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Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Jury Duty

I'm 69 and finally received a summons for potential jury duty.
They waited 'til I got too old, apparently. I take some meds that have that ' do not operate heavy machinery' attached so they sent me home.
It would have been fun to sink my teeth into a medical malpractice 7 day trial, but, oh well.
PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC
Let's here your jury duty stories....I have none :(

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David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

My mother did not have jury duty for most of her adult life. The state made a mistake in the computer records and thought she did not speak English. LOL

Dave

 

David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

There is also the old really bad saw. My first call was back in 1998, my restaurant boss immediately told me to claim I was racist. I refused, but I knew things would be tight for him.

Dave

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

I noticed that there was a mixed bag of those excited to serve and those hoping to be excused.
The raciest thang wouldn't work in Tucson where we are approximately 88% Hispanic.
You'd get jumped by your fellow jurors!

 

Mario Carta

6 Years Ago

I have none, I'm exempt but I have had more than my fair share of court room dramas.

 

Roy Erickson

6 Years Ago

I got called for jury duty at the federal courthouse that is about 70 miles away - I told them my transportation was a motorcycle, I could not leave here before daylight, and I would have to return home in time to reach here before dark, and there was no way that I could afford to stay overnight in one of the nearby hotels waiting to see if I'd actually be called - if called - they would then foot the bill for me to stay over there. the only answer I ever got was - "never mind".

I can no longer be called to jury duty because of my health problems - and I always wanted to sit on a jury - I am a firm believer in the death penalty, and I am a very firm believer that you have to PROVE the person is guilty - not an inch of hearsay or circumstantial evidence would ever sway my mind.

 

Carol C

6 Years Ago

About fifteen years ago I was summoned for jury duty concerning a local murder. At the time I was into writing murder mysteries, but they didn't know that. I thought the experience would be great for my writing. Anyway, they asked a bunch of questions during the screening process, as per usual. My detective brain, at that time, started drilling them with questions, wanting to know every little detail. They immediately sent me home.

 

David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

The questioning of the jurors is done one at a time privately.

I am not advocating anyone saying they are racist. It is a sick joke in my parts. But the rest of the jurors would have no clue.

Dave

 

Mario Carta

6 Years Ago

not an inch of hearsay or circumstantial evidence would ever sway my mind.-RD

Really RD? circumstanial evidence can be very indicative of a person's guilt or innocense.

 

Carol C

6 Years Ago

David, in Alberta, Canada where I'm from, the questioning of the potential jurors was done publicly in front of other jurors, and in the actual court with a judge and everything. I had to sit in that chair where witnesses get grilled. It was an exciting experience.

 

Dan Turner

6 Years Ago

It's public questioning in every courtroom I've ever been in.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

 

David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

Hi Carol,

Here at least in my state, we were sent to a board room and called one at a time. There is a French term for the questioning. Both sides get to go over each juror.

The orders by the judge are given to the entire jury.

Many people are excused and most cases are settled before they go to trial.

Dave

 

Bill Tomsa

6 Years Ago

Here's my jury story, Marlene.

About 30 years ago I was chosen to sit on a jury for a criminal felony trial.

After the 2nd or 3rd day of the trial we were sent to lunch and I headed for the rest room.

While I was in there and in one of the "stalls", the defendant came into the rest room and made incriminating statements to a couple of guys with him.

I reported what I heard to the judge and he dismissed me immediately from jury duty.

Probably doesn't qualify as a plot line for a TV lawyer show....or does it!?? LOL

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

 

Ann Powell

6 Years Ago

I have only gotten summoned twice, the first time excused because of my job, the second time served. The questioning of each juror was in public, in open court, Even though it was a civil case, I thought they would dismiss me because I worked for the state, but they did not. It was very interesting. I am just glad it was not something where a person's life was in the balance. We found for the plaintiff unanimously but I later heard the company involved appealed it. I do not even know if the lady got the settlement money we awarded her.

 

Bill Tomsa

6 Years Ago

As an aside to the jury duty thing, I did attend several murder trials in the 12 years I was an Art Director for a network affiliate TV station.

I was sent to the trials to do sketches of the trial because there were no cameras allowed in the court room.

What I learned from this experience (besides you have to draw really fast) was that these trials are nothing like what you see on TV dramas.

They are actually quite BORING.

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

 

Greg Norrell

6 Years Ago

Years ago when I was a single parent, I got jury summons seemingly every year. It was such a pain to try and get out of it, and more than once I got in a bit of trouble. Since my son grew up, I haven't received a summons once.

