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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:24:02 GMT -5
I was called for jury duty yesterday.
We had to be there at 9. Most people were on-time. We were moved to the court room at 9:30. The judge then spent about 15 minutes telling us all how valuable our time is and how the court will make "prudent use of our time." At 10:30 we took a 1/2 hour break. At noon we took "lunch" for 1.5 hours. For the first 4.5 hours spent at the courthouse, TWO HOURS was "break time."
It was a DUI case and one of the potential jurors told EVERYONE in the courtroom that she could not be impartial because she is an alcoholic and so is her husband and three children. (This after she was late to court and stumbling around and making little sense talking...) OMG.... The judge thanked her for her time and sent her drunk ass home.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:32:31 GMT -5
So have they selected a jury yet? That's awfully slow if they haven't. I've been called twice. Once I was thrown out on a peremptory challenge (I work for an insurance company) and the second time they got a jury panel from the first 20 or so people they selected, and sent the rest of us home. I was there only a couple of hours both times- once in NJ, once in KS.
While the attorneys the second time were wonderful in explaining the legal terms they used, with funny anecdotes to illustrate, I cringed every time they called the process "Voyer-dyer". The process is called "voir dire" and proper pronunciation is "vwar deer". But we're in Kansas.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Aug 22, 2012 10:33:18 GMT -5
why do you think i spend so much time here? you guys are much more entertaining.
and I hope the judge called the sheriff's dept who was waiting for her to drive out of the parking lot.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Aug 22, 2012 10:35:57 GMT -5
The last time I got called to jury duty, I ended up on the jury. Three days of listening to the plaintiffs argue their point, and then the judge ruled that they essentially had no case and ended it without further ado. He sent us all home before the other side had even started. It was super-frustrating! Oh well, they do what they do.
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Aug 22, 2012 10:40:50 GMT -5
I have NEVER been called for jury duty. I want to do it, it seems like fun! I hardly ever see the inside of a courtroom DH did jury duty when we lived in Brooklyn, he enjoyed it. As far as lawyering and tons of boring time, I'd say 25% of my job is pretty exciting and the rest ranges from somewhat interesting to doing research on the origin of the state law governing zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Aug 22, 2012 10:47:42 GMT -5
Last time DH was on a jury, at the end of it, the judge apologized for wasting their time.
This was a very pointed comment to both the plaintiff and defendent, who were both lawyers, and suit happy. They had used up all of their suits in civil/tate court, and in this case were suing/countersuing each other in federal court.
The jury had come back with- yes, this one person is at fault, but all reparations had already been made, so no one got anything.
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Post by BeenThere...DoneThat... on Aug 22, 2012 10:48:17 GMT -5
...I've been called twice... second time was on 9/11... so it got canceled...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:48:57 GMT -5
I have to go in September. I am crossing my finger that I will call the night before and not be needed.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:49:03 GMT -5
When the defendant in the case walked into the courtroom I immediately recognized him from the newspaper account and knew he was there for DUI. The judge read the charges and everyone smiled. He was clearly an alcoholic (had that drank for years look to him) and it was pretty obvious that was likely the charge. I think they would have excused me because I believe I have met the defendant somewhere or had a real good look from the paper. I knew who he was before the judge read his name! I also have a past with the defense atty from our lawsuit over our water. I was also raised by a raging alcoholic step-parent and have two step-sibblings currently in prison for drug/alcohol/driving offenses. I think my chances of being picked were slim to none. Thankfully. They did manage to get a jury and they only booted about 10 people from that challenge part of the selection. I was hoping to be in the first called, to leave earlier, but wasn't on the random generator's top of the page. Yay! Good thing because many of those people were kept around and sworn in. Interestingly, everyone had to say what they and their spouse do for a living. Nearly everyone first called was a teacher or had a spouse that was. The judge made the comment that it was "teacher day" for jury duty.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Aug 22, 2012 10:54:05 GMT -5
Last time DH was on a jury, at the end of it, the judge apologized for wasting their time. This was a very pointed comment to both the plaintiff and defendent, who were both lawyers, and suit happy. They had used up all of their suits in civil/tate court, and in this case were suing/countersuing each other in federal court. The jury had come back with- yes, this one person is at fault, but all reparations had already been made, so no one got anything. At least that jury got to deliberate and decide something. We sat around taking notes for 3 days but were told that we COULD NOT discuss the case amongst ourselves all that time. So we got to spend 3 days in a room with 12 strangers and the one topic we could not talk about was the ONE THING we had in common! Argh. When the judge said we wouldn't be deliberating anything, we all ended up sitting around the courtroom for the next hour discussing the case... finally!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:54:53 GMT -5
I was also raised by a raging alcoholic step-parent and have two step-sibblings currently in prison for drug/alcohol/driving offenses. I think my chances of being picked were slim to none. Thankfully. The second case where I was called was a DUI- nice young guy in a suit, clearly trying to get out of it because a license suspension would greatly complicate his life. Public transportation here is pretty thin. I thought of telling them I was the ex-wife of a raging alcoholic, but it never got to that point. Or, I might have just kept silent and tried to listen impartially to the facts and then make a decision. Like others, I'd be interested in being on a jury for a one- or two-day trial, but not one that went on for weeks.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Aug 22, 2012 10:56:23 GMT -5
really, guys, jury trials aren't that interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 10:56:23 GMT -5
We had the defendant and his friend sitting in the waiting room outside the courthouse during lunch and breaks. He was all smiles at everyone. I assume his atty told him to be friendly, but it was kinda weird for some of the potential jurors. The judge told us not to talk to them, but they were around and talking to people anyway.
