Jury Duty

[wxman1]

My mom was on a county one a couple of years ago. Domestic case in which a boyfriend started stabbing his GFs son's airbed or something like that and threatened her with it as well. I can't remember what the exact charge was but there was one guy on the jury that couldn't find him guilty because "the knife wasn't made with the intent of harming someone."

So it resulted in a hung jury for the second time.

 

[Proton]

I’m jealous of all you who’ve served on a jury. Never been called up. ):

 

[harimad]

I was in the jury selection pool for a case where a woman was fighting a DUI charge. I made it through the first round of cuts and the prosecution was going down the line asking us questions. He came to me and asked "Do you believe that we should always assume police reports are the truth?"
I said something like "I think it's their job to record the facts of a case to the best of their ability, but there's always the chance that a mistake is made, so it's important that there's evidence to back up their account"

He asked the lady next to me the same question. She went on this diatribe about how she never trusts the police, because her son had been arrested multiple times for selling drugs, and now when she leaves her house, the police follow her in unmarked cars, and she caught a guy going through her garbage trying to find evidence to use against her son, and she saw a helicopter following her on the way to the courthouse today, and she's sure they're going through her car right now in the parking lot, so no she does NOT believe a police report. She wouldn't even believe video footage, because they can alter that, and make it look like you're doing all kinds of things that you didn't. It was a 5 minute stream of unfiltered batshit. And by the time she finished, there were wide eyes and concerned looks across the entire jury pool.

So when it came time to make the final selections, I didn't know if I would make it, but I figured for sure, the loon next to me would be shown the door.

Nope.

I got cut. She made the final jury. I have no idea what the prosecutor was thinking. There's not a chance in hell she was going to side with the police. She flat out said so.

In voir dire you can only strike three jurors. It could be the side that wanted her out was already out of strikes.

 

[Acylum]

Pro Tip: If you’re part of the pool and during the selection process the defense asks if you could be unbiased despite the allegations ( guy accused of pleasuring himself in front of kids he was babysitting) don’t respond with “I doubt it, I’m familiar with some of his relatives and the charges are not surprising.” Nobody likes that apparently. You will not be selected for that particular case though.

 

[Mr Janny]

In voir dire you can only strike three jurors. It could be the side that wanted her out was already out of strikes.

Well the prosecutor had enough strikes left to get rid of me.

 

[harimad]

I've been called to jury duty three times. Twice for county, and once federal (grand jury). In the northern district of Illinois, federal grand jury duty is a term of 18 months-- once a week every week for the entire term (except for the big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.)

The federal grand jury was extremely interesting. The cases we heard evidence on varied greatly, but could include things like corruption, racketeering, even war crimes.

 

[SCNCY]

I've been called to jury duty three times. Twice for county, and once federal (grand jury). In the northern district of Illinois, federal grand jury duty is a term of 18 months-- once a week every week for the entire term (except for the big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving.)

The federal grand jury was extremely interesting. The cases we heard evidence on varied greatly, but could include things like corruption, racketeering, even war crimes.

Which Illinois politician was it?

 

[ISUTex]

what county?

 

[CYdTracked]

I've never been called for jury duty (knock on wood) but would not mind it if I ever do get a summons for it. My wife got picked to sit in on a case that turned out to be pretty open and shut but took 2 days because the defense kept stringing it out and bringing in witnesses that didn't really matter in the scope of the lawsuit. They got sent to deliberation late in the morning the 2nd day and they all knew what the verdict would be but since it was close to lunch time they were asked if they wanted to order. Most didn't want to and just wanted to be done so they could go work but of course a few people wanted a free lunch so they had to order and waste a couple more hours before delivering the verdict.

Had another friend that told me when he was being questioned for the jury they asked him some question about preconceived guilt or something along that line and he intentionally answered that if defendant had not done something wrong then he must be guilty otherwise he wouldn't be in court. His hope was if he botched enough answers they wouldn't pick him but he got picked anyways and said after hearing the case the guy was guilty as hell so the jury selection was probably more of a formality than actually trying to find jurors that might not convict him as there is no way you would have picked him otherwise.

 

[Rabbuk]

Only time i got paperwork they settled out of court before i even reported but because i checked in on the site it counted as fufilling

 

[JM4CY]

I was in the jury selection pool for a case where a woman was fighting a DUI charge. I made it through the first round of cuts and the prosecution was going down the line asking us questions. He came to me and asked "Do you believe that we should always assume police reports are the truth?"
I said something like "I think it's their job to record the facts of a case to the best of their ability, but there's always the chance that a mistake is made, so it's important that there's evidence to back up their account"

He asked the lady next to me the same question. She went on this diatribe about how she never trusts the police, because her son had been arrested multiple times for selling drugs, and now when she leaves her house, the police follow her in unmarked cars, and she caught a guy going through her garbage trying to find evidence to use against her son, and she saw a helicopter following her on the way to the courthouse today, and she's sure they're going through her car right now in the parking lot, so no she does NOT believe a police report. She wouldn't even believe video footage, because they can alter that, and make it look like you're doing all kinds of things that you didn't. It was a 5 minute stream of unfiltered batshit. And by the time she finished, there were wide eyes and concerned looks across the entire jury pool.