Nature Photography Prints

 

Patricia Strand

6 Years Ago

Sorry you don't get to serve, Marlene. I would have gladly given you all my many summonses over the years! Apparently, in California, once you get summoned, whether or not you serve, they keep pestering you every few years. I got really ticked off about it, because my poor older mother, who desperately wanted to get summoned never even got ONE summons! I called and complained but was told they use a "jury selection company" to pick who gets summoned. I told them they were paying this stupid company for nothing, because they clearly were not doing their job! There was no reason, given the million or so people who lived in my city, that I would be summoned so many times.

I served twice in WA, both times as a student in Seattle. The most memorable was a bank robbery by a 70+-year old man who had been in the prison system his whole life. We thought that he probably didn't know how to live on the outside and did the robbery to get put back into the only life he'd known -- prison. There was a security camera, and he was looking right at it. There was no mistaking he did the robbery. However, we had one holdout juror who was being a real ass, insisting we didn't really know "beyond a reasonable doubt" that it was him, so we spent far too long in the deliberation room. Maybe he wanted to hold out for the free sandwiches.

 

Dan Turner

6 Years Ago

One of mine was about a guy accused of using stolen credit cards. The defendant slumped in his chair and smirked, wore sunglasses, needed a shave, rolled his eyes at every accusation and obviously had no respect for his situation.

One of the questions the lawyer was asking potential jurors was "If the evidence convinced you that the defendant was guilty, would you have any trouble returning a guilty verdict?"

They filled the jury box before they got to me and I was released, but I was ready to say "Look at him! I would convict him right now!!" I wouldn't have said that, of course, but I was ready :-)

Appearance counts. If you're in the hot seat at least TRY not to look guilty.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

 

Lisa Kaiser

6 Years Ago

I was summoned and a guy by yhe name of Hal came over to talk to me. He never stopped talking and the only reason I remember his name is that he had very bad halitosis.

We were all released after so many hours.

 

Roy Erickson

6 Years Ago

Yes, Mario, really. I don't go with a guilty verdict unless the prosecutor can show that the defendant IS guilty of whatever they are charged with. I have sat on military trials twice - and was never asked to do so again. The first trial was mere stupidity on the military's part and the second one was totally circumstantial evidence - and the company that was supposedly ripped off - was never called in to say whether what the accused had in his possession was stolen or whether they had sold it. The charge was by someone who had once worked for that company and "knew" where they hid papers and somehow he had found those papers and accused the young man of having stolen the property. It seemed obvious to me, in both cases, that the military was way to eager to prosecute without real evidence of a "crime".

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

David,
The juror pool questioning was public.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Lisa,
Haha! What a way to remember a name!

 

Roger Swezey

6 Years Ago

Once, I was 1 of 75 in a jury pool, for a drug case.

One of the potential jurors commented that the trial scenario seemed to follow the stereotypes perfectly:

An Irish judge, Jewish lawyers, and a Black defendant.

Upon looking around the jury pool, with only one Afro-American among the 75,...I chimed in

" And possibly an All White Jury"

I was rejected, so was the other smart ass...and that lovely young lady was rejected too.

 

David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

Voir Dire.....the French term for questioning jurors.

It has been many years, we may have been questioned by the judge for a moment as a group, but then many of us were called individually into the courtroom to be questioned by the lawyers on both sides. I doubt that is just in CT, but it may not be in every state.

I donno beyond CT's system. In the case in front of me, the judge's explanation to the jury the first day of 'beyond a reasonable doubt, means you want to know the reason". I stood firm during my private voir dire that I would want to know the reason. The defendant went for a plea bargain, prison time.

Dave

 

Mike Savad

6 Years Ago

i have a doctors note. they will usually let you go if you have one.

but if you do get in there, tell them you have memory problems. you can't remember what people say, or you recreate it in your mind. the last time i was called, i couldn't think of anything to get out of it. i'm thinking - i will not remember anything what people say, being a visual thinker, i have to visualize what happened based on what i hear, if i hear it at all, and what i'm thinking is not what they are saying.

and it dawned on me, that's the perfect excuse, and as i thought of that excuse my number was called. and then called again and again. it was like they saw that dark cloud over my head and i called a side bar, explained i can't really rely on my memory and it wouldn't be fair. and it worked out just fine... sadly they had to let me go... yeah, i'm so like... disappointed...as i some how stumbled my way out and tried to find my way back.

everyone always says they will hate the other person and get out that way... never works like that. and when i used to go in there, they made us go 3 days, instead of the 2, based on the timing of when i went. but if you have a disability of some kind, you can get a doctors note.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

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Mario Carta

6 Years Ago

Mike, jury duty is every citizen's civic duty, it's not about getting out of it or looking for excuses to get out of it.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

It really pays to go to the website and read all the available information...especially the dress code! Here in AZ it is a huge problem....we all live in shorts and they are a BIG no-no in court.

