Rob CarlsonUS folks only, out of curiosity, how many times have you served on a jury - not just called but actually sat through a trial?
ETA: Also feel free to reply with your JD stories.
| Never | |
| Once | |
| Twice | |
| More than twice |
Poll ends at .
Nicklas Johnson 🏳️🌈@vees I was once far enough along in the selection process to answer questions from a judge, but was ultimately excused by the prosecution. It was a murder trial in which an 80-something-year-old man killed his 70-something-year-old sister over their inheritance money.
aburka 🫣@vees once and it was quite eye-opening as to how law enforcement operates in poor and immigrant communities
ended in a hung jury
Kat the Leopardess@vees Been called to jury duty more than a few times. Farthest I got was that I called the day before. System told me I was chosen and needed to report.
Got to the courhouse, sat in for the Jury selection intro and education video while waiting for court to go into session. Somewhere in thst time, the defendant (for the trial I was to be on) settled out of court. So the video was stopped and we were all asked to go home.
Nelson
Josh@vees Called twice, served twice. Jury Foreman once. Both times the jury ended up finding the defendant guilty of some charges, not guilty on others.
The time I served as foreman was a doozy, guy shoved his GF into a wall, she was holding their infant, kid got seriously injured (life-altering brain damage). It was a few years after my son had passed away, and I was still pretty raw re: any harm to kids.
Josh 
@vees a fun thing about living in Baltimore is that we have a massive problem with people simply not showing up to jury duty. So if you actually show up, there’s a very good chance you’ll end up sitting on a jury. And then get called every year.
@josh0 The county did not have that a showing up problem but was the place where every civil defendant and insurance company WANTED their suit heard if it was all possible to avoid large settlements the city jurors regularly gave to injured parties. With the county pool you had at least a few "bootstrap conservatives" from north of Cockeysville.
@vees serving on juries in the city has definitely been an interesting experience. Literally only once have I encountered a fellow juror who seemed even remotely inclined to take the prosecution’s word at face value (in a case that was utterly lacking in any sort of forensics; had they simply fingerprinted the key piece of evidence, I am confident we would have returned a guilty verdict, but they instead basically just assumed they would get a conviction of a black man on felony gun possession charges without having to do any real work).
@josh0 Harder to argue jurisdiction on a criminal case but I'm sure county criminal defendants also would have preferred to be heard in the city for the same reason.
irrational method@vees I feel like for a while I was getting a notice every six months, but never needed to show up. I'm told they don't often select people with engineering backgrounds.
@IrrationalMethod I got picked as an alt for a civil case with the title of software developer. After trial the plaintiff's attorney told me in the lobby that every time he looked at me he noticed me writing something down in my little steno pad which apparently is not typical juror behavior. I recall making a few causal flowcharts and sketches of the garage at issue that I brought up during deliberation. This may have dissuaded him from empaneling any future computer folks.
@IrrationalMethod Just now I went back to read the notes I wrote after the trial was over and boy howdy I did not believe those plaintiffs.
JustCare
antifa super soldier gritty@vees i was asked a series of questions like do you believe cops more than regular people and do you think cops lie more often. i received and email the night before i didnt have to show up the next day. really put faith in our """"""""""""""""""""""justice system"""""""""""""""""""
@Notactuallyfromphilly I hope that "regular people" is a paraphrase and not part of the actual voir dire questions you received.
@vees no i dont remember the exact wording. it was like 10-15 questions and those stood out basicly asking if i thought cops lie. which i obviously do because it is documented they lie all the time
@Notactuallyfromphilly Just write "Frazier v. Cupp" next to both.
@vees it was one of those multiple choice answers. also im not sending someone to jail for some bullshit like drug possession which was probably the charges judging by where i live. personally i believe youd have to be a real dumbass to uncritically believe anyone in a position of power
Richard W4\G7EIX@vees Once. About 3 months after becoming a US citizen in 2017. I was eliminated pretty quickly, in the first round. Child abuse case.
Jonathan Kamens 86 47@vees Served as foreman on civil trial about car accident. Defendant had already been found liable, for some reason we were only asked to decide damages.
We carefully calculated what we thought damages should be, not including medical expenses that were covered by health insurance.
Then we found out _after_ verdict that insurance company gets reimbursed from awarded damages.
Asked lawyer friend about this, he said lawyers in MA are *not allowed to tell jurors this*.
Completely absurd.
(1/2)
We carefully calculated what we thought damages should be, not including medical expenses that were covered by health insurance.
Then we found out _after_ verdict that insurance company gets reimbursed from awarded damages.
Asked lawyer friend about this, he said lawyers in MA are *not allowed to tell jurors this*.
Completely absurd.
(1/2)
@vees I sent a letter to the judge and both lawyers explaining as the foreman that the jury specifically talked about not needing to include medical expenses that were reimbursed in damages, and that if we'd known the insurance company would get paid back we would have included them. I don't know if anything ever came of it.