So when it came time to make the final selections, I didn't know if I would make it, but I figured for sure, the loon next to me would be shown the door.

Nope.

I got cut. She made the final jury. I have no idea what the prosecutor was thinking. There's not a chance in hell she was going to side with the police. She flat out said so.

This is really pretty hysterical.

 

[carvers4math]

I am currently about to end a three month stint in a rural area of being in the jury pool. We call in, get a recording that says there are no jury trials, rinse and repeat.

I did have to show up once in Polk County. I knew I would get bounced because of either my job or my husband’s job at the time. I did go through voir dire and sort of bite my tongue on a question so I wouldn’t poison the rest of the panel though. It was a civil medical malpractice case and the “expert” witness had told me two years before that I had a type of breast cancer that would kill me in six months. I had no breast cancer, the mammography report just said the radiologist could not rule out a certain type of cancer that was easily ruled out by simply looking at my boob, which “expert” did not apparently understand. So I had simply said I had been to him as a doctor but it wouldn’t influence me. If I told the whole story they lose the whole panel. If somehow I had been selected I would have probably tried to tell them more.

My brother in law spent a bunch of time recently trying to get out of jury duty in Polk County based upon my husband’s job. Kept telling him that was dumb and just go get it over with. He didn’t want to go there for reasons I won’t mention so as not to cave the thread, and was looking for any dodge. They did voir dire him, but dumped him, he is opinionated and obstinate so that is no surprise. He kept complaining about the questions they were asking that were standard and clearly just laying groundwork for a criminal defendant taking the fifth.

I actually wouldn’t mind serving but both my previous jobs and volunteer work as a CASA and in women’s shelters probably guarantee I would not be impaneled.

 

[brianhos]

I got put on a trial maybe 10 years ago, it was very interesting. I ended up being the foreman since no one else would. It did annoy the crap out of me that the jury wanted to defer a few more hours after we made a decision to get a free lunch. They don't feed you well at all, it is crap when you are in deliberations. I did not want to waste a few more hours for McDonalds.

It was very interesting, glad I got to do it once, I don't ever want to do it again.

 

[JayV]

I was on a jury for an armed robbery trial once.
Best thing I ever did that I never want to do again.

 

[cyIclSoneU]

They don't feed you well at all, it is crap when you are in deliberations. I did not want to waste a few more hours for McDonalds.

Interesting because I think that this varies. My colleague who was on a jury (not in Iowa) said that their lunches came from a very well liked family restaurant near the courthouse that was mid-priced. Certainly not fast food.

 

[KidSilverhair]

When they do the interviews, just say something really controversial (or even somewhat controversial).

 

[cycloner29]

I’m jealous of all you who’ve served on a jury. Never been called up. ):

Never say never......... you probably just cursed yourself.

 

[simply1]

Was a juror and saw images I wish I’d never seen.

 

[VeloClone]

In my county you get called for two weeks. The first week everyone called sits in a room and they continually are pulling people out of the room for selection for various trials. The second week you are on call. You have to call in early in the morning and they will tell you if they need you to come in that day.

I was seated on one case and they started the trial. We were only about an hour into this car accident personal injury case when suddenly the attorney for the plaintiff asked to approach the bench, the attorneys had a quick discussion at the bench and then we were asked to leave the room. A few minutes later the bailiff came out and told us that we were no longer needed for that trial. We sat outside the courtroom door for a few minutes trying to figure out what had happened. In just a few minutes the judge came out and we asked him what happened. He said that in Minnesota it is a state law that whether or not a person is wearing their seat belt is immaterial in a personal injury case. The defendant's attorney had asked the plaintiff on the stand if she was wearing her seat belt so the judge had ruled a mistrial.

I had to go back in the room but was not placed on another jury. I have never been so glad to bring a book to read.

 

[KnappShack]

I’m sitting in the courthouse waiting, waiting, waiting for something to happen after checking in for jury duty this morning. This is my first time ever having to report so no idea what to expect. I’m swamped at work so I’m hoping not to get picked. But also intrigued by the idea of sitting on a criminal trial.

Anyone have any good stories or sat on any significant trials as a juror?

Not a trial but a sentencing. Had a relative who was caring for a young child who was in the system. The biological mother won custody back and my cousin had to give up the child.

The mother then murdered the 3 year old and broke almost every bone in the poor kid's body.

At the sentencing my cousin had an opportunity to speak on behalf of the victim. During this time the mother locked eyes with me and said "He killed the baby. He broke his bones"

Over and over. That day I'm pretty sure I saw the eyes of the devil.

Enjoy jury duty!