 

Bill Posner

6 Years Ago

I was on a murder case in Ft. Lauderdale. It involved the stabbing of a pregnant woman, whose 6mo old fetus also died. This was the 3rd time it had been brought to trial The original crime happened 15 years, before my appearance on the jury in 2006. Although we were not sequestered we were advised not to read or watch any info on the news. which, even though difficult, with the help of my wife at the time, I adhered to the request. What I didn't know at the time, was this case had been dismissed once and hung jury 2nd time through. It was such a long period between crime and my jury attendance that they had to fly witnesses in from all over the country as people move, retired, and some had passed. Some what funny thing, the original Broward County CSI detective had retired and moved to Las Vegas. At the time CSI the TV show was popular, and this CSI guy was brought in from Las Vegas... anyway, the defendants only alibi was he was drunk. We had to go over all the evidence including stained sheets and weapon and listen to a 911 call. Case we quite disturbing. When we went in to deliberate we reached a verdict of guilty in about 15 minutes, but delayed it a bit so it didn't seem to fast. We also had to come back and suggest a sentence to the judge. I found it very fascinating to watch the system work.

 

CHERYL EMERSON ADAMS

6 Years Ago

"...hardship was the very first issue addressed...and most of us were dismissed."

Ok, well, I stand corrected then.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Cheryl,
I was stating how it played out in Civil Court in Tucson. It seems as though every state, county, city has it's own rules, etc....I was just sharing mine. ;)

 

Janice Drew

6 Years Ago

Marlene, I witnessed different juror's outfits from shorts to ties and suits. A couple women wore jeans.

Several of the men wore polo shirts and chinos. I wore how I normally dressed for work - long sleeved buttoned down shirt and pants.

No one was spoken to, but some of the men ditched the shorts for chinos after the first day.






 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Our bailiff was a tough cookie....she told those wearing shorts to leave and that they would not get credit for the day. Next time, read the info that is sent with the summons!

 

Doug Swanson

6 Years Ago

My cynical observation about jury duty came when I was called and the trial was for drunk driving. The defense attorney asked me if I disapproved of drunk driving. I made a one word response (yes) that I do and he used one of his exceptions to exclude me without asking any more questions. I was shepherded out of the court room at that point, but I would have liked to seen who responded that drunk driving is OK.

 

Yo Pedro

6 Years Ago

I was a juror in a priest / child molestation case for a while. Everything was going well, until the testimony got very detailed and graphic. During voir dire, they try to prepare you for the reality of what you can expect to hear and see during the trial. I was fine, until it became real, with the real players and in real time.

I was so upset by the details of what this man had done to a little boy over the course of several years that I nearly fainted. At that point, the prosecuting attorney noticed that I had turned sheet white, she asked me a direct question, and I was a blank, completely checked out, unable to respond. They called a recess and I was dismissed.

Several years later I was hired to shoot a brochure for a law firm, and it turned out to be the same prosecuting attorney! Purely coincidental. We had a good chuckle about my near faint, but she was not so pleased that I even made it through the jury selection process.

-YoPedro
Twitter@YoPedro

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Peter,
You win the award for the best so far.

Fireworks are scheduled at 9:30 tonight

 

Chuck De La Rosa

6 Years Ago

In my county you can potentially get called once every 5 years. I have been called 3 times, and have served on a jury once. You get one chance to reschedule a summons. If you can't make the second one you are in contempt of court and a summons will be issued for your arrest. Every employer I've had pays full wages for jury duty so what do I care if I sit all day and read? I really do feel bad for self employed people, but the 3 times I sat through jury selection each judge was very sympathetic and released those with hardships. In Milwaukee county

The trial I did end up as a juror on was very sad. A woman had been beat up badly with a hammer by a former boyfriend. She had been renting a room from his relatives, and he lived in the same house also. It was in an inner city neighborhood where people don't "snitch", so there were no witnesses to back her up, or him. They found a hammer in the upper flat (the incedent occurred in the lower), but could not definitely say it was the exact weapon. Yet the prosecutor kept waving it around as if it was. Didn't fool a single juror. He really didn't have a strong case. On the flip side the defense attorney had nothing to show his client was innocent. Didn't call his client to the stand or present any counter information.

The judge told us to use the law, common sense, and our life experience in making a decision. It was tough. We deliberated the better part of a day. Some of us said we couldn't convict based on lack of evidence, some of thought he was guilty. Everyone made really good points, it got a little heated at times but not bad. Ultimately we found him guilty because she was far more credible than he was and the defense presented nothing that would have helped us exonerate his client.

