Not Needed for Jury Duty

[Patch]

I was picked to perform my civic duty, and have to go in for possible jury duty tomorrow morning early.   

Due to parking, and the drive I will be leaving around 5am. Not looking forward to that. 

I have served before. Some stupid stuff, and others way to serious.

Last one was several years ago, which involved a murder for hire deal. It lasted 19 days, due to a foolish opinion by one of the jurists. It took a few days of deliberation for me to change his mind. 

[billchao]

Jury duty is a bit of a pain for me logistically. My work van doesn't fit in the parking deck at the courthouse so I have to arrange to use my SUV, which means my wife can't go out for the day.

Last year I got summoned for federal court, which was just calling the number every other night for two weeks to see if I needed to go in (I didn't). A couple of years ago I was summoned for municipal court and we were all dismissed by 1:30 or so.

[krupa]

My wife got on a list or something. In the last 11 years, she's been called multiple times (she's been dismissed each time) while I haven't been called once.  I'm not complaining, of course, but I wonder why her number keeps coming up.

[Club Rat]

While living in Summit County I was summoned and they had a website which everyone could lookup the status of the case which they were chosen to serve.
Luckily the case which I was picked did not go to court and duty my was canceled.

Although here in St Lou, I had to go to the court house, sit and wait, jurors were then taken to a court room and the process started.
This particular case the accused made a plea during the break and the case was drop. 

[Patch]

I used to like jury duty. I found how things worked in a real court room to be some what entertaining. The defendents, the witnesses, and even other jurors we're of some interests to me.

Not so much anymore. 

On the murder for hire, that was just crazy from the beginning. The defendent paid another guy to kill his ex girlfriends new boy friend. . Payment was a $100, and 20 year old van. The assassin kills the wrong guy. All the evidence was there for a speedy verdict.

Another juror went with he opinion that since the assassin killed the wrong guy, our defendent was not guilty because of the mistaken. Identity. He did not get what he paid for, so was not responsible.

15+ days in the jury room for us, for a 2 day trial. 

[krupa]

25 minutes ago, Patch said:

Another juror went with he opinion that since the assassin killed the wrong guy, our defendent was not guilty because of the mistaken. Identity. He did not get what he paid for, so was not responsible.

Wow. Funny too but just... wow.

27 minutes ago, Patch said:

15+ days in the jury room for us, for a 2 day trial.

WOW. 

The juror stuck to his/her guns that long!?

[boogielicious]

I've been selected 6 times. Only once did I even get into the court room, briefly, but never picked. I did help a college student with their chemistry homework for a test though, so it all wasn't a waste.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Patch said:

Another juror went with he opinion that since the assassin killed the wrong guy, our defendent was not guilty because of the mistaken. Identity. He did not get what he paid for, so was not responsible.

32 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

I've been selected 6 times. Only once did I even get into the court room, briefly, but never picked. I did help a college student with their chemistry homework for a test though, so it all wasn't a waste.

Thats quite productive. All I ever manage to do is kill my phone battery watching golf videos.

[Patch]

39 minutes ago, krupa said:

Wow. Funny too but just... wow.

WOW. 

The juror stuck to his/her guns that long!?

Yeah he did, and he was an educated person. i finally made a speech in front of the the other jurors to no one specific. One of few times in my life I was actually pissed off about something. Next morning he voted with the rest of us. 

[BaconNEggs]

I've had it twice. The first time, about ten years ago, I was put onto a jury with about 15 other people, and then a few of us were culled by the defense.

The other time was last year. It involved a drunk driving death (and fleeing scene), and the majority of witnesses were police officers and other first responders. The judge asked each juror if they had any bias for or against law enforcement and I told them that I am hesitant to take the word of police without corroborating evidence-- not that I don't inherently believe the police are lying, but that there is a strong history of them doing so to protect each other (the "blue wall of silence"). I don't think it was actually relevant to this case, but I was just answering his question truthfully. I was dismissed. They said the case was going to last up to 2-3 weeks, which boggled my mind, since it seemed pretty open and shut (a drunk driver got in an accident on the highway, killing his passenger-- he then fled the scene).

[David in FL]

There’s an old saying...

Given the option, never opt for a trial by jury.  You don’t want your future determined by 12 people, none of whom are smart enough to get out of jury duty!   😁

[Patch]

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

There’s an old saying...

Given the option, never opt for a trial by jury.  You don’t want your future determined by 12 people, none of whom are smart enough to get out of jury duty!   😁

Well I made my pre-reporting call earlier, and was told I was not needed. Didn't even have to beg either. At $80 bucks a day, I was probably too expensive if I had been chosen. 

[upndown21]

I have never been summoned but my wife recently did a high profile trial. It was amazing to me the "peers" that are selected. One juror could not read or write., two expected evidence like it was CSI, and one could not name the defendant during deliberation after a week long trial.

Luckily my wife is a type A and with the help of another juror they swung the jurors to put a child molestor (former cop) in prison for 38 years..... if he lasts that long.

With that said, the fact that you only get $30/day is crazy and if not for this eye opening experience I would do everything in my power to get out of the process when summoned.

[iacas]

18 minutes ago, upndown21 said:

With that said, the fact that you only get $30/day is crazy and if not for this eye opening experience I would do everything in my power to get out of the process when summoned.

I'm not sure it's even $30/day here.

And my wife had to sign the check over to the school district (to be fair, they don't even charge her vacation or sick days for the missed work).

She was on the jury for a recent murder/drug trial.

[nevets88]

I got summoned for a case involving one of the terrorists involved with 9/11, the questionnaire to be filled was like applying for university. I made it clear I was biased as I worked in WTC 1 (left before 9/11), figured that would make me impartial. I'm glad I didn't get picked, the case wasn't drawn out but not short. The stipend just barely covered lunch.

[Patch]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

I'm not sure it's even $30/day here.

And my wife had to sign the check over to the school district (to be fair, they don't even charge her vacation or sick days for the missed work).

She was on the jury for a recent murder/drug trial.

Here at the county ch, it's $40 a day,  plus $0.38756 per mile. My rt mileage would have been 125 miles. This all starts on the 2nd day, but will also include the 1st. A 2, or 3 day trial, would pay for 4-6 rounds of twilight golf. A 10 date trial would be two tanks of fuel for the RV, which means "Road Trip"..…

[Groucho Valentine]

On May 23, 2018 at 12:50 PM, Patch said:

I used to like jury duty. I found how things worked in a real court room to be some what entertaining. The defendents, the witnesses, and even other jurors we're of some interests to me.

Not so much anymore. 

On the murder for hire, that was just crazy from the beginning. The defendent paid another guy to kill his ex girlfriends new boy friend. . Payment was a $100, and 20 year old van. The assassin kills the wrong guy. All the evidence was there for a speedy verdict.

Another juror went with he opinion that since the assassin killed the wrong guy, our defendent was not guilty because of the mistaken. Identity. He did not get what he paid for, so was not responsible.

15+ days in the jury room for us, for a 2 day trial. 

Eek...Thats seems like more of a judicial error. The judge is supposed to be instructing jurists on matters of the law and that should have never happened. It reads as if you had conspiracy and If that was a federal case, section 1117 of title 18 renders the victim identity irrelevant. 

[JxQx]

I had jury duty about a year ago for a murder trial, I was an alternate juror so I didn't actual have to come to a verdict. It wasn't a very pleasant experience. Definitely changed my views on our court system.