I recently served as a juror on a felony trial. It was not the positive experience I'd hoped. To start with the jury summons had to be completed and returned in five days or less of receipt, It contained a statement that made it more than clear that a warrant for my arrest would follow if it was not. This could a been a problem because my wife and I are retired and spent weeks at a time on out of state, or out of the country on vacation. The thought of being arrested at the airport when entering the country crossed my mind. You would think a citizen in good standing would deserve a little more notice and a little more respect.
Got called and selected to serve last year for traffic court. The charge was "driving on the sidewalk" and the defendant was representing himself. The prosecutor presented no photos, no police dash cam or body cam video; no accident report, and the officer who wrote the accident report (which we weren't allowed to see) was not present at trial. They had another officer come instead. Turns out the guy was driving early one morning and crashed into a tree in a residential area, crossing a sidewalk in the process. They would not tell us is he had experienced a blowout or brake failure, was crashed into by somebody else, hit debris in the road, or any real explanation about why he crossed the sidewalk and struck the tree and destroyed his car, although they expected us to believe that he did it on purpose. We voted NOT GUILTY in short order, and I took the opportunity to tell the prosecutor how disgusted we all were that he had dragged us away from our daily lives over some frivolous case like this. (I might not get called to serve there again.)
Prosecutors charge whatever they want & try to get everyone to a plea bargain. When a defendant refuses to plea, the prosecutor usually tries again with a lower possible offense. It sounds like this was the lowest possible offence & the prosecutor should have dismissed at that time, but had an ego problem.
Got called for Jury duty and during voir dire, the prosecuting attorney asked one possible juror, "Sir, I understand that you are an engineer, and so you must be used to exact measurements, and precise calculations, will you be able to make a decision today if things are a bit less exact?" The man said "I don't understand". The lawyer then asked what type of engineer are you? He said, " I just drive the train"... the whole courtroom broke out in laughter.
I am a mechanical engineer. During the selection process once I was asked the same thing almost word for word. My answer was different of course. I ended up serving on the jury.
@@RustyorBroken Same here, so many people want to get out of it. It would be cool if they had lists of those of us who would be willing to serve more often.
The first time I was called I got to sit on an auto accident law suit that was basically between two insurance companies. Two days in court and the parties settled just as we were going into deliberations. A year later I ran into the plaintiff's lawyer in a parking garage and he asked me if I would have voted to give his client money, I said no way in hell. He said, why not? It was just insurance company money. I'm from Idaho and have been a resident here my entire life, but I was in the military for twenty years. My voter registration lapsed for several years do to some issues and emergencies (evacuated for hurricane Katrina for one). Twenty years on active duty and I got called once or twice a year, every year. Jury selection had nothing to do with voter registration in my case. I got called again less than a year after I retired. During voir dire the judge asked if anyone had any questions or concerns. I asked a question that amounted to jury nullification and was asked to leave. I haven't been called again and it's been almost ten years. I think jury nullification means the opposite of what it's called.
I was called for 6 or 7 trials, interviewed for 4, and selected for 2, both civil cases. I was the foreman for both. Getting 12 people to agree on the level of fault and negligence, and an award, was extremely challenging. The first case was pretty straightforward to only determine the amount of damage for an old traffic accident, and was quickly resolved. The second, more recent case was a collision caused by the plaintiff stopping dead on the off ramp during rush hour (both feet on the brake, tires smoking), then suing the defendant years later for barely hitting her car and causing a self-reported injury. Somehow, the Defendant managed to stop in time, did make contact with the Plaintiff's rear bumper, but caused no damage to either vehicle. The case was clearly frivolous, the judge was clearly pissed, and I don't know how it ever went to trial. The Defense attorney presented 4 prior, similar incidents filed by the Plaintiff for personal injury where monetary damages were paid. The Defense in this case clearly demonstrated that the Plaintiff was not injured, had a history of filing such claims, and was only orchestrating another payday. In spite of this, two jury members were sympathetic and absolutely would NOT budge off their positions. I carefully informed the judge we could not reach a decision. The even MORE pissed off and VERY imposing judge flatly stated that we WOULD stay in the jury room until we reached a decision PERIOD. We deliberated for another day and reached a decision. BTW, the Plaintiff got zero, and her attorney told me that it was the first case in 20 years that he had lost, i.e. "No Monetary Damages".
Wow, I'm glad the judge forced the issue, this is what's wrong with the world right now (well, one thing), too many frivolous lawsuits, payouts that don't match the damages, etc
I sat in the waiting room for federal court all day waiting for the selection process then finally we were told there was a plea bargain and our services were no longer required we were sent home. When I got home there was a summons for jury duty for the Ottawa County District Court in my mail box. Following the instructions in the summons I called the number listed and told them I had just served jury duty in federal court that very day and they dismissed me from jury duty. About 15 years later I received a questionnaire for jury duty eligibility which I filled out but I don't recall if I received a reply as to my eligibility. Apparently I wasn't eligible.
I have served on a Federal Grand Jury and a municipal petit jury, and I found both experiences to be informative and enjoyable. It was a privilege, and I am very glad we live in a country in which regular people are empaneled on juries instead of political appointees or government hacks who are there only to rubber stamp tbe prosecution's allegations. We should all be very grateful that we have such a system because many countries today and historically have not. Cheers, Russ
That’s an excellent perspective. It would be great if everyone else felt the same. Unfortunately, I think most people focus on the inconvenience of the situation, and tend to interpret the “duty” as some sort of oppression. Once, I had municipal jury duty, then six months later had county jury duty, then just over another six months, had municipal jury duty again. While I didn’t enjoy the whole process, it was a beneficial experience and I’m glad to have done my part.
In my small town, we are on jury notice for an entire year when it is our turn. If I want to leave town for a period of time I have to notify the court that I will be unavailable for those dates. It is like being on probation though I have done nothing wrong.
I sat on a jury and before it was over the judge and prosecutor were having a screaming fit. To put it simply, I did not agree with how pot laws were being applied to the defendant and even though all jury members agreed he broke the law as it was written, we still found him not guilt and in legal speak it was a "jury nullification" of the law. The prosecutor tried every thing he could think of to have the judge set aside our finding but in the end, there was no legal way to do so and the defendant was set free. I share this to let people know that judges do not always tell the entire story when giving jury instructions and as a member of the jury not only do you have the right / responsibility to judge the defendant, you have the same right and *responsibility* to judge the law as it is being applied. This can make for a sticky situation so judges tend to keep that part from jurors and, it makes a prosecutors head explode!
What I have found out, and I know several lawyers and a few judges, and one other DA, but I knew of one DA that would treat every case as guilty and try to persecute everyone that came across his desk regardless, he was a weasel and was trying t rack up as many cases and wins as could so could go into private practice later, Judge friend of mine said once. He would especially try and convict any case he knew they could not afford a good defense since was sure would win it. Did not last very long and does not practice here locally either. But I see this issue many times, DA's are not just to prosecute (or persecute) people regardless, they have to determine the legit-ability of the case as we know not all cops are legit , make mistakes and many downright lie. Hell if cops knew the law they would be lawyers not cops, the DA's job is to validate the case, then and only then prosecute those that are indeed in some violation, or valid cases but that is faded from our justice (or injustice) system today. Why we have so many incarcerated people that are being proved innocent, and hey, juries are not always right either! I would let ten murders go free if using the same process would convict one innocent person. I believe in hard evidence, not a he/she said, or even so called lineups or any speculation which should never be allowed, attorneys should be required to state facts as presented by evidence, not go through some fictional story that cannot be prove just to sway a jury, that should be outlawed, If on a jury and that happens I'll vote innocent if think getting an unfair trail period!
I live in So. Cal. and have been called for jury duty 8 times or so over the years. I dutifully reported and was an alternate on one, fearing contempt or fine if I did not show up without cause based on the summons verbiage. A few months ago the local newspaper in San Diego did an investigation and it turns out the County courts have not pursued no-shows for decades. They just assume 28% will be no-shows and bolster the summons pool by 28% to compensate. When questioned the bailiff(?) noted that 8,200 potential jurors are summoned each year. "It's expensive and time-consuming to go after jury duty scofflaws. We don't know whether those people had moved out of the area, whether they were deceased, whether they were active military and had gotten transferred. We don't have the wherewithal to go to all that trouble." Some other California counties are enforcing the law, but if you live in San Diego my non-attorney advice is to chuck it in the trash can if it would be a personal burden. www.10news.com/news/empty-threat-thousands-of-san-diegans-blow-off-jury-duty#:~:text=Michael%20Roddy%20said%20the%20county%20sends%20out%20820%2C000%20jury%20summons%20each%20year.
I received a jury summons once but didn't serve, and speaking about being late to court, my attorney always left his house on court days at 5:00AM so he wouldn't be caught in traffic which I learned over the 5 days of our civil trial - we carpooled - and he'd have his routine of breakfast, going over trial notes, just being generally so organized and well prepared. He really earned my respect, and it didn't surprise me that we won.
I have been called several times, served once as foreman of the jury in a DUI case. The defendant did not present himself well, and his attorney seemed to be having some difficulty making a coherent case. According to the arresting officer, the only witness, the driver had cut off the officer driving an unmarked car, then made an abrupt, unsignaled turn, and blew through a stop sign. After being pulled over the officer attempted to conduct a field sobriety test, but the defendant could not comply in that he could not stand without holding onto the roof rack of his car. After a brief deliberation, with little debate we voted to convict. After the trial the Judge sat us down and said that he didn't think that it would take us long, and that he could not tell us beforehand, but that the defendant had several prior convictions for the same. The trial started just after lunch, and was over at about 4:30 This was in 2006
Retired now, but was a Professional Firefighter, and use to work earlier as a Paramedic for a hospital based ambulance service. I was called in for jury duty, it was a shaken baby death.... I was called up for questioning, and asked if I knew the defendant, or the child or the child's family. I said I did not, and I don't even recall the incident in the news.... I was then given the list of witnesses, and I was asked if I knew any of them. "Well, I have known Detective---------, I know the 2 officers, I work with the 2 firefighters, I know the 2 medics, I know the Emergency Room Dr., I know 3 of the nurses, I go to church with the attending, I know....Thank you for coming in, you are excused..... I honestly believe that I could have been impartial....
You know the classic story about "I didn't see him bite the other guy's ear off, but I did see him spit it out"? I was a juror in an assault case where a guy got beaten up and his watch and wallet stolen on a city street in broad daylight. The main witness was a TelCo worker who was eating lunch in his truck and saw the attack. He even locked the door of his truck because the victim tried to get away from his attackers and tried for shelter in the truck. The defense attorney started in. "Are you sure you saw the event clearly?" "Yes, sir." "But this was through the window of your truck, right?" "Yes, sir." "So your vision was somewhat obscured?" "Yes, sir." This is the point he should have stopped. "So, if your vision was obscured by the window, how are you sure the defendant was involved. Why do you say you were close enough to see clearly?" "Well, he (the victim) left bloody hand prints on my truck."
About 25 years ago I had jury duty. At the time you had to go every day for 2 weeks and might get selected for multiple trials or none. On the last day I was selected for a jury at 4:30 in the afternoon. Opening arguments were the following Monday. It was an attempted murder trial. Testimony lasted 2 weeks. except for the EMTs and the police officers all the witnesses were brought in in Cuffs, leg irons and waist chains. The judge made the remove the hardware before they were allowed to testify. The marshals begged the judge not to do this with one witness, but he insisted. The witness tried to escape. The victim testified that he had never been shot and didn't know where the scars in his chest came from insisting they weren't there when he went to bed the night before. We deliberated for 3 weeks, twice the bailiffs were sent into the jury room because we were arguing so loud that we were disturbing the trial that was going on. It ended as a hung jury 9-3 guilty. We found out after it was over that the defendant was a made mobster. It was a crazy experience. one juror insisted that the victim was a drug dealer so his getting shot isn't really a crime. Another insisted the police were framing the guy, this was never suggested by the defense. and one juror said she thought the man was guilty but that the state had not proven it beyond a reasonable doubt, I respected her even though I disagreed with her. If I was on trial and was guilty I would want a jury trial because it only takes one nutty juror to stop a conviction. If I was innocent I would want a bench trial , because I think the judge would be smart enough to weed through all the BS and find the truth. I was called again about 5 years ago and while being questioned during jury selection for a murder case I requested a side bar. The facts of the case were very similar. When the judge heard I had been on a hung jury he asked me what the case was. When I explained it. he ,the prosecutor and the defense lawyer kept me at the side bar for about 45 minutes asking me about the experience. They said people at the courthouse were still talking about the first case I was on 20 years later. There were two more hung juries after the on I was on and the man was convicted at the fourth trial.
My first experience of jury duty was very enlightening. I sat in the jury waiting room all day and finally got called with only an hour left in the day. The prosecuting attorney had time to make a speech and then it was time to go home. The next day we sat while the attorneys, defendant and judge met in the judge’s chambers. (Why isn’t just called an office?) Then we broke for an early lunch. We were told to take an extended lunch because the judge had a doctor appointment. Finally, that afternoon the jurors were questioned. I was dismissed the third day. My attendance was not required the rest of the week. Of course, I had to miss work the entire week. It was the biggest waste of time! Fortunately, other times when I have been called for jury duty we’re more productive.
I used to live in a small town in rural Oregon. The population of the county was pretty low, so when you were called for jury duty, it wasn't for one day. It was for THREE MONTHS. Three nights a week I had to call in to the courthouse to see if I had to show up the next day. Again: for three solid months! I was placed on two juries during that time. On one of the cases, one of the witnesses was one of my co-workers. Didn't disqualify me.
In my 77+ years of living, I have been called twice for jury duty. The first one was when I was in my 40's and was selected. The defendant was a felon and a known gang member and was caught throwing a gun in the bushes during a foot chase, according to the police. This defendant actually took the stand and blew it big time. I could not even use the jury nullification in this case. The second one, I was sent a letter for jury duty this past year and had to decline because of distance to the court house; 57 miles one way. Thanks for your videos.
I got a jury summons one time. None of the excuses on the summons covered why I couldn't be a juror. So I went into the court house and found the jury coordinator. I said I had an excuse that wasn't covered. She responded "I doubt that" to which I presented my summons to be States witness during that trial... I got out of jury duty.
