<p>I have served on three juries over the past 15 years. One was a civil trial, in which a settlement was reached, one was a criminal trial, in which we found the defendant guilty,and one ended today with a hung jury and a mistrial. In every situation, I found the experience to be fascinating, and I found the juror’s attempts to be fair inspiring. There was drama, education, and even comedy just about every day.Would those who have served like to share some of their experiences?</p>
<p>Way back in the day, when D was an infant, I received a notice for jury duty. At that time, in CT, there was a box on the form to check if you had small children at home you needed to care for. I checked the box and then never heard a word about jury duty again until D was a senior in HS (& S was a freshman.) I ended up serving on a civil trial that lasted 1 1/2 days – a settlement was reached. Interesting experience, but I was glad it was so short. </p>
<p>Just the other day I was scheduled for jury duty again, but when I checked online the night before, I received the message that I didn’t need to show up. So, now I’m off the hook for another year. I’m OK with serving on short trials, but wouldn’t really care to get pulled into a long one.</p>
<p>I served many years ago. The jury pool served for a month and I ended up in three different trials. The part that amazed me was that some of the same people showed up as witnesses in more than one, and there was no connection other than they all drank a lot and tended to end up in the same part of the city.</p>
<p>We had drama. An elderly lady was on the jury with a bunch of us young people. She thought we needed more time to think about things and we were sure we’d heard enough and thought plenty. Now that I’m older I wonder what I would think.</p>
<p>My favorite funny part- We heard all the arguments for a murder trial. We went into the jury room and just sat and looked at each other. No one said a word. Finally I said “Am I the only one that noticed that the victim’s name sounds just like Howdy Doodie?” The tension broke and everyone admitted they that thought the same thing and we were all glad to see the actual spelling on our juror’s instructions.</p>
<p>CBB…I had the opposite experience (and I think our daughter’s are close in age…mine is 21). I received a jury summons when DD was 4 months old…DS was 3. I checked the box and it did no good at all. I was selected for a boundary dispute civil trial.</p>
<p>To be honest, it was a headache to arrange child care AND deal with my day job. BUT the experience was terrific and very interesting.</p>
<p>I’ve been called several times but never able to serve. I would love to! Twice my panel was dismissed before the trial, twice I had nursing infants, once we had just moved out of the jurisdiction and once I went and there were too many people and most of us were dismissed. My college kids have each been called up once but were out of state at college and permitted to decline. My husband has been called up just twice and served once as an alternate on a murder trial.</p>
<p>I served years ago on a one day trial of a woman accused of stealing from a supermarket. Her defense was pretty bogus (thus our quick “guilty” verdict), but the overall experience was very good. Both the judge and the woman who worked with the jury (I don’t remember what her title was) took time to explain the process to us and thanked us for serving. My fellow jury members were a very diverse group of people who were all serious about the process and I enjoyed meeting them.</p>
<p>I hear so many people dread this, but I am glad that I had an opportunity to serve. I recently received a jury question form so another opportunity to serve may be coming soon.</p>
<p>I’ve been called once…around 13-14 years ago, and it was fascinating and I would like to do it again. It was murder trial - but for some reason, the murder had occurred at least 15 years before the trial. The jury was in the dark about why that was the case - it was clear to us that there had been another trial, because it was referred to from time to time during the 5 days we heard testimony.</p>
<p>I thought for certain I wouldn’t be chosen as I am closely related to a police officer in the county where the murder occurred, and police testimony was central in the case. I was asked whether I could be objective, and I said yes, I thought I could. So, they chose me anyway. (I had heard that being related to a police officer was a sure fire way NOT to be chosen…clearly NOT TRUE) I was also asked if I had seen any articles about the murder, which I hadn’t because I was youngish when it occurred, probably in college without access to my local paper. I was also asked if I had seen the television program that it had apparently been on (America’s Most Wanted…I can’t remember). Living under a rock in those days, little access to TV, I had not seen it.</p>
