I cannot even imagine. I honestly do not think I could handle that and I imagine you will never get those horrible images out of your mind.
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A friend of D is a therapist for sex offenders who are incarcerated. She also is the one who has to review all the materials the police collect from those charged. She says she can handle most sexual materials, even child sexual abuseâitâs the torture and mutilation photos/videos that she has trouble with. She was asked to review the computer files and writings of particular felon (already convicted but seeking parole). She said it was the most disturbing stuff she has ever seen in her life. Her recommendationâthis guy should never, ever, ever be released from prison for any reason.
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Iâve received a summons multiple times, but Iâve only served on two juries. Both were civil medical malpractice cases, each lasting about three weeks. The experience was interesting, but I also found the whole process to be highly inefficient. So much time spent waiting around!
I should add that for the first trial, I had to pay back to my employer the $10 per day jury stipend. By the second trial, someone had figured out that it wasnât worth making us turn back in that pittance.
In 1978, I was on a jury in NYC for a sexual assault case. The woman who was assaulted was a a totally normal woman who was in her apartment buildingâs laundry room when a guy came in and demanded fellatio. He had been let into the building because he was a floristâs delivery guy and he made a delivery â then wandered the building. Her testimony was great. At one point, the defense attorney said, âSo thatâs when you decided he must be guilty?â And she responded, âNo, thatâs when I recognized him as the person who assaulted me.â It was pretty clear he was guilty.
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I was on a Grand Jury this summer. I know it wasnât a trial jury, but I still feel like I got a huge insight into how the criminal justice system works.
It was sooooo boring, except for maybe 10 interesting minutes per session. The 10 minutes made it worth it. In all but one case, we were all pretty much on the same page with indictments. Makes you realize that the cases that actually make it to trial usually have a lot of strong evidence to pursue prosecution, at least the cases I was presented with.
In one case, a witness gave grim and upsetting testimony. It was very difficult to see the person upset and sobbing. We also had to look at graphic photos. That was hard.
After we voted to indict in one interesting case that is very much indicative of the current time we live in, the DA told us all that the person had prior convictions for much more serious crimes. I was really glad we had indicted after hearing that.
The biggest frustration was when a witness wouldnât appear. I know almost nothing about that case, except that the alleged criminal had to be released after that. I canât imagine the fear the witness must have been experiencing. I still wonder if they understand that the alleged perpetrator is walking free for now. Apparently, they have 6 months or so to secure an indictment, so maybe that will happen.
A few years ago I was called for jury duty in different jurisdictions three times in a six month period. I am the guy who defense attorneys dismiss first, so I did not have to sit on any of the juries. One of the trials was for murder, and around 40 potential jurors where brought in to be interviewed by the attorneys, 12 at a time with the remainder watching from a waiting room. One prospective juror in the first 12 answered a question a certain way and was immediately dismissed. The next three prospects answered the question the exact same way and were dismissed before the judge got wise and directed the attorney to ask different questions.
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For years, my brother worked undercover as a 14-year-old on the Internet catching pedophiles. The stories would curl your hair. One of my summons was for was a child abuse case. The defense did not want me.
My brother also worked undercover narcotics for many years. So many court cases seem to involve drugs. The prosecutors always want me, the defense doesnât.
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And the mystery of where Choatieâs momâs son gets his drive for public service is finally solved!
Thank your brother. If it werenât for the brave people who worked these awful cases, tens of thousands of kids would be lost into the âsystemâ of child exploitationâŠ.
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No, he doesnât know my brother well (lives across the country from us). Weâre still scratching our heads over that one. I blame Boy Scouts, testosterone, and too much Call of Duty.
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I know plenty of former Boy Scouts and Call of Duty experts (the testosterone goes without saying) and believe me- they canât hold a candle to your kid (or outrun him, or do as many pushups or whatever. Including the gym rats whose main occupation appears to be hawking protein drinks on Tik Tok).
My mom was called for jury duty but was excused when it was discovered thatI had been the DAâs babysitterâŠ.