I've moved states and countries my whole legal jury duty age life, so I've only gotten called once. It was grand jury duty. And I COULDN'T GO because I was in college out of state. I was super salty about it.
The first time I went in for jury duty I was in my early twenties (about 30 years ago) in Chicago. I was one of several people picked to be questioned by the attorneys. When the attorney representing the insurance company involved in the case came up to me, he stared at me for a couple of seconds and disqualified me. He never asked me anything. I guess he just didn't like the way I looked. I felt both insulted and relieved at the same time.
Served on a felony drug case. We went to jury room for deliberations, someone suggested we pick a foreman. I was selected. I asked for a show of hands as to the guilt of the defendant, all hands went up "guilty"! We caught the bailiff before he left the corridor.
A very funny story (feel free to share) - I got called to serve on a military court once, in the month of January. The prosecutor was obviously new and very naive, and as he was performing voir dire on the members of the court (a military equivalent of a jury), he must have been following some kind of training-book formula, because he was smarmily ingratiating, asking questions that had nothing to do with what he needed to know. He asked how long I had been at that base, and I said, "Since November." (Remember, this was in January.) Then he said, "This year?) I squelched half a dozen scorching remarks that came to mind, and looked at this kid just long enough for him and everyone else to realize what a totally stupid question he had asked. I could actually see the redness climb from his neck to his whole face, like Kool-Aid filling a pitcher. Then I gently said, "No, that would be last year." It was truly a "Gotcha!" moment.
I served in a criminal case where I seem to remember all of us jurors figured the defendant was guilty concerning a mild physical altercation he had with a neighbor over a property easement dispute, but we did not feel it would be in the interest of justice to have him facing any criminal charges by the state, so we found him not guilty. Our jury orientation manual clearly stated we had no right to judge the fairness of the law when it came to our verdict, but we decided otherwise.
I've served three times but the one I remember most was a homicide trial involving three infants and it was horrible. The defendant, a very uneducated black woman from the ghetto, had left her 9 month old infant son and 1-1/2 year old twin daughters home alone while she went off to drink and get high. She had left her iron turned on and it caught fire, which engulfed the house killing the children. The defense attorney, the good looking Ralph, gave us days of testimony and expert witnesses on the faultiness of the iron. The prosecuting attorney, who had never won a case, ever, Dominic the Doofus, who had asked very little questions of the prosecution's witnesses and who had put on very little of a case compared to the defense, hit a grand slam home run with his summation. "The defendant was obligated to protect her children. Had she been home (we presumed, "and sober"), she could have gotten them outside away from the fire. I rest my case." We found the woman guilty. During the trial the prosecutor, Dominic, passed photos of the fire scene among us, including photos of the burnt bodies. I passed them along without looking at them. The hippy liberal Judge, Cue Ball Jackson (not called so because he played Billiards, but rather because he was bald as one) said, "Madam, it surprises me that you choose not to view the photos on such a serious matter." I popped back that I had quite an active imagination and did not need to see the photos to make the homicide seem more real, and frankly it surprised me that the defense attorney hadn't raised an objection about the photos prejudicing the jury. Oooops! I was warned not to be so frank again. After finding the woman guilty, we got a stern lecture from the judge that it was her culture to leave their children alone, which I found racist because all of the black mothers I knew did no such thing. The judge released the woman on bail pending sentencing, and of course she fled and was no where to be found on her sentencing date. I never was able to find out if the bail guys found her or not, or whether she served her sentence, or in fact what her sentence was. I will note here that from the outset of the trial it was blatantly obvious that the judge favored the defense attorney, and it appeared they were close friends, while it was also very obvious that he did not like nor had any regard for the prosecutor. How's that for trying to prejudice a jury? This was in the early 80's, I believe, when people who committed a crime, i.e., rape, murder and the like, were being given very lenient sentences, at least here in California, because the little dears weren't aware of what they were actually doing. The other two trials involved a fender bender, which had a lot more fireworks in the deliberations room than ever happened on the murder trial. I remember it being quite fun actually and man did a few of those people not know the driving laws. We had to request a DMV manual and the driving codes to settle some arguments. The third trial was in juvenile court and the little snot sat there and let us listen to a few days testimony before taking a plea just before we went into deliberations. As to getting called for jury duty, here in California, the pools are made up from the voter registrations and drivers licence roles. God help you if you don't have the exact same name on both. My father never got one jury summons, while Mother got them every two years as she became eligible again, even after she became disabled by MS. Every 6 years we would have to have her doctor write a letter; he finally got so aggravated that he asked what is it about chronic incurable disease that you seem to not understand? My patient has MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, this is an INCURABLE DISEASE. She will NEVER be better than she is today, ergo, she WILL ONLY GET MORE DISABLED AND DEBILITATED. Surely you have many more people who can fill her role and you can STOP beleaguering this poor woman, AND ME! So, I literally used the caps where Doc did but his were bolded and red.🤣 Thankfully our town has grown so large that we have more than enough people to serve on juries today. I'm pretty sure they have even stopped issuing warrants for people's arrests.
In the early 1980's (NYC, Queens) I served on a Grand Jury. At that time you served every weekday for a month. We heard many presentations by the prosecutors. If I remember, their problem is to disclose just enough to convince the jury that there is a case. Sometimes we felt it wasn't enough and voted against going forward. Most cases were drug related with undercover police showing up in their street get-ups - you would think they were the suspects. We were told not to acknowledge them outside of the jury room. Here's one we voted against and shows you how times have changed. A gentleman from Texas was arrested for carrying a gun on a plane flight. He actually testified to the jury - which was rare. He claimed not to know gun carrying on a plane (back then) was not permitted. We voted against charges.
I got called for jury duty when I was in grad school and our daughter was born 6 weeks early. My wife had to go to back to work because she had no leave left since she had been hospitalized prior to delivering the baby. So, I was home with our child who was now really only a week old (7 weeks after birth). She still did not weigh 6 pounds yet. Right after getting the letter (a couple of week before the jury service dates) I called the court to address the issue. I told the clerk the situation, and I asked the clerk if I could defer until the next pool when my wire would be our of school for the summer. She said no. I said I would have to bring my daughter because I was not going to leave the child. We had no family in the area and no daycare would take a week only baby. Either way, I would not leave the child. She said I would be arrested if I tried that. After several more minutes of discussion, she told me I could be excused if it was approved by the judge when I appeared for jury duty. I said I had to bring the child. She said I would be arrested. I asked if I could do it earlier (before my wife returned to work). She said no. I asked if I could come in early that first day. She said I could meet with him early the first morning. I said I would have to bring the child that week because my wife would be back to work. She said I would be arrested. I said the child would not disrupt the judge in a private meeting because she was a preemie and pretty much slept all of the time. I had to fight her to keep her awake long enough to eat. She said that I would be arrested. I said that would look very bad for the court to have a premie in jail or for the arrest of a father who was having a premie ripped from his arms for not appearing for jury duty. She said I would be arrested. So, I decided to call her every morning until she changed her mind. I called 7 business days in a row until she relented.
@@WarofThoughts Yea my response was based on the biblical story of the Unjust Judge. The consistent demands for justice forced the judge to eventually do the right thing.
I got called for the first time and served on a jury last week. After we decided the not guilty verdict, I went home and started researching whether a judge could overthrow that. I found your video on jury nullification. Now that I've learned, I'm proud to say that we practiced jury nullification that day. None of us wanted to convict the defendant.
@Mr N.G.C failure to yield right of way in a left turn. Normally a petty misdemeanor which cant get a jury trial, so they charged him higher than that. Farmer turned left into driveway on tractor and motorcyclist impacted his right rear tractor tire. We decided it was an accident and not a crime.
@Mr N.G.C I'm not sure. They wouldn't tell us squat about this case. So much information was withheld that it made me suspicious. I don't believe the farmer got fined.
Been on two juries. I was horrified by some of the people in the jury pool with their logic and apathy towards the process and the defendants, while others were very engaged and really cared. Two guys behind me in the jury pool were talking to each other about how if someone was indicted and on trial that they were probably guilty. One of the guys got called for jury duty and during the voir dire, I called him out and told the Court that I overheard this conversation. The Judge asked of it was true and the guy agreed. He was dismissed.
My first jury duty was in New Jersey before they went to the one day/one trial format, so I was called for 2 weeks. The first week we saw only 2 panels called, the second week I was called for 3 panels and seated on each one. As you mentioned, everyone involved in the process was very accommodating to the jurors and emphasized our important role in the process. My one run in with a judge occurred a later duty when I ended up being an alternate juror on a accident liability case. After the trial ended, I made the mistake of calling the defense attorney (son of the defendant, BTW) to let him (and her) know that I wouldn't have voted to assign anywhere near as much blame to her as the deliberating jury assigned -- that got me an immediate instruction to call the judge as soon as I identified myself and a fairly patient lecture from the judge ... oops.
Served on a Medical Malpractice case once. We found the Doctor guilty and awarded the amount asked for. Found out later that the amount awarded barely covered what was owed to the insurance company and lawyer. Poor guy got about $15,000 after being crippled for life.
I was called, but because of my job (I was a long-haul trucker at the time) they excused me. I just wanted to comment because of what happened the day I went to the courthouse. They had sent me a long questionnaire asking many very invasive and personal questions. I am guessing it was kind of a "mini" voir dire and didn't answer them. Brought the questionnaire to the courthouse signed, but no questions answered. The bailiff took a look at it and asked if I could do him a favor and answer the questions. I told him I would refuse to answer them, and he then asked for my ID. I told him I wasn't carrying ID, and that this wasn't Nazi Germany and I don't have to present my papers. I had left my ID in my vehicle in case of such an eventuality. He tried to be intimidating, but eventually he told me just go sit down. I was actually kind of looking forward to sitting on a jury. I wasn't trying to avoid it, but they got my dander up with those questions.
Once I was standing in a long line to tell the Judge why I wouldn't be available next week for a trial. He had heard a bunch of excuses before getting to me about halfway down the line and didn't look too happy when he asked me my reasons. I told him I was due to be sentenced by him on Friday. The Judge and both lawyers immediately cracked up.
got stuck serving once. Electrical supplier alleging negligence against a lady homeowner. Underground power supply shorted in a rain storm. They came out and ran a service feed, came back and buried a new supply. Found that the wire had been damaged and wrapped with Duct Seal. In trial showed numerous photos. Lady not found negligent and then they reveal the lawyer for the power compamy was brand new. Asked us for feedback (weird). In the photos it was clear someone had installed downspout drain tile and new downspouts. No homeowner has duct seal (commercial product) Asked who the downspout contractor. Crickets... so i commented because it sure seems more likely they hit the line, knew they did so, and would have duct seal a commercial putty for sealing holes around pipes and wires through walls - on their truck. So they would be likely an insured commercial entitity who knowingly hit the power line sealed it and buried it. Hope the homeowner got whole.
I moved from Missouri to Kansas in April of 2010. I received a jury summons at my Grandmothers house in Missouri last week. I have never lived at that address.
This points to the need for some orderly procedure for checking out of a state when you move. I moved from one state to another last year. I filled out a form to be removed from the voter rolls in the state I left last year but this year I got a booklet from the county on the upcoming primary. I filled out the form again, and this may remove me from the voter rolls.
I actually ended up giving testimony during the one criminal case I was ever called for jury duty. Two other jurors thought it OK to discuss the case during recess. I felt the need to tattle. Judge called me to the stand during a hearing where I was the focus of both sides' attention. The case was declared a mistrial for juror misconduct. I haven't been called back since.
Once. When it came time to select a foreman one juror said, “That guy is the only one wearing a tie. I nominate him.” We unanimously voted him as our foreman.
In our county we have a 4 week Jury Duty. Every Friday we call in to find out if we have to appear Monday morning. I got selected to be on standby for 4 weeks. However each Friday I called the message said , “A plea bargain has been reached, you are not needed, have a great week”.
I got called but after writing a letter they said I was not needed. I have seen both sides of the system. I am an ex correction officer and saw the conviction side of the system. I was in a self defense fight and was arrested, attempted interrogation and after I told them to piss off I want a lawyer they beat my *ss. There were about 6 of them. After I got bonded out and then hired an attorney and took it to court my attorney caught the other guy lying on the stand. Not guilty verdict. I so wanted to punch the prosecutor in the face at the end of the trial. This was in Grand Rapids. I totally lost all respect for the criminal justice system. They are all liars.
I am 28 years old and I have always wanted to serve as a juror. I firmly believe that doing such is our RESPONSIBILITY as an American. I never received a summons for the first 9 years as an adult. My brother is 1 year and 11 months younger than me. He immediately joined the military right out of high school and received 2 separate summons while he was away at basic training and at least 2 more I know of before he was 21. I was jealous. I finally received my first summons to be a juror and I was super excited, the only problem is I am now disabled and living in a nursing home and 3 hours away from where I was living before I moved to be near the requisite healthcare facilities that I need. I was very upset that I could not participate. I know most people despise jury duty, but it broke my heart getting my doctor to fill out the form telling the state I do not have the capacity to be a juror anymore.
I served on an almost 5 week trial that ended about a month ago. First time that I had to go in. I went through voir dire with a about 64 potential jurors. I got picked to be on a jury of 12 + 2 alternates (I was not an alternate). The judge did poll the jury when she gave our verdict. "Was this your verdict? Was this the verdict of the jury?"
July of 2017 I was called to serve on a grand jury which, in my county, meant that we were to meet the first Monday of every month (for a full year) to hear evidence and decide whether the cases brought before us were to be pursued further. A couple of times we were not able to finish the month's "business" in one day so we had to meet again the following day. It was quite the learning experience regarding the judicial system and I came away with a heightened respect for our law enforcement officers.
Up for federal duty very shortly. Court building rules say "no T-shirts," and I was so disappointed. Wanted to wear my T that on the back reads, "ASK ME ABOUT JURY NULLIFICATION." Shucks.
I got a notice once here in Australia. The day they wanted me to come was the same day as I was due to be at a big model train show for setup. Filled in the response indicating that I was involved with organizing the show and needed to be there and never heard anything back (or received any notices since)
You're right about the jurors being treated properly. The several times I went for jury duty, everyone treated us properly. Security people, the people doing the orientation, the judge, the attorneys, etc...they all treated us with respect and appreciation.
