Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire So how DO you feel about jury duty pal?

I've been on several juries. Loved 'em all.

During voir dire for one trial, we were asked whether any of us � or any member of our families � had been victim of a crime. I raised my hand. When he got around to me, the judge asked me what crime.

"Somebody stole my camera and some other stuff last year."

"Would that experience affect your ability to hear this case fairly and honestly?"

"Not unless the evidence shows that this defendant stole my camera."

I wasn't trying to be funny, only to define the limit of my objectivity, but everybody in the court room cracked-up � including the judge, the defendant, and the defense attorney.

I was picked to hear the case. Neither attorney objected.
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I also got picked for another jury after the judge asked us whether any of us did not drink alcohol. He then asked us why.

"Because," I said, "I've never cared for the taste or the cost."

When the laughter faded into chuckles, the judge said with a grin that those were the two best reasons that he'd ever heard.

I've been on 2 juries (organized crime) and enjoyed the experiece. But I've always thought that you might avoid jury duty if in your application to be excused, you would state that you believe that only guilty people are indicted and therefore that's how you will vote.

Then include a sworn statement saying that you vote "guilty" and ask that this statement be your official vote so that you do not have appear and listen to the lying SOB.

I got called for jury duty two years ago. One jury got filled before they got to me. The next had me for questioning for selection. I was the first the prosecutor's lawyer asked to dismiss. They asked if anyone had a feeling one way or the other about the justice system and the right of one person to sue another for millions of dollars. I told them I didn't believe in suing if your injury resulted from you doing something stupid. I fell on the ice that Winter and cracked my spine in the Dicks parking lot. I had a thousand dollar copay at the hospital. I had lawyers calling my house wanting to sue Dicks and get me some money. I told the lawyer it was my own fault. It's snowy outside and I had every reason to believe it was slippery but I decided to go shopping that day anyway. I stepped out of my truck, slipped, and hit hard, but I refused to point the finger at anyone. They didn't like that.

I"ve been a few times, but never selected, both times the defendant didn't show up.

I have been on grand jury once now and will again, of that I"m sure. It was interesting and doing my duty.

As to judge or jury, I"d never let a single being choose my fate. The larger numbers on a jury give you a better chance and generally folks are whimps anyway and don't want to send folks away or find them guilty. A judge on the other hand is probably going to be more biased to start with.

I know that I"ve sat in when folks with tickets chose to go the judge route more than once, and every time they lost, had they picked jury and I'd have been picked, I"d have done my best to get them off on very real possible unfair speeding tickets.
Judges in those cases were extremely biased that anything that LEO says HAS to be the truth when its far from that at times.

I've been called twice and released right off twice. They asked me a few questions. I always tell them I'm a great judge of character and can tell if someone is guilty or innocent simply by looking at them.

The first time I showed up a guy had on a Tshirt with the N word on it and he was white. They got rid of him first.

As an attorney is should have been dismissed from serving.

But hey, I guess the other choices were worse . . . .

I served, the defendant lied, we convicted her.

I learned that lying will get you jail time FAST.

BMT

I've been called Petite twice, and Grand once.

The first p-jury I didn't realize we were to be seated THAT DAY and showed up with my 6-week old son in arms.... (He's 26 now.....) I thought it was just an interview... The Judge was not happy....

The second time I was summoned, it was in Barrow, and I was outta there in 2 weeks airline tickets and all...- the judge excused me.

Never got to me on the Grand...

There are a lot of ways to get excused- but consider- should you?? True- I have a job that pays regular salary while on jury duty, so I can see the point of those who do not- especially for a trial that may be drawn out for weeks or months.

Years ago, my brother's girl friend was regularily called, and served on jury duty. About twice a year it seemed.

The lawyers really liked her - she had a face and figure to die for, and was dumb as a rock - whoever talked to her last had her vote.

Stoned most of the time, too.

ROTFLMAO... Oh, man, did I need THAT!

