Ashley Okland Murder

[clone52]

Everywhere I've worked, all salary employees got paid for jury duty the same as being at work. Even drove my company truck to the courthouse.

I was on a jury once with a co-worker. Generally attorneys don't like engineers, but they got 2 on that one. Only time I've been called.

I'd love to be on a jury but I have never been called.

Only 8 states have requirements mandating employers pay employees for jury duty. 42 states have no such laws. Only 18 states explicitly prohibit employers from requiring employees to use personal leave for jury duty. Exempt salaried employees must be paid their full salary for any week they perform any work, even if they are absent for part of the week due to jury duty.

Additionally, even if you get paid for it, for many jobs, the hassle of missing work isn't worth it. You might have to offload your work, which can be a major pain in the but, or be extremely busy when you get back playing catch up.

 

[Drew0311]

I'd love to be on a jury but I have never been called.

Only 8 states have requirements mandating employers pay employees for jury duty. 42 states have no such laws. Only 18 states explicitly prohibit employers from requiring employees to use personal leave for jury duty. Exempt salaried employees must be paid their full salary for any week they perform any work, even if they are absent for part of the week due to jury duty.

Additionally, even if you get paid for it, for many jobs, the hassle of missing work isn't worth it. You might have to offload your work, which can be a major pain in the but, or be extremely busy when you get back playing catch up.

Jury duty sounds cool if you watch TV shows like Law and Order. However, most cases are just dumb boring stuff. You never get the good stuff on jury duty.

 

[GoHawks]

I'm not going to be critical on why this took 15 years to charge until we hear all the evidence and timeline that led us to this point. We probably won't get that until it goes to try and evidence is presented. There has to be something that finally gave them enough to be confident the charges would stick now and good chance of conviction that they have not had this entire time is my only conclusion. I've heard Parizek say many times that they only get 1 shot at trying someone for a crime so you have to be darn sure you dot all the i's and cross all your t's before you press charges as 1 mistake or lack of evidence is all that is needed to have the case dropped sometimes. There had to be 1 missing piece to this case that something finally changed 15 years later that they finally got what they needed to make this a convictable case is the only reason I can think of.

I had assumed that to be the case since the day they had the press conference announcing the arrest and charges. Yesterday though made me worried that's not the case. You could still be right and hope you're. What was disclosed was evidence they had including a witness and a search warrant from 15 years ago and then the defense who should have most if not all the evidence saying this is the exact same case from years ago when charges weren't brought forth. Of course defense is always going to downplay or minimize the evidence. I was hopeful that the prosecution had obtained a coperating witness that said Kristin Ramsey had confessed to them privately but that's probably wishful thinking. Trial will be interesting and we'll probably have to wait until then to have all the answers.

 

[ianoconnor]

Jury duty sounds cool if you watch TV shows like Law and Order. However, most cases are just dumb boring stuff. You never get the good stuff on jury duty.

I don't even care if I get the most boring case - I want to get called at least once to experience the process.

 

[thisISnextyear]

Nothing as good as the show Jury Duty. If you haven't watched that, definitely check it out!

 

[Cyched]

Jury duty sounds cool if you watch TV shows like Law and Order. However, most cases are just dumb boring stuff. You never get the good stuff on jury duty.

Also the cases where you’re there for weeks on end and/or sequestered aren’t common.
The trial I was on took half a day, then a couple hours to deliberate. Back at work the next day.

 

[Letterkenny]

I don't even care if I get the most boring case - I want to get called at least once to experience the process.

I've been called once. Sat in the Polk County courthouse lobby for 3 hours, then didn't make the cut and got sent home. I think there were 3 trials they were pulling people for. One was a murder, one was drug trafficking related and the other was an assault.

 

[ISUJason]

Jury duty sounds cool if you watch TV shows like Law and Order. However, most cases are just dumb boring stuff. You never get the good stuff on jury duty.

Even the not dumb boring ones are usually done within a day.

My one time took just one day, with jury selection, the trial, deliberations, and verdict reading.

It was around 6pm when we got done, but deliberations took a little bit for a couple of hold outs to understand the definition on what reasonable doubt was. We did find the rapist guilty.

 

[cyfan964]

I've been called for jury duty like 8 times and have had to do it twice. Any of you are welcome to take my place at any time. It is BEYOND boring.

 

[AltoonaFish]

My wife had a federal case. Was like 2 and a half days. Drug case where she got to hold somethinf like 15-20 pounds of meth.

 

[Cyched]

I've been called for jury duty like 8 times and have had to do it twice. Any of you are welcome to take my place at any time. It is BEYOND boring.

Thank you for single-handedly holding society together

 

[Norseman41]

Been on two juries. First was a simple DUI trial where the defense tried to paint the arrest as the result of bad blood between the defendant and the arresting officer. The second was a federal case involving a child pornography case. Very disturbing and also surprising to learn of the effort to monitor the internet for sharing such material. We convicted both defendants. If you have the time, I'd recommend the experience.