@@nodak81 You're right that some people have zero desire to do jury duty, which I find disappointing. If I needed a jury, I would want people who didn't mind being there, were willing to listen and concentrate on my case, and willing to take whatever time is necessary to render a just verdict. The times I went to jury duty, that is the attitude I took with me, because I think it is (pardon the old cliché) a "civic duty" that serves our fellow citizens. And I found that, when we do that, we ARE treated with respect and appreciation.
@@allnightkid I agree, if it were me I would want a panel of jurors that wanted to be there and able to focus on the case. That being said, some of us honestly dont fit that description and there should be allowences for us as well.
@@trucid2 Exactly. Im having all kinds of moral dilemmas with this. I am going to say it goes against my religious beliefs and I also cant find the reasoning in sacrificing my welfare for another especially when the individual will be "processed" regardless
I got summoned and I somehow missed the paper in the mail. I didn't get arrested, but I was invited down to the courthouse to have a talk with the judge. I explained that I never received the summons to the clerk and I was told I was free to go. That was the end of my life of crime. I actually wouldn't mind serving. My employer actually will give you your full pay for the time you miss while serving. My mother got summoned for federal jury duty, but to her relief, she didn't end to having to go in.
In one 10 year period I was called to Jury duty I was called 7 times. Each time that I was called it was by a different count in the same county, each time I would tell them that I had just served and I would be told that that was a different court and didn't count. (Which was wrong, it did count) on year 10 I got my 8th call, the day before I went the court moved to a new building across town and did not notify me or anyone else. We were all late, we were all chastised and given warning of arrest. I was mad as I sat to wait and when the judge came in to give his pep talk he could tell that I and a few others were not in a good mood. He singled me out for a patriotic humiliation, when he gave me a chance to respond I pulled from my pocket the recites of the last 7 jury duties that I had attended and told him that I was doing my duty and didn't appreciate being threatened with arrest for being late because they move court houses. I was respectful, never raised my voice, but also let him know that I was not in the mood to be bullied. The judge asked if anyone else had similar complaints and about half the jury poll raised their hands. Everyone in that room were sent home, it turns out he was the head judge in the state visiting and picked my room to talk to. Later I received a letter from the court explaining that should not have been called so often I have never been called again.(so far anyway)
The situation in the UK is broadly similar to how you described it, with jurors being selected randomly from the electoral register, told to call ahead the night before to check whether they were going to be needed, then sat in a room for possible allocation to a case, then presented to the judge and the two lawyers to decide whether they liked the face or not (the one I served on we never got asked anything individually by the lawyers). The interesting thing about our case was that one juror, who had clearly indicated that they did not know either of the two parties involved, quickly realised that they recognised the name of one of the defendants who was going to be called. They raised their hand, the court usher came over, this juror explained the situation, the usher told the judge, the judge called the lawyers, ... the jury was sent away to our room but without this one individual. We sat in there for what felt like an hour. Eventually we're called back into the court room and the judge explains the situation to us, and says that we were going to proceed with just 11 of us, rather than have the expense and trouble of cancelling it all and starting again, which would presumably have pushed it all back by a day. The case proceeds, we hear from witnesses for the prosecution, we see some decidedly dodgy video evidence from a nearby surveillance camera, we hear from the defendants themselves, and we felt that we were going to be near the end of it all, when another juror raises their hand to attract the attention of the court usher. The usher comes over, they whisper a bit, we get sent out to our room, and we wait. Again. We finally get told that the whole case will now be deemed a mistrial. It turns out that the first juror who was let go had written something on a piece of paper on their notepad which clearly identified the witness who they recognised, and that the second juror who drew the usher's attention, who had been sitting next to the first, had reached over to that (now unused) notepad, taken a piece of paper to continue making notes on, and had exposed this information. That was enough for the legals to decide that others among the jury *could* have been privy to the same information, and *could* have been influenced by it, so ended the trial.
Selected for a jury duty on a case that could only be described as comparable to an episode of Top Cops. It involved a prostitution sting gone wrong. Before the Undercover officer could fork over the cash, he had to make a Right-hand turn--also the signal for the following officers to come in and apprehend the individual, which they did before payment had been made. Two officers testified to this at trial. In the jury room a poll was taken--it was a hanging jury. When it got to me, I expressed my shock that the county would bring this case to trial--by their own admission they didn’t have evidence. The final juror said, “I’m glad you said that and we were off to the races. I pointed out, that I had been to a Halloween party a couple of weeks ago and was given a goodie bag that contained prophylactics, which I had thrown into my purse and carried around w/me for a week. Living in downtown PDX people in cars ask for directions-- I might walk up to their car lean down to speak with them. I was doing the same thing and would hope that if arrested, I would get a jury that would require evidence, as stated in the instructions to the jury. One by one, they all came around except the one person, who asked to be excused from serving and the case ended in a hung jury. One thing worth noting, it’s possible that the prosecutor, defending attorney and judge could hear our deliberations. At one point someone made a joke, we all laughed and the bailiff was sent in to admonish us--that this was serious business (after all no one died here). After we returned to the courtroom the prosecutor glared at me continually. She was young and possibly inexperienced--if so, there should have been oversight.
I was a juror on a murder trial back in 1992 and I am still bothered by it. The defendant made the foolish mistake of writing a letter confessing to the crime after the victim's wife was under suspicion. The murder took place about 2 1/2 years before he was arrested for it. There was no other evidence tying him to the case or proving he was even in town when it happened. He was put in the position of having to prove his innocence more than the prosecutors had to prove his guilt. I thought we were just going to find him not guilty and that would be it. Turns out 7 members of the jury thought he was guilty because of the letter he wrote and nothing else in the trial mattered to them. We sent a note to the Judge saying we were deadlocked with little chance of reaching a unanimous decision. The Judge told us it was an expensive trial to have and we needed to reach a verdict. The defense attorney objected and they got into an argument. After 12 hours of being in a small room with the jurors I was the last one to switch my vote to guilty which is something I will always be ashamed of. Because the Judge told us it would be too expensive to have another trial, the defendant was granted a new trial. He spent two years in jail before his second trial where he was acquitted. I feel terrible I didn't stick with my not guilty vote in spite of all the pressure I was under from my job and the fellow jurors.
I was summoned to jury duty in Adams County in Colorado. My wife was also summoned for the same day. We both go there. We both truthfully answered all the questions. We were both selected for a trial and seated in the same jury box. The trial was to start at 1:00 PM. No one ever asked if we were related in any way in spite of our same last names. I found it stupid and ironic that a husband and wife were jury members of the same trial. At the start of the trial the judge came in and announced it had been rescheduled because the district attorney had a family death on the East coast, and had to leave unexpectedly, thanked us all and excused us. What the hell? I would have been really pissed had I had been the accused and found this out during or after the trial. What do you think?
I was summoned 3x in Dallas Co soon after registering to vote. Here in TX all you have to do is speak up regarding your love and respect of law enforcement and you’re immediately excused. How’s that wall coming?
Got called, got picked (lucky me). Defendant was part of a group of people which murdered the victim. Defendant didn't do it, but since he was part of the group he got charged with 2nd Degree Murder. All I could think of while we were deliberating was the movie, "Twelve Angry Men" (the original or the remake, doesn't matter). Yes, our deliberations were somewhat intense. A most interesting experience, indeed.
I was called to Jury duty over 10 years ago in Southern California and I was treated very badly. It actually reminded me of boot camp. Orders, ultimatums and threats of all sorts of fines and penalties. I was happy to walk out of there without being arrested myself. And it wasn't just me. it was every person there. Horrible experience.
A friend of mine got summoned for our local town court for a criminal trial. When they were going thru the standard questions and got to the "do any of you know any of the police officers here in the court room for this case my friend raised his hand. The judge asked him who and how? He pointed at officer "Smith" and said: Yes Officer Smith almost shot me and my friends last year! (Myself being one of those friends) The judge threw up this hands and said everyone in the pool is dismissed. lol!
I was called once and questioned. It was an insurance case, with an obviously blue collar couple suing an insurance company. There were two of us on the panel wearing suits. We were the first two dismissed by the plaintiff's attorney.
I went to the court house and had an anxiety attack and almost passed out. Absolute nightmare for someone like me with social anxiety. I would have just skipped out on it but I kept reading online that here in Nazichusetts they track down every single person and will even put out a warrant for your arrest if you don't show up.
Sorry to hear about your anxiety issues. Next time, if you are summoned for jury duty, call them up and ask about their "exceptions". Most states have circumstances under which you can be relieved from serving. Maybe your state has one that would apply to your situation. It's worth checking out. Just my 2 cents worth.
Im worried about that now. I had a questionairre and I cant afford to serve jury duty seriously. I cant even sit down there and go through the process of being selected. I dont feel comfortable being screened because I am a private person who minds their own business and I feel uncomfortable with all these questions.
My state changed the source of prospective jurors from the vote registration to dmv records. A long time ago, when I was in college I had TWO friends who got called up for jury duty so much that they had to drop out of college for unexcused absences and having to make up for lost work. The judges would not let them off for school. And some of these classes my friends were in were not regularly scheduled classes. Some of them were only once every other year. That is why I never registered to vote until I graduated. Since then I have proudly been called up for jury duty three times. If you do not want to serve on a jury there are simple ways to get taken off. One way is when they ask you the question of whether you can be objective about the case, the simple answer I saw being used was "The defendant was obviously guilty or he would not have been here in the first place". Works every time.
Jury summonses would be mailed en masse and would arrive in my town all on the same day. My boss (the postmaster) would go through them and if any of his employees (mail sorters and letter carriers) got one, he'd take the letter to the court saying that postal employees were essential public servants and couldn't be spared. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.
The state of michigan hounded me to serve on a jury during the two years I was waiting to be declared totally disabled.. I tried being nice and try to explain my illness even though it was to be four years before they had any idea what it was after the 6th time of calling me up for jury duty I started getting nasty about it...So they took my drivers license away from me which at the time was no big deal as I was too ill to drive much at all. later it became a real problem as my wife became affected with dementia..as I finally got a little better my wife got worse...Now days she can't even operate an electric wheel chair...The state of michigan still has me down as too crazy to drive a car and I have had to resort to using a moped to get around, with absolutely no problems I might add....If it wasn't for both I and my wife being too disabled to move I would get the hell out of Michigan that is for sure....
Yes. I served on a 12-person jury in a personal injury case. In Federal Court. Once we were given the case to deliberate on guilt and damages, I was surprised that 6 jurors were sent to a room to deliberate together, and 6 of us (myself included) were put in 6 separate rooms and told to fill out our juror forms alone. I was one of the first to finish, then I was taken back to courtroom where the judge read aloud my decision. He told me I was free to leave but if I didn't mind, I could stay a few minutes and answer questions from the attorneys, which I did. It all seemed odd to me. Never did find out what happened in that case.
About 2 months after moving to a new county within the same state I received a jury duty notice from my old county (my mail was forwarded and I was not registered to vote in either county). There was space on the form to explain why I felt I should be excused, so I said that I no longer live there and mailed the form back. The instructions were that if I wasn't notified that I was excused, I MUST SHOW UP. No excuse was forthcoming. I even called to explain and was told I must show up anyway so I woke up very early to account for rush hour traffic and drove the 2 hours to the courthouse. I stood around for another half hour and finally had to fill out a form which included my address. Of course, I entered my current address in the other county. A few minutes later a court officer approached me and in a rather insulting tone told me I shouldn't have come since I was ineligible to serve due to the address of my residence then told me to "get outta here". That left me with a very low opinion of the whole process and I didn't even get my $5 check.
Hi Steve, enjoy your videos. The last time I was picked for a jury, we had to wait for over an hour in the jury room before being let into the court room, even though this was the first trial of the morning. The Judge pointed to the two empty desks in front of him and said he just learned that the case was settled out of court the night before and no one bothered to tell him or the Clerk of Counts. He said he was sorry, at least five times, that we had to waste a beautiful day coming in, but he said we still would be paid. Visibly angry, he then issued two letters to both sides of the case, requesting the attorneys be in his office early next morning with written excuses why both sides should not be held in contempt of court. I just got a feeling I was back in grade school.
Abusive and disrespectful is how I would characterize my one and only jury duty experience. We were herded into a large room where a large and grumpy female bailiff yelled at us for about 20 minutes, telling us that we would be arrested and thrown in jail if we were late or failed to appear. She listed the process that the sheriff would go through, busting down our doors and ripping us out of bed to haul us off to jail. After that, we were herded into the the courtroom where the judge told what the civil trial was about and said it was estimated to take 3 weeks. Three weeks out of our lives without any warning or preparation. He then asked questions of the group. On the question of having scheduling conflicts, I stood and explained that I was heavily involved at work with setting up our small company's annual customer training conference and I was the only person who could fulfill the duties, and it would be very destructive to our business if I wasn't available to do my duties. 20 minutes later I was sitting in the jury box. There was no instruction on how to be a juror, what we could talk about or how to do any of it. As both attorneys gave their opening remarks, I locked my eyes on their eyes, never wavering, and let my head tremor slightly side to side. At lunch I went to my office where the CEO wrote a letter to the judge explaining my work situation and asking if I could be excused, which I gave to the bailiff then we were back in the jury box, continuing with opening remarks. At the end of the day, I left as quickly as possible to get back to work, where I was going to have to work nights to get my duties completed for the conference. The bailiff came running after me saying the judge wanted to talk to me. The judge held the letter and asked why I didn't mention my work situation during the questioning. I said, "I did. I stood up and explained it." The judge scanned through his notes and said, "Oh yes, I have that right here. Well, your excused. Both attorneys came to me and said they don't want you on their jury. Good day." To me, the jury is treated like criminals, and I've never heard of any of my friends being treated with respect or value in a jury call situation. Just recently, a friend got a letter telling him that he was under an arrest warrant for failure to appear for jury duty. He had to take an afternoon off work and go before a judge to explain that he never received the notice of jury duty. The judge read him the riot act because the Post Office failed to deliver, and warned him to never let that happen again. As if he's responsible for the Post Office.