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Post by BeenThere...DoneThat... on Aug 22, 2012 10:57:24 GMT -5
really, guys, jury trials aren't that interesting. ...they make good TV and movies, though...
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Aug 22, 2012 11:00:08 GMT -5
We had the defendant and his friend sitting in the waiting room outside the courthouse during lunch and breaks. He was all smiles at everyone. I assume his atty told him to be friendly, but it was kinda weird for some of the potential jurors. The judge told us not to talk to them, but they were around and talking to people anyway. The parties in my jury case were all given specific instructions not to use the back doors and hallways because those were reserved for the jury members. The court uses this system to keep juries separate from the parties. I had to report the plaintiffs to the court, though, because they were hanging around the restricted areas. The judge then gave me the third-degree to make sure that I hadn't heard or seen anything compromising. It was probably the most interesting thing that happened to me for the entire three days!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:04:33 GMT -5
really, guys, jury trials aren't that interesting. Sometimes they are. DH was on a jury trial years ago in which a professor sued the municipality because they razed his beach house ahead of schedule and he lost all of his course notes (his specialty was Chaucer) and his collection of classic Playboy issues. He sued for the value of the Playboy collection and DH pointed out to his fellow jurors how much work went into creating lecture notes- they're used year to year, updated, etc., so it took years to create them. They awarded him extra $$ he didn't even expect for the notes. Later the defendant's attorney talked to DH and asked about his background. Chaucer was DH's major area of study in college. The lawyer replied, "Oh, s**t."
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:05:20 GMT -5
you mean its not like the law shows on tv?
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Post by BeenThere...DoneThat... on Aug 22, 2012 11:07:46 GMT -5
really, guys, jury trials aren't that interesting. Sometimes they are. DH was on a jury trial years ago in which a professor sued the municipality because they razed his beach house ahead of schedule and he lost all of his course notes (his specialty was Chaucer) and his collection of classic Playboy issues. He sued for the value of the Playboy collection and DH pointed out to his fellow jurors how much work went into creating lecture notes- they're used year to year, updated, etc., so it took years to create them. They awarded him extra $$ he didn't even expect for the notes. Later the defendant's attorney talked to DH and asked about his background. Chaucer was DH's major area of study in college. The lawyer replied, "Oh, s**t." ...funny story! ;D
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:07:46 GMT -5
I had jury duty recently. The first day was 6 hours of waiting to see if I'd be called into a courtroom. I got called and ended up on a jury.
The defendants attorney was about 80. Sometimes we waited for what seemed like forever for him to say something. We were afraid we would fall asleep in the courtroom waiting on him to make his point.
I found the trial process interesting, what they could and could not tell us or say. They did say it was an important case, but we didn't know why until after everything was over.
My fellow jurors got a bit frustrated with me because I wasn't willing to make an immediate decision so I could be home in time for dinner. Excuuuse me for wanting to follow the instructions we were given and wanting a minute to think so I could be comfortable with the decision I made.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Aug 22, 2012 11:09:16 GMT -5
I just did a jury trial. I found it interesting, but it took way, way, way too long to cover what we needed to cover. The problem with my trial is there were two questions - the first question was "Did the defendent cause the accident?" and the second question was "How much are her injuries worth?" Well, the second question is moot if the first answer is "no." So, we listened to 3 days of testimony - of which, 45 minutes caused us to deem the other 2.75 days irrelevant. Too bad we couldn't have done that in two parts. Of course, the fact that this girl, whining about her injuries, made herself look like an idiot - it made us feel really confident in our decision.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Aug 22, 2012 11:10:18 GMT -5
I just did a jury trial. I found it interesting, but it took way, way, way too long to cover what we needed to cover. The problem with my trial is there were two questions - the first question was "Did the defendent cause the accident?" and the second question was "How much are her injuries worth?" Well, the second question is moot if the first answer is "no." So, we listened to 3 days of testimony - of which, 45 minutes caused us to deem the other 2.75 days irrelevant. Too bad we couldn't have done that in two parts. Of course, the fact that this girl, whining about her injuries, made herself look like an idiot - it made us feel really confident in our decision. NY does what they call bifurcated trials. You have a trial on causation first, and you get past that, you get to damages.