All in all a very interesting experience. Slow moving but interesting.

One time I got called to children's court. That's one I really didn't want to go to. Just before lunch they came out and said the two parties settled out of court.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Sincere thanks to those who shared and stayed on topic!

 

Mary Bedy

6 Years Ago

I'm feeling a bit picked on because several of you have said you can only be summoned every three years or so. It's one year in Michigan. Hmmmm..

Maybe they will leave me alone now. Five years from now I can opt out - at 72 you can refuse in Michigan with no penalty.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

Another example, Mary, of how it varies from state to state. AZ is once every 3 years....for the county....but then there's the state and federal, so I don't think once every 3 means much....
good comment, though..lemme do some research.

So, this is interesting...I checked out Maricopa county ( phoenix) and here's their rules:
If you appeared for jury service but were not chosen for a trial, you are exempt from serving for 18 months from the date of service.

If you served on a jury panel for a trial or were part of a jury selection that took longer than two days, you are exempt from serving for two years from the last day of service.

If you served on a grand jury panel (state or county) and appeared for more than two sessions, you are exempt from serving for four years from the last day of service. This does not apply to alternate grand jurors.

Seems as though it is not a state, but a county issue...

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

whoa, i just got a check for mileage from the county.

 

Mary Bedy

6 Years Ago

Well, yeah, Marlene, they have to pay you mileage. At least in most places. But they don't pay you much....

 

Chuck Staley

6 Years Ago

Marlene: "It would have been fun to sink my teeth into a medical malpractice 7 day trial."

I was asked by the attorney how I felt about hospitals when chosen for jury duty.

I told them that my daughter took her 1 year old to the doctor to see what was the matter, and the hospital staff called child support after deciding my daughter was on drugs.

They took my granddaughter away and stuck her in a child care center, where I could only see her for only 30 minutes once a week.

So... how do I feel about hospitals? My answer got me a quick release from jury duty.

It took months to get my granddaughter back, but finally she was put in my custody for 2 years until my daughter was "clean."

My granddaughter called me Mommy. So sad.

But more than a dozen years later, we all live together and life is good.

I never thought of being an artist, but I feel it was a gift for raising a baby alone.



 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

a silver lining story, Chuck.

 

Whimsidaisical

6 Years Ago

I've been called about 6 times, but never had to serve on a jury. Most of the time I had an excuse, and the other times they had us call the night before to see if we were needed. We never were. We can be called in every 12 months for jury duty unless you get assigned to a trial, than you're excused for 3 years.

I wouldn't want to serve on a jury since I was an eye witness to an armed robbery of a convenience store, and couldn't come close to describing the robber/suspect. If, after standing behind the person in line, and watching him take the money from the register while arguing with the clerk, I couldn't describe him, how could I trust other eye witnesses? I know that most of the reason for not remembering was because my daughter was very young at the time and walking around the store with a relative, and I was preoccupied with their safety and how to warn them not to come to the register. Because of that I don't think I could be fair, I would always have some doubt as to how accurate a witness is.

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

I was also held as a witness to a bank robbery. They wanted a description of the thief but I could provide nothing..I was in my car at the drive thru when he exited the bank and threw the dye pack on to my windshield....the car filled up with pepper spray in seconds!
You bring up such a good point..people are generally not aware of their surroundings.

 

Abbie Shores

6 Years Ago

I had to do a coroner's court if that counts?

 

David Bridburg

6 Years Ago

Yep more recent studies of eye witnesses show how fallible most are.

The studies are bringing into question large numbers of convictions.

Dave

 

Stacie Siemsen

6 Years Ago

I,too had a week of standby jury duty that was dismissed. That was my third jury dismissal!

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

What is that, Abbie?

 

Abbie Shores

6 Years Ago

I witnessed a car crash with fatalities. The crash was caused by two cars racing. They drove off and the people in the oncoming car to them were seriously injured with the Grandma dying in my (now deceased) husband's arms.

It was all pretty horrific

We had to give evidence at the inquest...

 

Marlene Burns

6 Years Ago

oh, geez....

 

Abbie Shores

6 Years Ago

So although not a trial by jury, it is still a court :)

 

Brian MacLean

6 Years Ago

Ruth you are correct. That is very common. Eye witness recollections and testimony is highly unreliable in times of crisis. Ask 5 witnesses and you will get 5 different stories and descriptions. It is normal, it is the adrenaline. Even for us first responders it is difficult and we are trained for it. In 2015 I got a call from a district attorney about an upcoming homicide trial that had accused in 2007, and she was talking to me like I should have remembered it like it was yesterday. I was like "My son was even born 8 years ago"

 

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