 

[4cy16]

Been on two juries. First was a simple DUI trial where the defense tried to paint the arrest as the result of bad blood between the defendant and the arresting officer. The second was a federal case involving a child pornography case. Very disturbing and also surprising to learn of the effort to monitor the internet for sharing such material. We convicted both defendants. If you have the time, I'd recommend the experience.

There is a show on A & E called Predator hunters, that follows special units catching child predators. Amazing.

 

[mapnerd]

I knew someone that had to help out at the Federal level dealing with child abuse stuff. Not going to type it, but you know what I mean. They had to help out for several months. Heard a lot of gross and terrible stories and met a lot of terrible people. They were glad they could help, but damn, I think they got PTSD from that experience.

 

[cyclone13]

I don't even care if I get the most boring case - I want to get called at least once to experience the process.

Beware of what you wish for.

When I got called for a jury duty, I chatted with a gentleman. He told me one of his friends got called for a jury duty 3 weeks after he turned 21. The case involved murder of children and of course there were photos shown. The gentleman said “it messed him up for a long time having to see those pictures”

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I'm not going to be critical on why this took 15 years to charge until we hear all the evidence and timeline that led us to this point. We probably won't get that until it goes to try and evidence is presented. There has to be something that finally gave them enough to be confident the charges would stick now and good chance of conviction that they have not had this entire time is my only conclusion. I've heard Parizek say many times that they only get 1 shot at trying someone for a crime so you have to be darn sure you dot all the i's and cross all your t's before you press charges as 1 mistake or lack of evidence is all that is needed to have the case dropped sometimes. There had to be 1 missing piece to this case that something finally changed 15 years later that they finally got what they needed to make this a convictable case is the only reason I can think of.

I hope I'm wrong and that they truly found the murderer but I'm getting vibes that the WDM PD and DA are throwing a Hail Mary here. I get the feeling that they really don't have a ton of evidence and they are hoping for a confession/conviction. The whole victory lap press conference was also a little odd. Brenna Bird celebrating her "card program" felt like a greasy pat on the back and made me feel like she has really been pressuring for this case to be solved. I just have the feeling they don't have enough to convict her, even if she actually is the murderer.

 

[PineClone]

My jury duty story, in a nutshell:

Guy was on trial for breaking into and robbing a Verizon store. Defendant had a VERY distinct and unfortunate hairline. Several low quality videos of him during the robbery where you could easily see the hairline. Subsequent body cam videos of him where he had a shaved head and no hairline.

At the trial, defendant shows up in a suit and full head of hair, clearly showing his hairline. The hairline wasn't the whole sum of evidence, but it was pretty key. Why the public defender didn't have him shave his head is a mystery.

 

[bluestarcyclone]

I hope I'm wrong and that they truly found the murderer but I'm getting vibes that the WDM PD and DA are throwing a Hail Mary here. I get the feeling that they really don't have a ton of evidence and they are hoping for a confession/conviction. The whole victory lap press conference was also a little odd. Brenna Bird celebrating her "card program" felt like a greasy pat on the back and made me feel like she has really been pressuring for this case to be solved. I just have the feeling they don't have enough to convict her, even if she actually is the murderer.

I was getting the same feeling, unfortunately.

Hopefully they have significantly more evidence to bring out and this wasn't just pushed forward for political reasons.

I did also find the "we found guns and controlled substances in her home" as a reason to deny reduced bond somewhat funny. Assume she isn't guilty (as the court should), so she has something she is constitutionally entitled to (guns) and maybe some prescription pills (legal, but technically controlled) or marijuana that a large chunk of the state has at this point? Alright.

 

[Brentwood]

Called to jury duty twice and served both times.

Both were somewhat interesting cases and it was fun the first time just to see the process. 2 fun stories about my time serving.

First time I was juror #3 so i was on the jury unless they found a reason to pull me off. I thought I was gravy because juror #1 was essentially my doppelgänger. Same first name, similar looks, both in fraternities at ISU and dress almost identically. I thought they would want some more diversity on the jury. I was wrong we both served.

Second time I was in the jury pool with good ol CW. We were right next to each other so we got to chat a bunch about ISU and everything. Once they asked if anyone had any reason they shouldn't serve, he quickly raised his hand to say he was member of the media and he was dismissed. I ended up being selected as an alternate. So I had to sit through the entire trial and when it went into deliberation, I was able to leave.

 

[Drew0311]

I hope I'm wrong and that they truly found the murderer but I'm getting vibes that the WDM PD and DA are throwing a Hail Mary here. I get the feeling that they really don't have a ton of evidence and they are hoping for a confession/conviction. The whole victory lap press conference was also a little odd. Brenna Bird celebrating her "card program" felt like a greasy pat on the back and made me feel like she has really been pressuring for this case to be solved. I just have the feeling they don't have enough to convict her, even if she actually is the murderer.

I would not doubt they don't have enough evidence. I do probably think they got the right person. The one thing that I appreciate though, even if they don't have enough evidence, is they arrested her and basically let every one know who did it. So we at least get to see the evidence and decide. It will ruin her life either way and if she is guilty, I am happy about that. It's better than never charging her at all and just letting her skate. At least we all know they think they got the right person