I don't understand why the courts do this. It would be simple to create a system where people are notified over a year in advance that they're up for jury duty and let them pick the weeks they can be available. It would be easy to treat them with a little human dignity. I'm surprised that the attorneys don't pressure to improve this system that was created in the dark ages when they'd go out and find 12 angry men on the street to impanel a jury for a trial that lasted a few hours on a hot summer afternoon. Are attorneys happy with having angry abused people on their juries? Do they care? My jury experience was 20 years ago, and I still get angry every time I think about it. Not just because I was abused and disrespected, but because the American legal system is not being well served by these processes of mediocrity. If I could plan my year around 3 weeks of being available for civic duty, I'd be happy to participate. But, to be ripped from my busy life, full of responsibilities, to decide a case of one rich brat suing another rich brat is not something I'm going be very happy about.
The court, judge, attorneys, bailiffs, etc all treated everyone in my jury like a bunch of humanitarian celebrities. They could not have possibly been nicer to us. The judge would even sometimes buy or bake us treats.
I've been called to jury duty twice. Once was when I was getting ready to go to bootcamp, and the other time I was out of state in the Navy. Because of that I've never been able to go to jury duty.
I was in the selection process and they took a plea while they were questioning us. It was quite hilarious at a point because one of the guys there kept saying if the defendant is on trial then there must be a reason why. I'm pretty sure he was trying to get disqualified.
I remember a malpractice case I got called on. Did the tempers ever flare with several of the lawyers. Judge called the case off early one Friday afternoon so the lawyers had the weekend to cool off.
Called in 2008. Defendant charged with possession of CP on his laptop. I was selected but requested private conference with the judge as I had made prior testimony as expert for defense in the past because I had performed prior forensics and wasn’t sure how to reply to the selection questions. I was/am a trained computer forensics analyst working for the 2nd circuit Federal district. Prosecution wanted nothing to do with me, defense wasn’t sure. Such a conundrum is usually pretty fatal to selection but this was pretty early in computer forensics and experts were rare at the state/county level so the judge asked, but did not require I remain engaged in the trial as jury assistant and confidant to the judge, prosecutors and defense. My task was to explain technology, terminology and process of forensics as needed. I don’t think everyone was happy but in the end there was an acquittal and justice was (in my opinion) properly served. Prosecution was unhappy since simple possession of CP, circumstances not withstanding, is a crime but the situation made for a messy trial, defense wasn’t happy either but at least they had a chance now, before they had nothing. FWIW: Laptop was purchased used, images and support software pre-dated the purchase date and the CP image link files “last accessed” date indicated none had been viewed after purchase, supporting the defendants claim he was unaware of their presence. I’m not an attorney but I thought you might find this odd arrangement interesting.
Your story is very interesting. Seems it there's a reason why you fell upon that particular jury. Divine intervention? By the way I'm a former IT, 30 years working on as a programmer analyst.
The only jury I was selected for, I was in the first cattle call sent to a court room. I was in the first 12 selected to interviewed. All 12 of us were accepted. Both lawyers and the judge had never had the first 12 was the final 12.
I was on a jury deciding damages for a trailer full of race horses that was rear ended by a 18 wheeler. Fault had already been established, driver fell asleep. The trucking company brought in a very expensive "kentucky expert" who said the horses weren't worth glue. The owners had their own guy. Everybody but me was ready to just give 'em $500 apiece and go home. I pretty much pissed everybody off but eventually got them $40,000 apiece. It still wasn't enough in my opinion. Even the worst horse can have a good day, plus the expense of raising and upkeep. They probably paid more for their "expert". Immediately got called again for a murder trial but didn't get picked. Which is ok, a few donuts and 35 bucks won't cut it if I got into a long one.
I served on a grand jury for 4 months hearing 2-3 cases per day 3 days a week. It was very interesting indeed. Grand juries only decide if there is enough evidence to indict, so it goes much faster than a trial. I enjoyed serving.
@ 10:20 is a key comment, “several sources”. Unregistering to vote won’t save him. I tried this one time - it didn’t help. I got called, based on my city ‘water bill’ invoicing. My preacher has a novel way to get out of it; he carries his big black gold embossed, “Holy Bible” and talks about “forgiveness”. He’s dismissed every time! 😂. @ 12:30 most (all?) jurisdictions now limit your jury duty summons to just once each two years - or you can at least reply to the notice that you’ve been called within the last 24 months & that will exclude you. Maybe this is just a Texas thang. 🤠
A very timely video. I just received my summons for jury duty so I appreciate the description you provided. Hopefully I will have some interesting stories to relate in a couple of weeks
The old joke; "Your fate is decided by people too stupid to get out of jury duty" may be a bit too real. I served on a 2nd degree rape trial and we ended up hung. Some jurors had decided on guilty before deliberations had begun and refused to budge or discuss their reasoning. Not helpful at all.
Very Timely Video. I recently received my Summons for Jury Duty to the US District Court and am hopeful, that as a Veteran, to be a participant. To see first hand that which I served to Protect and Defend. I'll know at the end of the month. Thanks for all your good insight. Happy New Year
It's my impression that if you want to participate you have to make sure you answer the questions in such a way that both parties believe they can lead you. The first time.
I’ve received notices to report for jury duty twice in the last 20+ years. First time I showed up and was dismissed after about 45 minutes. Second time was about nine years ago, and that time I got selected to sit on the jury. It was a case of a lady suing her insurance company. After sitting for 3 days, they settled out of court and we were done. It was an interesting process and I don’t think I’d hesitate to do it again. My wife has received two notices in the last ten years. The first time she was easily dismissed with just a phone call because she wasn’t a citizen at the time. The second time was after she had become a citizen, but again, she was dismissed with just a phone call because English is not her first language, and she has a hard time following anything more than basic conversation. Fortunately, in our case, the local courthouse has been pretty understanding.
Been called twice, dismissed twice. The second time was kind of funny. Civil case. Sat down in the peanut gallery, judge came out. Told us all what the case was about and asked if anyone had a problem staying for the trial. Several hands went up, they gave their reasons and were send home. Then he announced to both lawyers he wanted to meet in chambers and he headed off the bench. A few minutes later the bailiff came out and escorted me to chambers. As I went in, the judge introduced me to the lawyers and ask if they had a problem with me being excused. They were a little confused. He told them he has a good golfing buddy who is also a judge and that I was the bailiff for the good buddy!!!! (I was retired by then). Needless to say, I went home.
Funny how life can be. I worked for 30 years for the telephone company. In support for the legal system, they paid their employee's full pay while doing Jury duty. We learn fast being on a Jury was better than going to work. Work started at 8am, Jury duty started at 9am, sometimes later if the court had business to perform. An hour and a half lunch, and most often got to go home an hour earlier than our work hours. Anyway, I got called half a dozen times over the years but never got on a Jury. Just there one day and dismissed. I retire and two weeks after, I get my notice of Jury duty. Now I didn't want to go, first no pay as no longer an employee of the phone company. Second, being a retiree, I was free, to do what I want. I went expecting as always to be there the one day and sent home. NOPE! within two hours of showing up I am on a Jury and starting the estimated week-long case.
I have gotten a jury summons 8 times, reported 4 times, and gone through selection and seating twice. First time was for a quadruple homicide death penalty case. Both times going thru selection and seating I have been struck from the jury without cause. Interesting process.
How to get out of jury duty........When interviewed, I tell them I will be a great juror because I can spot guilty people on sight........."Next!".....works every time!
I have seen one or two people trying to give smart ass answers. Like, "I think everyone is guilty" or, "No, I can't be fair." I've also seen a judge step in to question (if the first answers were given to an attorney) the person and ask them 15 different ways something in the essence of, "And if the COURT ORDERS you to follow instructions and the INSTRUCTIONS clearly state you will follow the law, are you telling me you will REFUSE to follow direct instructions given to you by the COURT?" Funny, but every person I've seen so far has changed their answer. I don't know if you are joking but I just want to make clear that if you tried that in real life, it could get you in trouble. Trust me, judges have seen it all and don't enjoy putting up with nonsense.
@@jamescouture775 That guy must have disrespected the Judge or acted like a jerk in some way. I got called in to the Judges chambers as well. When questioned, I was very polite, respectful, and convincing that this was my stand. I held my ground and they dismissed me from duty. There is no such thing as thought crime (yet)......
I've been called and quizzed but not seated. Just got called recently but didn't even as far as voir dire this time. They picked 30 people for a case that was about to start, then picked 60 more and told us to call after 5 to find out if we'd be needed and sent home. Turned out we weren't needed. I was called for jury duty for the first time long before I registered to vote.
I've been summoned for jury duty 3 times. Two of the cases were DUI's where the DA had no other evidence than the officer's word. So, the first case the DA ask the potential jury if anyone had a problem with accepting the officer's word as evidence or would anyone have a problem giving a guilty verdict with just the officer's work. My hand went up and the judge called me to the bench. The DA wanted to challenge me. The judge allow him to do that. The DA said that the law say's that an officers testimony IS accepted as fact in a trail. My reply was that I would not accept his word as evidence because I know how the law are in that county. The judge told me I could leave. I did. The second time was just like the second one. No evidence so I questioned the DA. She said the officer was the only evidence she had. So we talked back and forth about that and I don't think she was happy with me. Anyway, I did not get selected. The third time the guy was arrest for being in an illegal game room and he was playing on one of the slot machines. It was scheduled with the second DUI case so I didn't have to serve on that jury. I got summoned one other time and I got out of that one because I take a water pill every morning after having open heart surgery three years ago and I told the clerk that I have to go pee every few minutes for about four hrs. Oh, there was one other time too. I was working the night shift and I got off work at 6am. I had to be in court at 9am. When the judge ask if anyone had a good reason to be excused, I raised my hand. He looked at me funny and ask what my excuse was. I told him that I just got off work and I could do it if I didn't have to be awake for the trail. He laughed and ask what I meant. I told him my circumstance and he let me go.I do know that if you ask a lot of questions during jury selection, they will more than likely let you go.
I served on a jury who found a woman guilty of being DUI and rear ending a school bus on a straight road on a sunny afternoon. Was a great learning experience. The judge gave her time served at sentencing despite 2 prior DUI convictions. I have opted out on every summons since.
I have served twice, the first one for a DWI and the second one as a grand juror which was recently. At the end of the the 6 month period I asked everyone if they wanted to know how to get out of future jury duty and most asked how, so I told them next time ask about jury nullification and watch how fast they will excuse you.
I've been called twice, but never served. Once was when I lived in a very rural county with only about 15,000 people in the whole county. So the jury pool wasn't very big. I was practicing medicine there. When I got the letter, I called the county clerk (who is also my parent's neighbor). I said, "I'm glad to serve, but the odds are about 100 percent that someone on the defense or the plaintiff is a patient in our clinic." The clerk chuckled and said, "Yes, we always take you and your partners out of the pool for that reason. " Which is a shame. I would've like to have served.
I constantly get jury duty letters. I'm looking at one right now trying to figure out how I can get out of it they removed the financial hardship reason for not serving. I'm a truck driver and only income wtf we have plenty of people in my state that don't work bother them.
I was summoned but not picked. It was a case about embezzlement and I am an Accountant and business processes consultant. I really wanted to serve as the case was in the news and I was curious as to how he got away with it for so long.
For a time I got called every year. I love jury duty . I would volunteer if I could. It's my chance to decide what the law should be. I know I'm suppose to go on what the judge says but once in the jury room it's my law if I can convince the others to see it my way.
I recently served as a Jury Foreman on a drug possession case in Phoenix, AZ . We found the defendant not guilty because the police said they did not find any drugs on this person until the third time they searched him and that was in the holding cell. it just did not smell right to us. there were other inconsistencies as well.
I recently was called to jury duty. I was treated very politely by everyone...except the bonehead guards at the courthouse entrance I emptied my pockets and all metal but I was a little fast going through the metal detector...I thought i was back in Boot camp the way those officers talked to me
when I was much younger I always got called. I sat on three juries, all of which were civil cases. During my first experience, it was a beautiful day out, and I could tell that my fellow jurors did NOT want to be there. We found for the plaintif pretty quickly. Now, I still think we were in agreement, but let me say it was not a careful deliberation. :-)
The first time I was called, Middlesex County, NJ, was still using 2 week jury duty calls and I served on 3 trials after sitting around for the first week. The total jury pool was about 200 people. My worst case was a child abuse case (fortunately, it was a first incident of abuse and the baby got away with only a broken arm) -- we had a really hard time with one juror who had trouble with the notion of reasonable doubt and kept asking the judge for explanations of the law (which were disappointingly vague on the topic of doubt).
I was a juror in a malpractice case where the defendant sounded like Cleveland from Family Guy, the lawyers got red in the face yelling at each other over where the anus was on a stock diagram of a vagina, and the plaintiffs flipped off the defense lawyer under the table in plain view of the jury. The state sent me paperwork for jury duty again after that case, but I think I might have turned them off by writing in my race as "human."
Hi Steve, I have been called to jury 3 times in San Diego but seated on a jury only once. Each time the jury pool listens ro a veteran judge who is very well known here, he explains how valuable our service is etc.etc. My case was a conservatorship case wherein it was to be decided whether the court/doctors would decide the mans treatment or whether it would be assigned to the family. By family I mean the mans sister, who had been a nurse then went to law school and became an attorney. The judge in the case projected extreme competency and gave me a very positive opinion about our court system. His office issued Certificates of Commendation for each juror after in the case in recognition of our service. I don't know if every judge in San Diego does this. The defendant, Was represented by private attorneys, was highly intelligent and highly functional but just had mental problems. In the end it was the sister (nurse/attorney) who the jurors did not trust would be a competent conservator, we trusted the judge. The sister had been banned from the hospital for attempting to sign other patients as clients.
I recently served as a juror on a felony trial. It was not the positive experience I'd hoped. To start with the jury summons had to be completed and returned in five days or less of receipt, It contained a statement that made it more than clear that a warrant for my arrest would follow if it was not. This could a been a problem because my wife and I are retired and spent weeks at a time on out of state, or out of the country on vacation. The thought of being arrested at the airport when entering the country crossed my mind. You would think a citizen in good standing would deserve a little more notice and a little more respect.
Got called and selected to serve last year for traffic court. The charge was "driving on the sidewalk" and the defendant was representing himself.
The prosecutor presented no photos, no police dash cam or body cam video; no accident report, and the officer who wrote the accident report (which we weren't allowed to see) was not present at trial. They had another officer come instead.