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Post by BeenThere...DoneThat... on Aug 22, 2012 11:10:20 GMT -5
I had jury duty recently. The first day was 6 hours of waiting to see if I'd be called into a courtroom. I got called and ended up on a jury. The defendants attorney was about 80. Sometimes we waited for what seemed like forever for him to say something. We were afraid we would fall asleep in the courtroom waiting on him to make his point. I found the trial process interesting, what they could and could not tell us or say. They did say it was an important case, but we didn't know why until after everything was over. My fellow jurors got a bit frustrated with me because I wasn't willing to make an immediate decision so I could be home in time for dinner. Excuuuse me for wanting to follow the instructions we were given and wanting a minute to think so I could be comfortable with the decision I made. ...reminds me of a movie where one juror gives a dressing down to another juror who wanted to vote with the group because he had baseball tickets and didn't want to miss the game...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:10:58 GMT -5
I also thought it was interesting that once one juror started down the "he wouldn't be here if he didn't drink and drive" path, then everyone started mentioning it since it got the first guy excused. It made the process 100% longer to have to listen to everyone's opinion on alcohol even though the judge asked people to not talk about that...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:12:49 GMT -5
I have NEVER been called for jury duty. I want to do it, it seems like fun! I hardly ever see the inside of a courtroom
This was my second one. The first one was a civil case. Booooring.
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mandyms
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Post by mandyms on Aug 22, 2012 11:27:33 GMT -5
I've only been called to jury duty once (I don't know if everyone is like this, but I was at the courthouse a whole week waiting to be called). The very first day, I got called for a case; as soon as they read the defendent's name I knew I was in for it. I knew him, worked with his wife and it was a VERY high profile arson case that had been covered on the news.
Partially because I didn't want to have to been detained for 3+weeks, I told them I couldn't be impartial...then they wanted a full dissertation on why I couldn't be impartial. Kind of got me flustered and the first thing I blurted out was that I had already heard rumors about a motive and intent from gossip at work. It got me out of being selected, but I felt bad afterwards and couldn't talk to my coworker for months after that.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2012 11:47:20 GMT -5
I got called once while we lived in the SF Bay Area. They called 1000 people for the potential juror pool! We were all given a 10 page questionnaire to answer. It was all about what we knew about chemistry and the petrochemical industry. There were 3 pages, single spaced of potential witnesses.
We were brought into the courtroom and told the case would go a minimum of 8 WEEKS and was for a woman suing over a refinery fire that supposedly damaged her lungs working as a bridge toll taker.
I was excused when called on day three because I worked with one of the doctors who would be testifying. I couldn't imagine a 2 month jury service with no paycheck for that entire time! That is a true hardship for so many people.
That judge said airline tickets for vacation, work, and everything else, unless you were dying, were not excuses and he would not grant hardship excuses to get out of that jury. There were a LOT of pissed off people in that room for days on end waiting to see if they would get stuck with the case.
Yesterday, out of the 100 or so people, 10 of them requested hardship for work or medical reasons and the judge granted them all without asking many questions of anyone. I was really surprised.
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Rocky Mtn Saver
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Post by Rocky Mtn Saver on Aug 22, 2012 11:58:41 GMT -5
Yesterday, out of the 100 or so people, 10 of them requested hardship for work or medical reasons and the judge granted them all without asking many questions of anyone. I was really surprised. The jury I was on was in a smaller town, and the judge didn't seem too concerned with letting people go. A couple people got out of the multi-day jury for work. And one lady was excused because she just had a doctor appt in 3 days. The judge was pretty nice about it.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Aug 22, 2012 12:08:29 GMT -5
I was on a jury years ago. We listened to about 3 hours of testimony one day, then got deliberation instructions the next morning. When we came to a verdict, the judge and lawyers had gone to lunch. A few years later, I was up for a jury on a sexual assault case, with the same assistant prosecutor. The judge had asked if any of the jury pool knew the defendent or any of the attorneys, and I mentioned the prior trial. He asked if we had reached a verdict; yes, guilty. I think the defendant's attorney rejected me because of that prior guilty verdict.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Aug 22, 2012 12:54:48 GMT -5
Last year I was selected for the jury... I couldn't believe it. Rarely do they want scientists on the jury, let alone female ones with Ph.D's... anyways, it was a murder trial, and it lasted a week. I thought the courts did a very good job of "quick justice" and I did not feel they wasted my time.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Aug 22, 2012 12:55:39 GMT -5
I was on a jury a year or so ago, it was the only time I have ever been called in 25 years living here. I thought it was interesting, but it was very short case, mayber 2 hours. GF claimed BF assaulted her, had a police report that supposedly showed a scratch. "He said, she said" and the jury did not believe either of their stories.
Apparently the way to get kicked off the jury here it to know someone in jail, and it is surprising how many people claim to. "My brothers second cousin in law is in jail for assault" will get you eliminated. I guess I just don't know the right kind of people.
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