Miscarriage of justice, as far as I'm concerned.
(2/2)
Miscarriage of justice, as far as I'm concerned.
(2/2)
@jik Likewise in the one trial I sat, they were not allowed to tell anyone that the attorneys for the defendant were employed by or paid for by the insurance company, and that damages would have been paid by them. The defendant was a home builder so there wasn't much emotional difference.
feritae 🇺🇦🇺🇦@vees I only got called once because I absolutely believe in jury duty. hobie was getting summoned every 6 weeks for a couple of years. He hated the idea and couldn't do it anyway because of his travel job.
During jury selection, I was asked if I knew the defendant. I answered, "I do not. But I took a real estate class with the woman beside him."
I was selected for the civil case involving real estate. And the jury hated me but finally agreed with me. And the judge was pleasantly surprised by the jury's decision.
Dave Wilburn 
Called twice, dismissed during voir dire for the first one, then the second time we were all dismissed after in-person voter check-in when scheduled jury trials for that day were canceled (I speculate there was a last minute delay, settlement, or plea deal).
Pete's Mom 🍉 🇺🇦 ☮️@vees
Once: Guy called police *from home* after hitting deer on way home, dead deer in road, pretty totaled car. Guy drank alcohol to calm down waiting for police to show up at his *home*. Police arrest guy for drunk driving. Jury unanimous not guilty. Cops: jury people watch too much tv, dont understand the law 😂😂😂
🖕ACAB
Once: Guy called police *from home* after hitting deer on way home, dead deer in road, pretty totaled car. Guy drank alcohol to calm down waiting for police to show up at his *home*. Police arrest guy for drunk driving. Jury unanimous not guilty. Cops: jury people watch too much tv, dont understand the law 😂😂😂
🖕ACAB
@Petesmom Sounds like those jurors exactly understood what reasonable doubt was
Pax Ahimsa GethenThe one time I served was a civil trial back in 2013. I was fine doing so as I wasn't gainfully employed at the time. Which is a good thing as the trial and deliberations took six weeks!
I get summoned nearly every year, and have gone through voir dire at least one other time, but have managed to avoid serving since then. (I really don't want anything to do with criminal trials, and make my opinions of the US police and criminal justice system clear on my juror questionnaires.)
killick
gnate@vees
The only time I had to show up, I was selected for a grand jury. Federal case against a family who were swindling immigrants (largely here via TPS) out of the money they gained from working multiple jobs by promising they could expedite the green card process. That's money that would otherwise have gone towards buying a house, etc.
They were bad liars, and got caught spending the money on jewelry and vacations.
Maria Langer | 📝💎🌵🛥️@vees Because I'm freelance and I only get paid when I work, I usually am able to get out of the call. The one time I did go in and wait, I was interviewed but turned down. I suspect the reason is because my dad was a police officer and I told them that I would believe the word of a police officer over the word of a defendant.
Not sure I'd say the same thing these days, though. How sad is that?
Alison Wilder@vees 45 years old, never called. Knocking on all the wood.
Kelson
howrawhowrue 
@vees Served on one where a bouncer argued with police and the cops threw everything at him. One guy appointed himself foreman and was ready to convict on all counts, and we said “slow down” and finally agreed on only resisting arrest because we couldn’t figure out any way to avoid that.
Started to get picked for another and I confessed I couldn’t hear well enough to understand what anyone was saying in the big echoey courtroom. They were annoyed with me.
epicdemiologist@vees Trial jury once, grand jury twice.
@epicdemiologist You are part of the 2% with more than two!
@vees My parents were both teachers, both registered to vote in the same county, voted in the same elections, etc. She got called ALL THE TIME and he almost never did. (She was often, but not always, excused.)
@vees It helps that I've been a registered voter for many decades!
@epicdemiologist Also helps to be a licensed driver in most places, just so more people don't think registering to vote is the only reason you get jury duty and don't register
@vees Noted! And I've been lucky--never been in a position where it was a big hardship to serve. Some of my fellow grand jury members were in awful straits (self-employed truck driver, teacher).
Oreo Teeth@vees Called twice, never served. The first time I made it up to the jury selection process but was excused for having an opinion on a case. I thought the guy was looking for an easy paycheck and his civil rights weren't violated by being asked to serve meat at his restaurant job. Why would a vegan get a job in an omnivore restaurant if not to attempt to cash in?
Second time I was told not to report when I called the night before.
@vees Oh, almost forgot to add I was removed from the county pool on grounds of disability. Hadn't requested it but I guess they searched public records and thinned out the pool.
Colin Purrington@vees They let me sit on the jury for a medical malpractice case even though I have a PhD and I'm married to a physician. Plaintiff would have easily won the case if their attorney had rejected me.
Robert Banz