Turns out the guy was driving early one morning and crashed into a tree in a residential area, crossing a sidewalk in the process. They would not tell us is he had experienced a blowout or brake failure, was crashed into by somebody else, hit debris in the road, or any real explanation about why he crossed the sidewalk and struck the tree and destroyed his car, although they expected us to believe that he did it on purpose.
We voted NOT GUILTY in short order, and I took the opportunity to tell the prosecutor how disgusted we all were that he had dragged us away from our daily lives over some frivolous case like this. (I might not get called to serve there again.)
Prosecutors charge whatever they want & try to get everyone to a plea bargain. When a defendant refuses to plea, the prosecutor usually tries again with a lower possible offense. It sounds like this was the lowest possible offence & the prosecutor should have dismissed at that time, but had an ego problem.
…"Oh, the defense attorney, that's the guy that defends guilty people"... that's just downright funny.
Got called for Jury duty and during voir dire, the prosecuting attorney asked one possible juror, "Sir, I understand that you are an engineer, and so you must be used to exact measurements, and precise calculations, will you be able to make a decision today if things are a bit less exact?" The man said "I don't understand". The lawyer then asked what type of engineer are you? He said, " I just drive the train"... the whole courtroom broke out in laughter.
I am a mechanical engineer. During the selection process once I was asked the same thing almost word for word. My answer was different of course. I ended up serving on the jury.
@@RustyorBroken I really enjoyed serving. Got to put a rapist behind bars.
@@DanChampionJr I've served twice and enjoyed seeing the judicial process from the right side of the courtroom. I'd volunteer to do it if I could.
@@RustyorBroken Same here, so many people want to get out of it. It would be cool if they had lists of those of us who would be willing to serve more often.
The first time I was called I got to sit on an auto accident law suit that was basically between two insurance companies. Two days in court and the parties settled just as we were going into deliberations. A year later I ran into the plaintiff's lawyer in a parking garage and he asked me if I would have voted to give his client money, I said no way in hell. He said, why not? It was just insurance company money.
I'm from Idaho and have been a resident here my entire life, but I was in the military for twenty years. My voter registration lapsed for several years do to some issues and emergencies (evacuated for hurricane Katrina for one). Twenty years on active duty and I got called once or twice a year, every year. Jury selection had nothing to do with voter registration in my case.
I got called again less than a year after I retired. During voir dire the judge asked if anyone had any questions or concerns. I asked a question that amounted to jury nullification and was asked to leave. I haven't been called again and it's been almost ten years. I think jury nullification means the opposite of what it's called.
I was called for 6 or 7 trials, interviewed for 4, and selected for 2, both civil cases. I was the foreman for both. Getting 12 people to agree on the level of fault and negligence, and an award, was extremely challenging. The first case was pretty straightforward to only determine the amount of damage for an old traffic accident, and was quickly resolved. The second, more recent case was a collision caused by the plaintiff stopping dead on the off ramp during rush hour (both feet on the brake, tires smoking), then suing the defendant years later for barely hitting her car and causing a self-reported injury. Somehow, the Defendant managed to stop in time, did make contact with the Plaintiff's rear bumper, but caused no damage to either vehicle. The case was clearly frivolous, the judge was clearly pissed, and I don't know how it ever went to trial. The Defense attorney presented 4 prior, similar incidents filed by the Plaintiff for personal injury where monetary damages were paid. The Defense in this case clearly demonstrated that the Plaintiff was not injured, had a history of filing such claims, and was only orchestrating another payday. In spite of this, two jury members were sympathetic and absolutely would NOT budge off their positions. I carefully informed the judge we could not reach a decision. The even MORE pissed off and VERY imposing judge flatly stated that we WOULD stay in the jury room until we reached a decision PERIOD. We deliberated for another day and reached a decision. BTW, the Plaintiff got zero, and her attorney told me that it was the first case in 20 years that he had lost, i.e. "No Monetary Damages".
Wow, I'm glad the judge forced the issue, this is what's wrong with the world right now (well, one thing), too many frivolous lawsuits, payouts that don't match the damages, etc
I sat in the waiting room for federal court all day waiting for the selection process then finally we were told there was a plea bargain and our services were no longer required we were sent home.
When I got home there was a summons for jury duty for the Ottawa County District Court in my mail box.
Following the instructions in the summons I called the number listed and told them I had just served jury duty in federal court that very day and they dismissed me from jury duty.
About 15 years later I received a questionnaire for jury duty eligibility which I filled out but I don't recall if I received a reply as to my eligibility. Apparently I wasn't eligible.
I have served on a Federal Grand Jury and a municipal petit jury, and I found both experiences to be informative and enjoyable. It was a privilege, and I am very glad we live in a country in which regular people are empaneled on juries instead of political appointees or government hacks who are there only to rubber stamp tbe prosecution's allegations. We should all be very grateful that we have such a system because many countries today and historically have not. Cheers, Russ
That’s an excellent perspective. It would be great if everyone else felt the same. Unfortunately, I think most people focus on the inconvenience of the situation, and tend to interpret the “duty” as some sort of oppression. Once, I had municipal jury duty, then six months later had county jury duty, then just over another six months, had municipal jury duty again. While I didn’t enjoy the whole process, it was a beneficial experience and I’m glad to have done my part.
In my small town, we are on jury notice for an entire year when it is our turn. If I want to leave town for a period of time I have to notify the court that I will be unavailable for those dates. It is like being on probation though I have done nothing wrong.
I sat on a jury and before it was over the judge and prosecutor were having a screaming fit. To put it simply, I did not agree with how pot laws were being applied to the defendant and even though all jury members agreed he broke the law as it was written, we still found him not guilt and in legal speak it was a "jury nullification" of the law. The prosecutor tried every thing he could think of to have the judge set aside our finding but in the end, there was no legal way to do so and the defendant was set free. I share this to let people know that judges do not always tell the entire story when giving jury instructions and as a member of the jury not only do you have the right / responsibility to judge the defendant, you have the same right and *responsibility* to judge the law as it is being applied. This can make for a sticky situation so judges tend to keep that part from jurors and, it makes a prosecutors head explode!
What I have found out, and I know several lawyers and a few judges, and one other DA, but I knew of one DA that would treat every case as guilty and try to persecute everyone that came across his desk regardless, he was a weasel and was trying t rack up as many cases and wins as could so could go into private practice later, Judge friend of mine said once. He would especially try and convict any case he knew they could not afford a good defense since was sure would win it. Did not last very long and does not practice here locally either. But I see this issue many times, DA's are not just to prosecute (or persecute) people regardless, they have to determine the legit-ability of the case as we know not all cops are legit , make mistakes and many downright lie. Hell if cops knew the law they would be lawyers not cops, the DA's job is to validate the case, then and only then prosecute those that are indeed in some violation, or valid cases but that is faded from our justice (or injustice) system today. Why we have so many incarcerated people that are being proved innocent, and hey, juries are not always right either! I would let ten murders go free if using the same process would convict one innocent person. I believe in hard evidence, not a he/she said, or even so called lineups or any speculation which should never be allowed, attorneys should be required to state facts as presented by evidence, not go through some fictional story that cannot be prove just to sway a jury, that should be outlawed, If on a jury and that happens I'll vote innocent if think getting an unfair trail period!
I live in So. Cal. and have been called for jury duty 8 times or so over the years. I dutifully reported and was an alternate on one, fearing contempt or fine if I did not show up without cause based on the summons verbiage. A few months ago the local newspaper in San Diego did an investigation and it turns out the County courts have not pursued no-shows for decades. They just assume 28% will be no-shows and bolster the summons pool by 28% to compensate. When questioned the bailiff(?) noted that 8,200 potential jurors are summoned each year. "It's expensive and time-consuming to go after jury duty scofflaws. We don't know whether those people had moved out of the area, whether they were deceased, whether they were active military and had gotten transferred. We don't have the wherewithal to go to all that trouble."
Some other California counties are enforcing the law, but if you live in San Diego my non-attorney advice is to chuck it in the trash can if it would be a personal burden.
www.10news.com/news/empty-threat-thousands-of-san-diegans-blow-off-jury-duty#:~:text=Michael%20Roddy%20said%20the%20county%20sends%20out%20820%2C000%20jury%20summons%20each%20year.
I received a jury summons once but didn't serve, and speaking about being late to court, my attorney always left his house on court days at 5:00AM so he wouldn't be caught in traffic which I learned over the 5 days of our civil trial - we carpooled - and he'd have his routine of breakfast, going over trial notes, just being generally so organized and well prepared. He really earned my respect, and it didn't surprise me that we won.
I have been called several times, served once as foreman of the jury in a DUI case. The defendant did not present himself well, and his attorney seemed to be having some difficulty making a coherent case. According to the arresting officer, the only witness, the driver had cut off the officer driving an unmarked car, then made an abrupt, unsignaled turn, and blew through a stop sign. After being pulled over the officer attempted to conduct a field sobriety test, but the defendant could not comply in that he could not stand without holding onto the roof rack of his car.
After a brief deliberation, with little debate we voted to convict.
After the trial the Judge sat us down and said that he didn't think that it would take us long, and that he could not tell us beforehand, but that the defendant had several prior convictions for the same. The trial started just after lunch, and was over at about 4:30
This was in 2006
Retired now, but was a Professional Firefighter, and use to work earlier as a Paramedic for a hospital based ambulance service. I was called in for jury duty, it was a shaken baby death.... I was called up for questioning, and asked if I knew the defendant, or the child or the child's family. I said I did not, and I don't even recall the incident in the news.... I was then given the list of witnesses, and I was asked if I knew any of them. "Well, I have known Detective---------, I know the 2 officers, I work with the 2 firefighters, I know the 2 medics, I know the Emergency Room Dr., I know 3 of the nurses, I go to church with the attending, I know....Thank you for coming in, you are excused.....
I honestly believe that I could have been impartial....
You know the classic story about "I didn't see him bite the other guy's ear off, but I did see him spit it out"?
I was a juror in an assault case where a guy got beaten up and his watch and wallet stolen on a city street in broad daylight. The main witness was a TelCo worker who was eating lunch in his truck and saw the attack. He even locked the door of his truck because the victim tried to get away from his attackers and tried for shelter in the truck.
The defense attorney started in. "Are you sure you saw the event clearly?"
"Yes, sir."
"But this was through the window of your truck, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"So your vision was somewhat obscured?"
"Yes, sir."
This is the point he should have stopped.
"So, if your vision was obscured by the window, how are you sure the defendant was involved. Why do you say you were close enough to see clearly?"
"Well, he (the victim) left bloody hand prints on my truck."
This is why they say a trial lawyer never asks a question that they don’t already know the answer to.
About 25 years ago I had jury duty. At the time you had to go every day for 2 weeks and might get selected for multiple trials or none. On the last day I was selected for a jury at 4:30 in the afternoon. Opening arguments were the following Monday. It was an attempted murder trial. Testimony lasted 2 weeks. except for the EMTs and the police officers all the witnesses were brought in in Cuffs, leg irons and waist chains. The judge made the remove the hardware before they were allowed to testify. The marshals begged the judge not to do this with one witness, but he insisted. The witness tried to escape. The victim testified that he had never been shot and didn't know where the scars in his chest came from insisting they weren't there when he went to bed the night before. We deliberated for 3 weeks, twice the bailiffs were sent into the jury room because we were arguing so loud that we were disturbing the trial that was going on. It ended as a hung jury 9-3 guilty. We found out after it was over that the defendant was a made mobster. It was a crazy experience. one juror insisted that the victim was a drug dealer so his getting shot isn't really a crime. Another insisted the police were framing the guy, this was never suggested by the defense. and one juror said she thought the man was guilty but that the state had not proven it beyond a reasonable doubt, I respected her even though I disagreed with her. If I was on trial and was guilty I would want a jury trial because it only takes one nutty juror to stop a conviction. If I was innocent I would want a bench trial , because I think the judge would be smart enough to weed through all the BS and find the truth.
I was called again about 5 years ago and while being questioned during jury selection for a murder case I requested a side bar. The facts of the case were very similar. When the judge heard I had been on a hung jury he asked me what the case was. When I explained it. he ,the prosecutor and the defense lawyer kept me at the side bar for about 45 minutes asking me about the experience. They said people at the courthouse were still talking about the first case I was on 20 years later. There were two more hung juries after the on I was on and the man was convicted at the fourth trial.
Gotti ???
My first experience of jury duty was very enlightening. I sat in the jury waiting room all day and finally got called with only an hour left in the day. The prosecuting attorney had time to make a speech and then it was time to go home. The next day we sat while the attorneys, defendant and judge met in the judge’s chambers. (Why isn’t just called an office?) Then we broke for an early lunch. We were told to take an extended lunch because the judge had a doctor appointment. Finally, that afternoon the jurors were questioned. I was dismissed the third day. My attendance was not required the rest of the week. Of course, I had to miss work the entire week. It was the biggest waste of time! Fortunately, other times when I have been called for jury duty we’re more productive.
I used to live in a small town in rural Oregon. The population of the county was pretty low, so when you were called for jury duty, it wasn't for one day. It was for THREE MONTHS. Three nights a week I had to call in to the courthouse to see if I had to show up the next day. Again: for three solid months!
I was placed on two juries during that time. On one of the cases, one of the witnesses was one of my co-workers. Didn't disqualify me.
In my 77+ years of living, I have been called twice for jury duty. The first one was when I was in my 40's and was selected. The defendant was a felon and a known gang member and was caught throwing a gun in the bushes during a foot chase, according to the police. This defendant actually took the stand and blew it big time. I could not even use the jury nullification in this case. The second one, I was sent a letter for jury duty this past year and had to decline because of distance to the court house; 57 miles one way. Thanks for your videos.
I have received over three dozen jury duty notices over the past 50 years but have only been chosen to sit one jury .
.
I got a jury summons one time. None of the excuses on the summons covered why I couldn't be a juror. So I went into the court house and found the jury coordinator. I said I had an excuse that wasn't covered. She responded "I doubt that" to which I presented my summons to be States witness during that trial... I got out of jury duty.
I've moved states and countries my whole legal jury duty age life, so I've only gotten called once. It was grand jury duty. And I COULDN'T GO because I was in college out of state. I was super salty about it.
