called in for jury duty, i was let out in time to go work my shift (afternoons).

LAME.

[JoshuaZ]

Why is it old people always get called for jury duty, and never the young kind. You know, people who actually are not bitter at life and actually know whats going on in the world. I'm still waiting to get called to jury duty. Doubt it will happen.