Jury Duty

Luvrv8 said:
Actually it was. At the end of the case during the time both lawyers were asking the jury questions it came up that during the trial we were told about the sensors for the airbags and how many had to agree before a must fire is given in the computer. Some in the jury didn't know what was in the sensor, I was able to tell them how they worked. The judge told the defendant (G.M.) that they were lucky I did that for them. Since the sensor was introduced as evidence it was ok for me to explain to the jury during deliberation how it worked. The verdict spent many years and several levels of appeals, none of them were based on what I was able to educate my fellow jury members on the system. Both sides asked questions about what I said, I told both of them everything.
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Truth prevails.....:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
Shepherd said:
You need to avoid making unwarranted assumptions.

I've been on juries a bunch of times. One trial for months. On another trial I was sequestered for a couple weeks. No fun, that.

I thought I answered the question rather well, since every suggestion has been tested by me, personally. I serve on the jury of MY choice, once every three years.
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You tested those techniques in every county?

Now, who is making unwarranted assumptions? It is very definitely NOT the same everywhere.

You DO NOT get to decide who gets a jury trial. Everyone does. Not your right to deny it to others even if it's inconvenient.
 
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MAKG1 said:
You DO NOT get to decide who gets a jury trial. Everyone does. Not your right to deny it to others even if it's inconvenient.
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He didn't. Nobody had to toss him for anything he said. Judge nor lawyer.

As long as he didn't lie, that's their decision, not his.

Don't like it, vote the Judge off the bench. Very rare anyone does that.
 
I've only been summoned once. Luckily I was a full time student in college.
 
I can say that after being bailiff for 65 jury trials (and counting, just got transferred back to court security), my observation is that the vast majority of jurors are intelligent, attentive people who take it seriously, even when they didn't want to be there.
 
MAKG1 said:
You tested those techniques in every county?

Now, who is making unwarranted assumptions? It is very definitely NOT the same everywhere.

You DO NOT get to decide who gets a jury trial. Everyone does. Not your right to deny it to others even if it's inconvenient.
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Everyone does? Not how it works; plenty of trials go on without juries, and the decision isn't made by popular vote in the local city, county, parish, etc.

And it'd be pretty difficult for a prospective juror to "deny" a jury trial to a defendant in a criminal case, just by offering up some good "outs".
 
I've been called up a few times over the decades.

The first case over 30 years ago when we lived in Colorado. Sat in the jury room as they called groups of potential jurors for various trials. They got to a group that included me and excused us as the defendant had plea bargained to a lower charge.

The next was a drunk driving case when I lived in California. The defense attorney darned near tried his case during jury selection. He claimed that the prosecution was going to bring up the fact that his client was in a part of town that none of us would be in (red light district?) and could we put that aside. I'm an engineer and I thought I could flow chart this in two questions. Question #1 - at the time of the incident was the defendant in command of a motor vehicle? If yes, go to question #2. If no, he's innocent. Let's go home. Question #2 - at the time of the incident, was the defendant under the influence? If yes, throw the book at him. Let's go home. If no, he's innocent. Let's go home. Did I miss something? Oh, and the jury was impaneled before they got to me. Short day.

The third time was also in California. Eviction for non-payment of rent. My name was drawn from the hat first and the first 12 names drawn wound up being the jury. They didn't excuse anybody. The judge and the lawyers couldn't believe they had just done that. A day and a half of testimony, during which everybody on the plaintiff's side told the same story and NOBODY on the defendant's side told the same story. Including the defendant, who contradicted himself. I was elected foreman of the jury and we spent more time eating the donuts the judge left for us in the jury room than we did debating the verdict. We found for the plaintiff. It was simple and straightforward.

The last time was here in Olympia. The judge came to where we were waiting, explained that the defendant had plea bargained at the last minute, apologized for wasting our time and excused us. He said that a lot of defendants do that. They wait until the trial date, realize that the DA is serious about prosecuting them and plea bargain. Wastes a lot of people's time and money. But, that's the system.

I've also been on the pool for a higher level court, but didn't have to drive up to Tacoma.

All these happened when I was employed and it didn't cost me anything. Now that I'm self-employed the cost to me could be higher. But, I'll still serve. It is a duty of citizenship.
 
ateamer said:
I can say that after being bailiff for 65 jury trials (and counting, just got transferred back to court security), my observation is that the vast majority of jurors are intelligent, attentive people who take it seriously, even when they didn't want to be there.
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That was my observation as well over more than 30 years practicing. Even when I lost.
 
NoHeat said:
I'd like to serve on a jury. Alas, I've never been summoned.
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Hopefully they will catch up with you. Incredibly valuable and humbling experience being a decision-maker in a matter that directly affects the life of others.
 
I was called once while away at college, so was out of that one.

Never been called since. If I do get called, I won't weasel out of it. I think I would really enjoy it.
 
Called once, not chosen. Got to spend pretty much all day sitting in a room with 30 other people.
 
Caramon13 said:
Called once, not chosen. Got to spend pretty much all day sitting in a room with 30 other people.
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Same here. I looked around the room and was horrified that a pool like that might someday decide my fate if I strayed from the straight and narrow. Not a good feeling.

The case was a lady who wanted some guy to pay her $300 for damage to her car. He admitted that he did the damage but didn't want to pay so there we were. I wanted to suggest that we take up a collection, gather the $300, and all go home. I wasn't picked for the jury so got to go home anyway.
 
Never been called. Have lived in the same county for almost 30 years now.

I know a lot of people try to get out of it, but I'd like to experience it at least once.
 
Never been called either. No idea why.
 
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