The first time I went in for jury duty I was in my early twenties (about 30 years ago) in Chicago. I was one of several people picked to be questioned by the attorneys. When the attorney representing the insurance company involved in the case came up to me, he stared at me for a couple of seconds and disqualified me. He never asked me anything. I guess he just didn't like the way I looked. I felt both insulted and relieved at the same time.
Served on a felony drug case. We went to jury room for deliberations, someone suggested we pick a foreman. I was selected. I asked for a show of hands as to the guilt of the defendant, all hands went up "guilty"! We caught the bailiff before he left the corridor.
A very funny story (feel free to share) - I got called to serve on a military court once, in the month of January. The prosecutor was obviously new and very naive, and as he was performing voir dire on the members of the court (a military equivalent of a jury), he must have been following some kind of training-book formula, because he was smarmily ingratiating, asking questions that had nothing to do with what he needed to know. He asked how long I had been at that base, and I said, "Since November." (Remember, this was in January.) Then he said, "This year?) I squelched half a dozen scorching remarks that came to mind, and looked at this kid just long enough for him and everyone else to realize what a totally stupid question he had asked. I could actually see the redness climb from his neck to his whole face, like Kool-Aid filling a pitcher. Then I gently said, "No, that would be last year." It was truly a "Gotcha!" moment.
I served in a criminal case where I seem to remember all of us jurors figured the defendant was guilty concerning a mild physical altercation he had with a neighbor over a property easement dispute, but we did not feel it would be in the interest of justice to have him facing any criminal charges by the state, so we found him not guilty. Our jury orientation manual clearly stated we had no right to judge the fairness of the law when it came to our verdict, but we decided otherwise.
You sir, are awesome!
congratulations for understanding the reason behind the concept of jury nullification. Because that's exactly what you did.
I've served three times but the one I remember most was a homicide trial involving three infants and it was horrible. The defendant, a very uneducated black woman from the ghetto, had left her 9 month old infant son and 1-1/2 year old twin daughters home alone while she went off to drink and get high. She had left her iron turned on and it caught fire, which engulfed the house killing the children.
The defense attorney, the good looking Ralph, gave us days of testimony and expert witnesses on the faultiness of the iron. The prosecuting attorney, who had never won a case, ever, Dominic the Doofus, who had asked very little questions of the prosecution's witnesses and who had put on very little of a case compared to the defense, hit a grand slam home run with his summation. "The defendant was obligated to protect her children. Had she been home (we presumed, "and sober"), she could have gotten them outside away from the fire. I rest my case." We found the woman guilty.
During the trial the prosecutor, Dominic, passed photos of the fire scene among us, including photos of the burnt bodies. I passed them along without looking at them. The hippy liberal Judge, Cue Ball Jackson (not called so because he played Billiards, but rather because he was bald as one) said, "Madam, it surprises me that you choose not to view the photos on such a serious matter." I popped back that I had quite an active imagination and did not need to see the photos to make the homicide seem more real, and frankly it surprised me that the defense attorney hadn't raised an objection about the photos prejudicing the jury. Oooops! I was warned not to be so frank again.
After finding the woman guilty, we got a stern lecture from the judge that it was her culture to leave their children alone, which I found racist because all of the black mothers I knew did no such thing. The judge released the woman on bail pending sentencing, and of course she fled and was no where to be found on her sentencing date. I never was able to find out if the bail guys found her or not, or whether she served her sentence, or in fact what her sentence was. I will note here that from the outset of the trial it was blatantly obvious that the judge favored the defense attorney, and it appeared they were close friends, while it was also very obvious that he did not like nor had any regard for the prosecutor. How's that for trying to prejudice a jury?
This was in the early 80's, I believe, when people who committed a crime, i.e., rape, murder and the like, were being given very lenient sentences, at least here in California, because the little dears weren't aware of what they were actually doing.
The other two trials involved a fender bender, which had a lot more fireworks in the deliberations room than ever happened on the murder trial. I remember it being quite fun actually and man did a few of those people not know the driving laws. We had to request a DMV manual and the driving codes to settle some arguments. The third trial was in juvenile court and the little snot sat there and let us listen to a few days testimony before taking a plea just before we went into deliberations.
As to getting called for jury duty, here in California, the pools are made up from the voter registrations and drivers licence roles. God help you if you don't have the exact same name on both. My father never got one jury summons, while Mother got them every two years as she became eligible again, even after she became disabled by MS. Every 6 years we would have to have her doctor write a letter; he finally got so aggravated that he asked what is it about chronic incurable disease that you seem to not understand? My patient has MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, this is an INCURABLE DISEASE. She will NEVER be better than she is today, ergo, she WILL ONLY GET MORE DISABLED AND DEBILITATED. Surely you have many more people who can fill her role and you can STOP beleaguering this poor woman, AND ME! So, I literally used the caps where Doc did but his were bolded and red.🤣 Thankfully our town has grown so large that we have more than enough people to serve on juries today. I'm pretty sure they have even stopped issuing warrants for people's arrests.
In the early 1980's (NYC, Queens) I served on a Grand Jury. At that time you served every weekday for a month. We heard many presentations by the prosecutors. If I remember, their problem is to disclose just enough to convince the jury that there is a case. Sometimes we felt it wasn't enough and voted against going forward. Most cases were drug related with undercover police showing up in their street get-ups - you would think they were the suspects. We were told not to acknowledge them outside of the jury room. Here's one we voted against and shows you how times have changed. A gentleman from Texas was arrested for carrying a gun on a plane flight. He actually testified to the jury - which was rare. He claimed not to know gun carrying on a plane (back then) was not permitted. We voted against charges.
I got called for jury duty when I was in grad school and our daughter was born 6 weeks early. My wife had to go to back to work because she had no leave left since she had been hospitalized prior to delivering the baby. So, I was home with our child who was now really only a week old (7 weeks after birth). She still did not weigh 6 pounds yet. Right after getting the letter (a couple of week before the jury service dates) I called the court to address the issue. I told the clerk the situation, and I asked the clerk if I could defer until the next pool when my wire would be our of school for the summer. She said no. I said I would have to bring my daughter because I was not going to leave the child. We had no family in the area and no daycare would take a week only baby. Either way, I would not leave the child. She said I would be arrested if I tried that. After several more minutes of discussion, she told me I could be excused if it was approved by the judge when I appeared for jury duty. I said I had to bring the child. She said I would be arrested. I asked if I could do it earlier (before my wife returned to work). She said no. I asked if I could come in early that first day. She said I could meet with him early the first morning. I said I would have to bring the child that week because my wife would be back to work. She said I would be arrested. I said the child would not disrupt the judge in a private meeting because she was a preemie and pretty much slept all of the time. I had to fight her to keep her awake long enough to eat. She said that I would be arrested. I said that would look very bad for the court to have a premie in jail or for the arrest of a father who was having a premie ripped from his arms for not appearing for jury duty. She said I would be arrested. So, I decided to call her every morning until she changed her mind. I called 7 business days in a row until she relented.
This was Jackson county Illinois
@@rickwburkett She should be arrested for tyranny.
@@WarofThoughts Yea my response was based on the biblical story of the Unjust Judge. The consistent demands for justice forced the judge to eventually do the right thing.
Te illegitimos carborundabas.
I got called for the first time and served on a jury last week. After we decided the not guilty verdict, I went home and started researching whether a judge could overthrow that. I found your video on jury nullification. Now that I've learned, I'm proud to say that we practiced jury nullification that day. None of us wanted to convict the defendant.
@Mr N.G.C failure to yield right of way in a left turn. Normally a petty misdemeanor which cant get a jury trial, so they charged him higher than that. Farmer turned left into driveway on tractor and motorcyclist impacted his right rear tractor tire. We decided it was an accident and not a crime.
@Mr N.G.C I'm not sure. They wouldn't tell us squat about this case. So much information was withheld that it made me suspicious. I don't believe the farmer got fined.
Been on two juries. I was horrified by some of the people in the jury pool with their logic and apathy towards the process and the defendants, while others were very engaged and really cared. Two guys behind me in the jury pool were talking to each other about how if someone was indicted and on trial that they were probably guilty. One of the guys got called for jury duty and during the voir dire, I called him out and told the Court that I overheard this conversation. The Judge asked of it was true and the guy agreed. He was dismissed.
My first jury duty was in New Jersey before they went to the one day/one trial format, so I was called for 2 weeks. The first week we saw only 2 panels called, the second week I was called for 3 panels and seated on each one. As you mentioned, everyone involved in the process was very accommodating to the jurors and emphasized our important role in the process.
My one run in with a judge occurred a later duty when I ended up being an alternate juror on a accident liability case. After the trial ended, I made the mistake of calling the defense attorney (son of the defendant, BTW) to let him (and her) know that I wouldn't have voted to assign anywhere near as much blame to her as the deliberating jury assigned -- that got me an immediate instruction to call the judge as soon as I identified myself and a fairly patient lecture from the judge ... oops.
Served on a Medical Malpractice case once. We found the Doctor guilty and awarded the amount asked for. Found out later that the amount awarded barely covered what was owed to the insurance company and lawyer. Poor guy got about $15,000 after being crippled for life.
I was called, but because of my job (I was a long-haul trucker at the time) they excused me. I just wanted to comment because of what happened the day I went to the courthouse. They had sent me a long questionnaire asking many very invasive and personal questions. I am guessing it was kind of a "mini" voir dire and didn't answer them. Brought the questionnaire to the courthouse signed, but no questions answered. The bailiff took a look at it and asked if I could do him a favor and answer the questions. I told him I would refuse to answer them, and he then asked for my ID. I told him I wasn't carrying ID, and that this wasn't Nazi Germany and I don't have to present my papers. I had left my ID in my vehicle in case of such an eventuality. He tried to be intimidating, but eventually he told me just go sit down. I was actually kind of looking forward to sitting on a jury. I wasn't trying to avoid it, but they got my dander up with those questions.
Once I was standing in a long line to tell the Judge why I wouldn't be available next week for a trial. He had heard a bunch of excuses before getting to me about halfway down the line and didn't look too happy when he asked me my reasons. I told him I was due to be sentenced by him on Friday. The Judge and both lawyers immediately cracked up.
got stuck serving once. Electrical supplier alleging negligence against a lady homeowner. Underground power supply shorted in a rain storm. They came out and ran a service feed, came back and buried a new supply. Found that the wire had been damaged and wrapped with Duct Seal. In trial showed numerous photos. Lady not found negligent and then they reveal the lawyer for the power compamy was brand new. Asked us for feedback (weird). In the photos it was clear someone had installed downspout drain tile and new downspouts. No homeowner has duct seal (commercial product) Asked who the downspout contractor. Crickets... so i commented because it sure seems more likely they hit the line, knew they did so, and would have duct seal a commercial putty for sealing holes around pipes and wires through walls - on their truck. So they would be likely an insured commercial entitity who knowingly hit the power line sealed it and buried it. Hope the homeowner got whole.
I moved from Missouri to Kansas in April of 2010. I received a jury summons at my Grandmothers house in Missouri last week. I have never lived at that address.
This points to the need for some orderly procedure for checking out of a state when you move. I moved from one state to another last year. I filled out a form to be removed from the voter rolls in the state I left last year but this year I got a booklet from the county on the upcoming primary. I filled out the form again, and this may remove me from the voter rolls.
I actually ended up giving testimony during the one criminal case I was ever called for jury duty. Two other jurors thought it OK to discuss the case during recess. I felt the need to tattle. Judge called me to the stand during a hearing where I was the focus of both sides' attention. The case was declared a mistrial for juror misconduct. I haven't been called back since.
Once. When it came time to select a foreman one juror said, “That guy is the only one wearing a tie. I nominate him.” We unanimously voted him as our foreman.
In our county we have a 4 week Jury Duty. Every Friday we call in to find out if we have to appear Monday morning. I got selected to be on standby for 4 weeks. However each Friday I called the message said , “A plea bargain has been reached, you are not needed, have a great week”.
I got called but after writing a letter they said I was not needed. I have seen both sides of the system. I am an ex correction officer and saw the conviction side of the system. I was in a self defense fight and was arrested, attempted interrogation and after I told them to piss off I want a lawyer they beat my *ss. There were about 6 of them. After I got bonded out and then hired an attorney and took it to court my attorney caught the other guy lying on the stand. Not guilty verdict. I so wanted to punch the prosecutor in the face at the end of the trial. This was in Grand Rapids. I totally lost all respect for the criminal justice system. They are all liars.
I am 28 years old and I have always wanted to serve as a juror. I firmly believe that doing such is our RESPONSIBILITY as an American. I never received a summons for the first 9 years as an adult. My brother is 1 year and 11 months younger than me. He immediately joined the military right out of high school and received 2 separate summons while he was away at basic training and at least 2 more I know of before he was 21. I was jealous. I finally received my first summons to be a juror and I was super excited, the only problem is I am now disabled and living in a nursing home and 3 hours away from where I was living before I moved to be near the requisite healthcare facilities that I need. I was very upset that I could not participate. I know most people despise jury duty, but it broke my heart getting my doctor to fill out the form telling the state I do not have the capacity to be a juror anymore.
I served on an almost 5 week trial that ended about a month ago. First time that I had to go in. I went through voir dire with a about 64 potential jurors. I got picked to be on a jury of 12 + 2 alternates (I was not an alternate). The judge did poll the jury when she gave our verdict. "Was this your verdict? Was this the verdict of the jury?"
July of 2017 I was called to serve on a grand jury which, in my county, meant that we were to meet the first Monday of every month (for a full year) to hear evidence and decide whether the cases brought before us were to be pursued further. A couple of times we were not able to finish the month's "business" in one day so we had to meet again the following day. It was quite the learning experience regarding the judicial system and I came away with a heightened respect for our law enforcement officers.
Up for federal duty very shortly. Court building rules say "no T-shirts," and I was so disappointed. Wanted to wear my T that on the back reads, "ASK ME ABOUT JURY NULLIFICATION."
Shucks.
I got a notice once here in Australia. The day they wanted me to come was the same day as I was due to be at a big model train show for setup. Filled in the response indicating that I was involved with organizing the show and needed to be there and never heard anything back (or received any notices since)
You're right about the jurors being treated properly. The several times I went for jury duty, everyone treated us properly. Security people, the people doing the orientation, the judge, the attorneys, etc...they all treated us with respect and appreciation.
Forcing people to do something that at least some of them have ZERO desire to do, is not treating them with respect and appreciation.