Oh, hahahhahahahahahahaahaha.

Called for Federal Grand Jury once. It would have lasted a year and a half; most of the Federal Courts are in the other end of the state. Every time they would snap their fingers I would have lost up to 3 days work, anyone care to guess how long the job I had just gotten would have lasted? Especially in an "at will" state?
Last time I got called for regular jury duty my doctor wrote a letter to the effect that the only way I would definately be able to stay awake would be if I was standing all through the trail. They let me off.

Really stupid stuff comes out of juries because the average Joe just can't bring him/her self to be the bad guy. Most of the time some cretin commits a horrible act against God and Man then gets 'mercy' which lets said cretin be eligible for parole in 10 to 15. To mutilate/main/rape or murder again. At least that seems the case here in westbuhgawd.

Just today LA police arested a thug who may be the most prolific serial killer/rapist in their history. This scumbag had been in prison 3 times for sex crimes and kept getting turned loose to do it all over again.

Disgusting.

O

During the pipeline and Prudhoe Bay construction days in Fairbanks, a lot of the crews were downsized during the dead of winter. The drill was to sign up for unemployment for beer money, and it was borderline comical to me to see all those Mercedes and Thunderbirds and Caddys parked outside the unemployment office. Those that signed up were soon being called for jury duty.

I wound up doing two stints, one for a month on the Grand Jury. I have to admit it was always interesting and at times downright enjoyable. High point was being jury foreman and staring down a glaring drug dealer/pimp that had just received his first conviction in over a dozen indictments. The boy did have a good lawyer, of course - same one for several years, in fact.

Bob, do you have this level of customer loyalty - ??

Been called for three different panels.

First panel - got called in for jury selection interviews twice. One was regarding a civil case involving pipeline ROW. When asked if I knew anything about pipelines I said yes, my father was a PL engineer and I had worked for the company between college years. I was dismissed. Second one was a DUI that the LEOs had done a bad job of presenting their evidence. I'm very pro-LEO, but the evidence was very shaky and we found the guy not guilty.

Second panel - Was on this one for 18 months and never did have to even show up at the courthouse.

Third panel - Got picked for one jury. After 3 days of trial and a half day of deliberation, the judge called us back in to the courtroom and dismissed us as the lawyers had reached a plea agreement. Later found out the guy had plead out to 20 to 30 years. He would have been sent up for life if the informal poll amongst the jurors had come to fruition. Domestic terrorism and kidnapping charge - even his mother had testified against him . . .

So why are you gritching (griping and bitching) about it? Won't your buddy the white house lawn jockey give you a bailout!!??

I served about four years ago. One guy was really agitated and said aloud he's do anything to get out of jury duty. It was a drug case when asked about impartiality he said he didn't think drug laws were legal. The judge bounced him back into the pool where he sat until Thursday, he didn't get out of anything he just had to sit around with all the potential replacements. At the time I didn't know they could do that to you.

Never been asked by anybody that had proper jurisdiction. Probably I'll be tossed if it should occur. Tall trees, short horses, that sort of stuff you know.....

...I've served before. Once as foreman on a murder case trail. But here in Fulton county Georgia they no longer accept me for since I refuse to give my Social Security number based on my constitutional right to privacy, I just enter "Confidential" on the line asking for the S.S.#. Since they've begun asking they haven't called me beyond the jury pool waiting room.

With whatever faults our jury system has, it's still the best there is with one possible exception: if you could hand pick your judge. That's never going to happen. If I have to go to trial, I'll take the jury please. At least our system allows you some say in unpicking potential jurors. If I'm truly not guilty (which I expect to be if ever charged) I want the option of having my attorney convince one of twelve to vote not guilty. From a prosecutor's perspective, usually, not always; but, usually if a defendant is truly guilty, they'll get the twelve to agree.

What's really funny is he had help from his wife writing that.

I know his wife. I doubt it.