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I got called for jury duty many, many years ago first in our county, was excused and then within a few months was called for federal jury duty. That was interesting. These were mostly federal drug crime cases. The voir dire was done in groups and first they would ask âdoes anybody here have family members in government or military serviceâ and up would go my hand. Then they would ask âdoes anybody here work in healthcare, mental health or in drug or alcohol, abuse, etc.â and up would go my hand. Then one of the attorneys down front turned around and yelled âhi Dr XXXXX- so good to see youâ to me, as we had worked together on a case. Needless to say I was excused 
I have testified in several cases as an expert witness and that was interesting but I guess thatâs a separate conversation.
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Itâs a separate case for sure- but fascinating. On my medical malpractice case I saw the expert witnesses up close for the first time. I have friends and acquaintancesâ retired docs- who do expert witness work and it always sounded like such a boondoggle. Show up in court, have someone read your CV to the jury, answer a few questions, answer a few more. Step down and cash your paycheck.
Boy was I wrong. Each of the docs in this case had essentially done their own differential diagnosis, gone through twenty years worth of medical records, evaluated every prescription that was prescribed gone over every MRI and Xray. Then mapped out the course of the plaintiffâs disease against various models of what could have/should have happened. Summarized the findings and compared what the patient experienced to what is currently considered the standard of care.
And then answered zillions of questions from the other side. It was like treating a problematic and non-compliant patient for many yearsâŠ. except the patient was suing a colleague for NOT curing them when they DIDNâT follow the prescribed protocol.
Tough work for sure.
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Yes, med mal cases are certainly challenging. In my case, I was usually testifying on behalf of a patient I had evaluated. I would have to justify all the information in my reports, etc. I canât go into much more detail, but there are very interesting situations. I have also been hired as a consultant to review other data and also in Med mal and product liability cases but thatâs beyond the scope of this conversation. Itâs all very interesting
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One case, many many years ago, I had to go into the state prison to evaluate an individual who was on death row to see if he could stand trial. I canât go into great detail, but I had to drive up to a remote part of the state to testify, and they had some high-powered attorneys from the Northeast because of the nature of the case. It was like testifying in âmy cousin Vinnyâ
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We jurors enjoyed chatting about our jobs and families in the jury room after the technical testimony of how files are stored and shared. On the third day, we saw the photos. Many of the children were preschoolers. There were tears, lots of tears. I have enormous respect for the professionals who hunt these perpetrators down.
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Iâve been a registered voter for 45 years and never called once.
My dadâs church feels that you shouldnât vote - itâs connected to âthe world.â He finally decided to register when an item appeared on the Austin ballot he was very opposed to. Ironically, even though his address shows âAustin,â itâs outside the city limits and he wasnât allowed to vote on it. Anyway, within a couple of months of registering, he was called up! Somehow, he got out of it. I would actually enjoy serving on a jury. Maybe it will happen some day.
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In our family of six, only my oldest daughter has been called for jury duty, twice! Most recently, two weeks ago (she is 26y/o). The first time it happened, she was in college across the country. I donât remember exact details but at the time, she told them she was registered to vote in CA. The woman she spoke to in MD told her there was reciprocity b/w the states when she registered there but somehow she wasnât struck from MD voter registration. Anyway, she got out of it.
Then two weeks ago, she got called here in MD again (she has lived in CA since she left for college in 2017). This time, they told her they got her from DMV records (our county uses voter registration and DMV records). Yet she has had a CA license for four years. Again, reciprocity b/w states. CA took her MD license at the time and that was supposed to nullify her MD license. So, not sure again where the discrepancy lay, but she got out of it again and shouldnât get called by MD again!
No one else in our family has ever been called. I think it could be interesting experience, depending in the case.
We have an automatic exemption (if you wish) after a certain age. Maybe 75?
We are also pretty lenient if you have vacations planned. As I mentioned upthread, we have several dates over a two month period to show up for. Once you get your two month window, you tell them which days you will be out of town.
But as I also said, sometimes it can be very late that the case is settled beforehand. This is a royal PITA if you are a teacher, like H was. We are always very short staffed for subs, and he liked to get them set up as early as possible. But then if he set one up the night before, and then it was settled and cancelled in the morning - heâd be stuck taking the day off anyway.
NYS no longer has an exemption for age. I was called in February, on a voir dire panel of an attempted murder case, but fell and broke my nose coming back from lunch so that was the end of that.
Many years ago (10?), I was an alternate on a civil malpractice case: newborn who developed cerebral palsy. But I was not needed so that was the end of that.
My daughter went once during college summer vacationâ; wnet one day, not called, dismissed.