I found that the staff treated everyone as if they were part of a casting call.
@@nodak81 You're right that some people have zero desire to do jury duty, which I find disappointing. If I needed a jury, I would want people who didn't mind being there, were willing to listen and concentrate on my case, and willing to take whatever time is necessary to render a just verdict. The times I went to jury duty, that is the attitude I took with me, because I think it is (pardon the old cliché) a "civic duty" that serves our fellow citizens. And I found that, when we do that, we ARE treated with respect and appreciation.
@@allnightkid
I agree, if it were me I would want a panel of jurors that wanted to be there and able to focus on the case. That being said, some of us honestly dont fit that description and there should be allowences for us as well.
@@trucid2
Exactly. Im having all kinds of moral dilemmas with this. I am going to say it goes against my religious beliefs and I also cant find the reasoning in sacrificing my welfare for another especially when the individual will be "processed" regardless
I got summoned and I somehow missed the paper in the mail. I didn't get arrested, but I was invited down to the courthouse to have a talk with the judge. I explained that I never received the summons to the clerk and I was told I was free to go. That was the end of my life of crime. I actually wouldn't mind serving. My employer actually will give you your full pay for the time you miss while serving.
My mother got summoned for federal jury duty, but to her relief, she didn't end to having to go in.
In one 10 year period I was called to Jury duty I was called 7 times. Each time that I was called it was by a different count in the same county, each time I would tell them that I had just served and I would be told that that was a different court and didn't count. (Which was wrong, it did count) on year 10 I got my 8th call, the day before I went the court moved to a new building across town and did not notify me or anyone else. We were all late, we were all chastised and given warning of arrest. I was mad as I sat to wait and when the judge came in to give his pep talk he could tell that I and a few others were not in a good mood. He singled me out for a patriotic humiliation, when he gave me a chance to respond I pulled from my pocket the recites of the last 7 jury duties that I had attended and told him that I was doing my duty and didn't appreciate being threatened with arrest for being late because they move court houses. I was respectful, never raised my voice, but also let him know that I was not in the mood to be bullied. The judge asked if anyone else had similar complaints and about half the jury poll raised their hands. Everyone in that room were sent home, it turns out he was the head judge in the state visiting and picked my room to talk to. Later I received a letter from the court explaining that should not have been called so often I have never been called again.(so far anyway)
Wow!
The situation in the UK is broadly similar to how you described it, with jurors being selected randomly from the electoral register, told to call ahead the night before to check whether they were going to be needed, then sat in a room for possible allocation to a case, then presented to the judge and the two lawyers to decide whether they liked the face or not (the one I served on we never got asked anything individually by the lawyers).
The interesting thing about our case was that one juror, who had clearly indicated that they did not know either of the two parties involved, quickly realised that they recognised the name of one of the defendants who was going to be called. They raised their hand, the court usher came over, this juror explained the situation, the usher told the judge, the judge called the lawyers, ... the jury was sent away to our room but without this one individual. We sat in there for what felt like an hour.
Eventually we're called back into the court room and the judge explains the situation to us, and says that we were going to proceed with just 11 of us, rather than have the expense and trouble of cancelling it all and starting again, which would presumably have pushed it all back by a day.
The case proceeds, we hear from witnesses for the prosecution, we see some decidedly dodgy video evidence from a nearby surveillance camera, we hear from the defendants themselves, and we felt that we were going to be near the end of it all, when another juror raises their hand to attract the attention of the court usher. The usher comes over, they whisper a bit, we get sent out to our room, and we wait.
Again.
We finally get told that the whole case will now be deemed a mistrial. It turns out that the first juror who was let go had written something on a piece of paper on their notepad which clearly identified the witness who they recognised, and that the second juror who drew the usher's attention, who had been sitting next to the first, had reached over to that (now unused) notepad, taken a piece of paper to continue making notes on, and had exposed this information. That was enough for the legals to decide that others among the jury *could* have been privy to the same information, and *could* have been influenced by it, so ended the trial.
Selected for a jury duty on a case that could only be described as comparable to an episode of Top Cops. It involved a prostitution sting gone wrong. Before the Undercover officer could fork over the cash, he had to make a Right-hand turn--also the signal for the following officers to come in and apprehend the individual, which they did before payment had been made. Two officers testified to this at trial.
In the jury room a poll was taken--it was a hanging jury. When it got to me, I expressed my shock that the county would bring this case to trial--by their own admission they didn’t have evidence. The final juror said, “I’m glad you said that and we were off to the races. I pointed out, that I had been to a Halloween party a couple of weeks ago and was given a goodie bag that contained prophylactics, which I had thrown into my purse and carried around w/me for a week. Living in downtown PDX people in cars ask for directions-- I might walk up to their car lean down to speak with them. I was doing the same thing and would hope that if arrested, I would get a jury that would require evidence, as stated in the instructions to the jury. One by one, they all came around except the one person, who asked to be excused from serving and the case ended in a hung jury.
One thing worth noting, it’s possible that the prosecutor, defending attorney and judge could hear our deliberations. At one point someone made a joke, we all laughed and the bailiff was sent in to admonish us--that this was serious business (after all no one died here). After we returned to the courtroom the prosecutor glared at me continually. She was young and possibly inexperienced--if so, there should have been oversight.
I was a juror on a murder trial back in 1992 and I am still bothered by it. The defendant made the foolish mistake of writing a letter confessing to the crime after the victim's wife was under suspicion. The murder took place about 2 1/2 years before he was arrested for it. There was no other evidence tying him to the case or proving he was even in town when it happened. He was put in the position of having to prove his innocence more than the prosecutors had to prove his guilt. I thought we were just going to find him not guilty and that would be it. Turns out 7 members of the jury thought he was guilty because of the letter he wrote and nothing else in the trial mattered to them. We sent a note to the Judge saying we were deadlocked with little chance of reaching a unanimous decision. The Judge told us it was an expensive trial to have and we needed to reach a verdict. The defense attorney objected and they got into an argument. After 12 hours of being in a small room with the jurors I was the last one to switch my vote to guilty which is something I will always be ashamed of. Because the Judge told us it would be too expensive to have another trial, the defendant was granted a new trial. He spent two years in jail before his second trial where he was acquitted. I feel terrible I didn't stick with my not guilty vote in spite of all the pressure I was under from my job and the fellow jurors.
I was summoned to jury duty in Adams County in Colorado. My wife was also summoned for the same day. We both go there. We both truthfully answered all the questions. We were both selected for a trial and seated in the same jury box. The trial was to start at 1:00 PM. No one ever asked if we were related in any way in spite of our same last names. I found it stupid and ironic that a husband and wife were jury members of the same trial. At the start of the trial the judge came in and announced it had been rescheduled because the district attorney had a family death on the East coast, and had to leave unexpectedly, thanked us all and excused us.
What the hell? I would have been really pissed had I had been the accused and found this out during or after the trial. What do you think?
I was summoned 3x in Dallas Co soon after registering to vote. Here in TX all you have to do is speak up regarding your love and respect of law enforcement and you’re immediately excused. How’s that wall coming?
Got called, got picked (lucky me). Defendant was part of a group of people which murdered the victim. Defendant didn't do it, but since he was part of the group he got charged with 2nd Degree Murder. All I could think of while we were deliberating was the movie, "Twelve Angry Men" (the original or the remake, doesn't matter). Yes, our deliberations were somewhat intense. A most interesting experience, indeed.
I was called to Jury duty over 10 years ago in Southern California and I was treated very badly. It actually reminded me of boot camp. Orders, ultimatums and threats of all sorts of fines and penalties. I was happy to walk out of there without being arrested myself. And it wasn't just me. it was every person there. Horrible experience.
A friend of mine got summoned for our local town court for a criminal trial. When they were going thru the standard questions and got to the "do any of you know any of the police officers here in the court room for this case my friend raised his hand. The judge asked him who and how? He pointed at officer "Smith" and said: Yes Officer Smith almost shot me and my friends last year! (Myself being one of those friends) The judge threw up this hands and said everyone in the pool is dismissed. lol!
I was called once and questioned. It was an insurance case, with an obviously blue collar couple suing an insurance company. There were two of us on the panel wearing suits. We were the first two dismissed by the plaintiff's attorney.
I was empaneled on a jury this past winter. We were on the second day of testimony when mistrial was declared.
It was a Murder 2 case.
I went to the court house and had an anxiety attack and almost passed out. Absolute nightmare for someone like me with social anxiety. I would have just skipped out on it but I kept reading online that here in Nazichusetts they track down every single person and will even put out a warrant for your arrest if you don't show up.
Sorry to hear about your anxiety issues. Next time, if you are summoned for jury duty, call them up and ask about their "exceptions". Most states have circumstances under which you can be relieved from serving. Maybe your state has one that would apply to your situation. It's worth checking out. Just my 2 cents worth.
Im worried about that now. I had a questionairre and I cant afford to serve jury duty seriously. I cant even sit down there and go through the process of being selected. I dont feel comfortable being screened because I am a private person who minds their own business and I feel uncomfortable with all these questions.
My state changed the source of prospective jurors from the vote registration to dmv records.
A long time ago, when I was in college I had TWO friends who got
called up for jury duty so much that they had to drop out of college for
unexcused absences and having to make up for lost work.
The judges would not let them off for school.
And some of these classes my friends were in were not regularly scheduled classes.
Some of them were only once every other year.
That is why I never registered to vote until I graduated.
Since then I have proudly been called up for jury duty three times.
If you do not want to serve on a jury there are simple ways to get taken off.
One way is when they ask you the question of whether you can be objective about the
case, the simple answer I saw being used was
"The defendant was obviously guilty or he would not have been here in the first place".
Works every time.
Jury summonses would be mailed en masse and would arrive in my town all on the same day. My boss (the postmaster) would go through them and if any of his employees (mail sorters and letter carriers) got one, he'd take the letter to the court saying that postal employees were essential public servants and couldn't be spared. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it.
The state of michigan hounded me to serve on a jury during the two years I was waiting to be declared totally disabled.. I tried being nice and try to explain my illness even though it was to be four years before they had any idea what it was after the 6th time of calling me up for jury duty I started getting nasty about it...So they took my drivers license away from me which at the time was no big deal as I was too ill to drive much at all. later it became a real problem as my wife became affected with dementia..as I finally got a little better my wife got worse...Now days she can't even operate an electric wheel chair...The state of michigan still has me down as too crazy to drive a car and I have had to resort to using a moped to get around, with absolutely no problems I might add....If it wasn't for both I and my wife being too disabled to move I would get the hell out of Michigan that is for sure....
Yes. I served on a 12-person jury in a personal injury case. In Federal Court. Once we were given the case to deliberate on guilt and damages, I was surprised that 6 jurors were sent to a room to deliberate together, and 6 of us (myself included) were put in 6 separate rooms and told to fill out our juror forms alone. I was one of the first to finish, then I was taken back to courtroom where the judge read aloud my decision. He told me I was free to leave but if I didn't mind, I could stay a few minutes and answer questions from the attorneys, which I did. It all seemed odd to me. Never did find out what happened in that case.
About 2 months after moving to a new county within the same state I received a jury duty notice from my old county (my mail was forwarded and I was not registered to vote in either county). There was space on the form to explain why I felt I should be excused, so I said that I no longer live there and mailed the form back. The instructions were that if I wasn't notified that I was excused, I MUST SHOW UP. No excuse was forthcoming. I even called to explain and was told I must show up anyway so I woke up very early to account for rush hour traffic and drove the 2 hours to the courthouse. I stood around for another half hour and finally had to fill out a form which included my address. Of course, I entered my current address in the other county. A few minutes later a court officer approached me and in a rather insulting tone told me I shouldn't have come since I was ineligible to serve due to the address of my residence then told me to "get outta here". That left me with a very low opinion of the whole process and I didn't even get my $5 check.
Hi Steve, enjoy your videos. The last time I was picked for a jury, we had to wait for over an hour in the jury room before being let into the court room, even though this was the first trial of the morning. The Judge pointed to the two empty desks in front of him and said he just learned that the case was settled out of court the night before and no one bothered to tell him or the Clerk of Counts. He said he was sorry, at least five times, that we had to waste a beautiful day coming in, but he said we still would be paid. Visibly angry, he then issued two letters to both sides of the case, requesting the attorneys be in his office early next morning with written excuses why both sides should not be held in contempt of court. I just got a feeling I was back in grade school.
Abusive and disrespectful is how I would characterize my one and only jury duty experience. We were herded into a large room where a large and grumpy female bailiff yelled at us for about 20 minutes, telling us that we would be arrested and thrown in jail if we were late or failed to appear. She listed the process that the sheriff would go through, busting down our doors and ripping us out of bed to haul us off to jail. After that, we were herded into the the courtroom where the judge told what the civil trial was about and said it was estimated to take 3 weeks. Three weeks out of our lives without any warning or preparation. He then asked questions of the group. On the question of having scheduling conflicts, I stood and explained that I was heavily involved at work with setting up our small company's annual customer training conference and I was the only person who could fulfill the duties, and it would be very destructive to our business if I wasn't available to do my duties. 20 minutes later I was sitting in the jury box. There was no instruction on how to be a juror, what we could talk about or how to do any of it. As both attorneys gave their opening remarks, I locked my eyes on their eyes, never wavering, and let my head tremor slightly side to side. At lunch I went to my office where the CEO wrote a letter to the judge explaining my work situation and asking if I could be excused, which I gave to the bailiff then we were back in the jury box, continuing with opening remarks. At the end of the day, I left as quickly as possible to get back to work, where I was going to have to work nights to get my duties completed for the conference. The bailiff came running after me saying the judge wanted to talk to me. The judge held the letter and asked why I didn't mention my work situation during the questioning. I said, "I did. I stood up and explained it." The judge scanned through his notes and said, "Oh yes, I have that right here. Well, your excused. Both attorneys came to me and said they don't want you on their jury. Good day."
To me, the jury is treated like criminals, and I've never heard of any of my friends being treated with respect or value in a jury call situation. Just recently, a friend got a letter telling him that he was under an arrest warrant for failure to appear for jury duty. He had to take an afternoon off work and go before a judge to explain that he never received the notice of jury duty. The judge read him the riot act because the Post Office failed to deliver, and warned him to never let that happen again. As if he's responsible for the Post Office.
I don't understand why the courts do this. It would be simple to create a system where people are notified over a year in advance that they're up for jury duty and let them pick the weeks they can be available. It would be easy to treat them with a little human dignity. I'm surprised that the attorneys don't pressure to improve this system that was created in the dark ages when they'd go out and find 12 angry men on the street to impanel a jury for a trial that lasted a few hours on a hot summer afternoon. Are attorneys happy with having angry abused people on their juries? Do they care? My jury experience was 20 years ago, and I still get angry every time I think about it. Not just because I was abused and disrespected, but because the American legal system is not being well served by these processes of mediocrity. If I could plan my year around 3 weeks of being available for civic duty, I'd be happy to participate. But, to be ripped from my busy life, full of responsibilities, to decide a case of one rich brat suing another rich brat is not something I'm going be very happy about.
The court, judge, attorneys, bailiffs, etc all treated everyone in my jury like a bunch of humanitarian celebrities. They could not have possibly been nicer to us. The judge would even sometimes buy or bake us treats.
I've been called to jury duty twice. Once was when I was getting ready to go to bootcamp, and the other time I was out of state in the Navy. Because of that I've never been able to go to jury duty.
I was in the selection process and they took a plea while they were questioning us. It was quite hilarious at a point because one of the guys there kept saying if the defendant is on trial then there must be a reason why. I'm pretty sure he was trying to get disqualified.
I remember a malpractice case I got called on. Did the tempers ever flare with several of the lawyers. Judge called the case off early one Friday afternoon so the lawyers had the weekend to cool off.
Called in 2008. Defendant charged with possession of CP on his laptop. I was selected but requested private conference with the judge as I had made prior testimony as expert for defense in the past because I had performed prior forensics and wasn’t sure how to reply to the selection questions. I was/am a trained computer forensics analyst working for the 2nd circuit Federal district.
Prosecution wanted nothing to do with me, defense wasn’t sure. Such a conundrum is usually pretty fatal to selection but this was pretty early in computer forensics and experts were rare at the state/county level so the judge asked, but did not require I remain engaged in the trial as jury assistant and confidant to the judge, prosecutors and defense. My task was to explain technology, terminology and process of forensics as needed. I don’t think everyone was happy but in the end there was an acquittal and justice was (in my opinion) properly served.
Prosecution was unhappy since simple possession of CP, circumstances not withstanding, is a crime but the situation made for a messy trial, defense wasn’t happy either but at least they had a chance now, before they had nothing.
FWIW: Laptop was purchased used, images and support software pre-dated the purchase date and the CP image link files “last accessed” date indicated none had been viewed after purchase, supporting the defendants claim he was unaware of their presence.
I’m not an attorney but I thought you might find this odd arrangement interesting.
Your story is very interesting. Seems it there's a reason why you fell upon that particular jury. Divine intervention? By the way I'm a former IT, 30 years working on as a programmer analyst.
The only jury I was selected for, I was in the first cattle call sent to a court room. I was in the first 12 selected to interviewed. All 12 of us were accepted. Both lawyers and the judge had never had the first 12 was the final 12.
I was on a jury deciding damages for a trailer full of race horses that was rear ended by a 18 wheeler. Fault had already been established, driver fell asleep. The trucking company brought in a very expensive "kentucky expert" who said the horses weren't worth glue. The owners had their own guy. Everybody but me was ready to just give 'em $500 apiece and go home. I pretty much pissed everybody off but eventually got them $40,000 apiece. It still wasn't enough in my opinion. Even the worst horse can have a good day, plus the expense of raising and upkeep. They probably paid more for their "expert".
Immediately got called again for a murder trial but didn't get picked. Which is ok, a few donuts and 35 bucks won't cut it if I got into a long one.
I served on a grand jury for 4 months hearing 2-3 cases per day 3 days a week. It was very interesting indeed. Grand juries only decide if there is enough evidence to indict, so it goes much faster than a trial. I enjoyed serving.
@ 10:20 is a key comment, “several sources”. Unregistering to vote won’t save him. I tried this one time - it didn’t help. I got called, based on my city ‘water bill’ invoicing. My preacher has a novel way to get out of it; he carries his big black gold embossed, “Holy Bible” and talks about “forgiveness”. He’s dismissed every time! 😂.
@ 12:30 most (all?) jurisdictions now limit your jury duty summons to just once each two years - or you can at least reply to the notice that you’ve been called within the last 24 months & that will exclude you. Maybe this is just a Texas thang. 🤠
In my county someone told me that they used the dog & cat license list among other lists
A very timely video. I just received my summons for jury duty so I appreciate the description you provided. Hopefully I will have some interesting stories to relate in a couple of weeks
The old joke; "Your fate is decided by people too stupid to get out of jury duty" may be a bit too real. I served on a 2nd degree rape trial and we ended up hung. Some jurors had decided on guilty before deliberations had begun and refused to budge or discuss their reasoning. Not helpful at all.
Very Timely Video. I recently received my Summons for Jury Duty to the US District Court and am hopeful, that as a Veteran, to be a participant. To see first hand that which I served to Protect and Defend. I'll know at the end of the month. Thanks for all your good insight. Happy New Year
It's my impression that if you want to participate you have to make sure you answer the questions in such a way that both parties believe they can lead you. The first time.
I’ve received notices to report for jury duty twice in the last 20+ years. First time I showed up and was dismissed after about 45 minutes. Second time was about nine years ago, and that time I got selected to sit on the jury. It was a case of a lady suing her insurance company. After sitting for 3 days, they settled out of court and we were done. It was an interesting process and I don’t think I’d hesitate to do it again.
My wife has received two notices in the last ten years. The first time she was easily dismissed with just a phone call because she wasn’t a citizen at the time. The second time was after she had become a citizen, but again, she was dismissed with just a phone call because English is not her first language, and she has a hard time following anything more than basic conversation. Fortunately, in our case, the local courthouse has been pretty understanding.
Been called twice, dismissed twice. The second time was kind of funny. Civil case. Sat down in the peanut gallery, judge came out. Told us all what the case was about and asked if anyone had a problem staying for the trial. Several hands went up, they gave their reasons and were send home. Then he announced to both lawyers he wanted to meet in chambers and he headed off the bench. A few minutes later the bailiff came out and escorted me to chambers. As I went in, the judge introduced me to the lawyers and ask if they had a problem with me being excused. They were a little confused. He told them he has a good golfing buddy who is also a judge and that I was the bailiff for the good buddy!!!! (I was retired by then). Needless to say, I went home.
Steve, you have the best stories and your commenters have the best stories too!
Funny how life can be. I worked for 30 years for the telephone company. In support for the legal system, they paid their employee's full pay while doing Jury duty. We learn fast being on a Jury was better than going to work. Work started at 8am, Jury duty started at 9am, sometimes later if the court had business to perform. An hour and a half lunch, and most often got to go home an hour earlier than our work hours. Anyway, I got called half a dozen times over the years but never got on a Jury. Just there one day and dismissed. I retire and two weeks after, I get my notice of Jury duty. Now I didn't want to go, first no pay as no longer an employee of the phone company. Second, being a retiree, I was free, to do what I want. I went expecting as always to be there the one day and sent home. NOPE! within two hours of showing up I am on a Jury and starting the estimated week-long case.
I have gotten a jury summons 8 times, reported 4 times, and gone through selection and seating twice. First time was for a quadruple homicide death penalty case. Both times going thru selection and seating I have been struck from the jury without cause. Interesting process.
How to get out of jury duty........When interviewed, I tell them I will be a great juror because I can spot guilty people on sight........."Next!".....works every time!
I have seen one or two people trying to give smart ass answers. Like, "I think everyone is guilty" or, "No, I can't be fair." I've also seen a judge step in to question (if the first answers were given to an attorney) the person and ask them 15 different ways something in the essence of, "And if the COURT ORDERS you to follow instructions and the INSTRUCTIONS clearly state you will follow the law, are you telling me you will REFUSE to follow direct instructions given to you by the COURT?" Funny, but every person I've seen so far has changed their answer. I don't know if you are joking but I just want to make clear that if you tried that in real life, it could get you in trouble. Trust me, judges have seen it all and don't enjoy putting up with nonsense.
@@stevelehto I'm basically convincing them I can't be impartial. No law against that.
@@jamescouture775 That guy must have disrespected the Judge or acted like a jerk in some way. I got called in to the Judges chambers as well. When questioned, I was very polite, respectful, and convincing that this was my stand. I held my ground and they dismissed me from duty. There is no such thing as thought crime (yet)......
@@nevermind-he8ni Sadly, there is now.
I've been called and quizzed but not seated. Just got called recently but didn't even as far as voir dire this time. They picked 30 people for a case that was about to start, then picked 60 more and told us to call after 5 to find out if we'd be needed and sent home. Turned out we weren't needed.
I was called for jury duty for the first time long before I registered to vote.
I've been summoned for jury duty 3 times. Two of the cases were DUI's where the DA had no other evidence than the officer's word. So, the first case the DA ask the potential jury if anyone had a problem with accepting the officer's word as evidence or would anyone have a problem giving a guilty verdict with just the officer's work. My hand went up and the judge called me to the bench. The DA wanted to challenge me. The judge allow him to do that. The DA said that the law say's that an officers testimony IS accepted as fact in a trail. My reply was that I would not accept his word as evidence because I know how the law are in that county. The judge told me I could leave. I did. The second time was just like the second one. No evidence so I questioned the DA. She said the officer was the only evidence she had. So we talked back and forth about that and I don't think she was happy with me. Anyway, I did not get selected. The third time the guy was arrest for being in an illegal game room and he was playing on one of the slot machines. It was scheduled with the second DUI case so I didn't have to serve on that jury. I got summoned one other time and I got out of that one because I take a water pill every morning after having open heart surgery three years ago and I told the clerk that I have to go pee every few minutes for about four hrs. Oh, there was one other time too. I was working the night shift and I got off work at 6am. I had to be in court at 9am. When the judge ask if anyone had a good reason to be excused, I raised my hand. He looked at me funny and ask what my excuse was. I told him that I just got off work and I could do it if I didn't have to be awake for the trail. He laughed and ask what I meant. I told him my circumstance and he let me go.I do know that if you ask a lot of questions during jury selection, they will more than likely let you go.
I served on a jury who found a woman guilty of being DUI and rear ending a school bus on a straight road on a sunny afternoon. Was a great learning experience. The judge gave her time served at sentencing despite 2 prior DUI convictions. I have opted out on every summons since.
I have served twice, the first one for a DWI and the second one as a grand juror which was recently. At the end of the the 6 month period I asked everyone if they wanted to know how to get out of future jury duty and most asked how, so I told them next time ask about jury nullification and watch how fast they will excuse you.
I've been called twice, but never served. Once was when I lived in a very rural county with only about 15,000 people in the whole county. So the jury pool wasn't very big. I was practicing medicine there. When I got the letter, I called the county clerk (who is also my parent's neighbor). I said, "I'm glad to serve, but the odds are about 100 percent that someone on the defense or the plaintiff is a patient in our clinic."
The clerk chuckled and said, "Yes, we always take you and your partners out of the pool for that reason. " Which is a shame. I would've like to have served.
I constantly get jury duty letters. I'm looking at one right now trying to figure out how I can get out of it they removed the financial hardship reason for not serving. I'm a truck driver and only income wtf we have plenty of people in my state that don't work bother them.
I was summoned but not picked. It was a case about embezzlement and I am an Accountant and business processes consultant. I really wanted to serve as the case was in the news and I was curious as to how he got away with it for so long.
For a time I got called every year. I love jury duty . I would volunteer if I could. It's my chance to decide what the law should be. I know I'm suppose to go on what the judge says but once in the jury room it's my law if I can convince the others to see it my way.
I recently served as a Jury Foreman on a drug possession case in Phoenix, AZ . We found the defendant not guilty because the police said they did not find any drugs on this person until the third time they searched him and that was in the holding cell. it just did not smell right to us. there were other inconsistencies as well.
I recently was called to jury duty. I was treated very politely by everyone...except the bonehead guards at the courthouse entrance I emptied my pockets and all metal but I was a little fast going through the metal detector...I thought i was back in Boot camp the way those officers talked to me
when I was much younger I always got called. I sat on three juries, all of which were civil cases. During my first experience, it was a beautiful day out, and I could tell that my fellow jurors did NOT want to be there. We found for the plaintif pretty quickly. Now, I still think we were in agreement, but let me say it was not a careful deliberation. :-)
I have been summoned 8 times, twice for federal and picked twice both for federal. I wish I could hit the lottery as often.
Six for me. Got excused from three ( one was Federal), served on a civil and a criminal trial and got challenged off the third one.
The first time I was called, Middlesex County, NJ, was still using 2 week jury duty calls and I served on 3 trials after sitting around for the first week. The total jury pool was about 200 people.
My worst case was a child abuse case (fortunately, it was a first incident of abuse and the baby got away with only a broken arm) -- we had a really hard time with one juror who had trouble with the notion of reasonable doubt and kept asking the judge for explanations of the law (which were disappointingly vague on the topic of doubt).
I was a juror in a malpractice case where the defendant sounded like Cleveland from Family Guy, the lawyers got red in the face yelling at each other over where the anus was on a stock diagram of a vagina, and the plaintiffs flipped off the defense lawyer under the table in plain view of the jury. The state sent me paperwork for jury duty again after that case, but I think I might have turned them off by writing in my race as "human."
Hi Steve, I have been called to jury 3 times in San Diego but seated on a jury only once. Each time the jury pool listens ro a veteran judge who is very well known here, he explains how valuable our service is etc.etc.
My case was a conservatorship case wherein it was to be decided whether the court/doctors would decide the mans treatment or whether it would be assigned to the family. By family I mean the mans sister, who had been a nurse then went to law school and became an attorney.
The judge in the case projected extreme competency and gave me a very positive opinion about our court system. His office issued Certificates of Commendation for each juror after in the case in recognition of our service. I don't know if every judge in San Diego does this.
The defendant, Was represented by private attorneys, was highly intelligent and highly functional but just had mental problems. In the end it was the sister (nurse/attorney) who the jurors did not trust would be a competent conservator, we trusted the judge. The sister had
been banned from the hospital for attempting to sign other patients as clients.