<p>So, the perp was up for first degree murder. There was not a shred of physical evidence - only circumstantial. Lots of circumstantial evidence given by the family of the perp (father on trial for murdering mother), and strong motive, long background of spousal abuse admitted as evidence. No murder weapon…nothing.</p>
<p>The jury bonded over daily lunches…what was quite peculiar was the most of the jury knew one or two members in mysterious ways - and we live in a large metropolitan area. Many of us were connected - long time next door neighbors, co-workers in the same division at large local employer, teacher/student relationships, high school acquaintances, spouses knowing one another through work, spouses knowing one another through school, one of the jurors knew my parents, one knew my tentants well. This is a randomly selected group, mind you. Very, very weird.</p>
<p>So, at the end of the week, we met to carefully review and consider the evidence. We were instructed by the judge very clearly that circumstantial evidence bears the same weight as direct evidence. Therefore, we convicted him of 1st degree murder.</p>
<p>The judge came in and thanked us when we were finished…he said this was an appeal, the guy had been convicted of 1st degree murder many years before, but some of the evidence had been thrown out for this case. Obviously, we arrived at the same conclusion.</p>
<p>What was really, really weird was that while the case was pending this re-trial, this first degree murderer was free on bail, remarried, and used up all the insurance money. Whichever judge heard the request for a retrial, or whatever, threw out the first trial and allowed this guy out on bail. (which the original judge said he would have never let happen…the original judge on the first trial was the judge for the trial I heard) The judge went so far as to say that the insurance money ‘went up the guy’s nose’ and that he was a scumbag and we did the right thing.</p>
<p>Any of you legal eagles with any insight here…speak up. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that people convicted of 1st degree murder get out on bail pending the next trial that occurs 15 years later?</p>
<p>My first job out of college was for a legal publishing company, and they drummed the idea into us that jury duty was IMPORTANT, and that we should consider it a privilege to live in a society where we have such a system. That said, I really like our county’s approach to jury duty. It is possibly a 2 week committment, but they choose all the juries needed on the very first day of the two weeks. So you know that day whether you are on one or not; no hanging around the courthouse or waiting for a call. In my case, they did not need me. I was actually kind of lookng forward to it…</p>
<p>I served on a murder trial jury last year…fascinating experience. As I sat through voir dire, it was difficult to imagine deliberating with some of the people initially in the jury box, and there was no way of telling who would be dismissed ultimately. When it finally shook out, it was an excellent group, and no one was left who made me uncomfortable. While we did find the defendant guilty of some lesser offenses, we did not adjudicate him guilty of the murder. He had been tried as an adult for something that happened when he was 15, mainly because of the murder charge. We were stunned when we read about his sentence (three months later), EIGHT years for snatching a cell phone on a dare (conspiracy). If we had known the sentence would be that long, we might not have found him guilty of that. These mandatory sentencing guidelines are irrational.</p>
<p>I was never called to serve when I lived in New York State, but have been called a few times since I moved to PA (here now over two decades). For some reason, my H, with the same driving and voting history, has **never **been summoned. Weird. I tell him he must be on some list of those to avoid. 
(His name is also on a “check him out before allowing him on a plane” list but he simply shares a name with whatever real character they are concerned about. They always clear him, but he always has to go through a process and can’t do the online boarding pass.)</p>
<p>Anyhow, I found my first experience fascinating. I was seated on a jury for a trial my first try! It was a DWI trial of a young woman (in her twenties) who had a history of alcohol use and driving, and this one would severely impact her life, with a jail sentence likely because of her history of previous such offenses. Her parents were in the courtroom each day, and she came from a large family, and I could only imagine what financial compromises the parents might have made to pay for her defense, as she had a private defense attorney. I wondered how I would handle such a challenge if I were ever faced with it.</p>
<p>Much of the testimony had to do with the scientific validity of the blood alcohol testing, and of course we also heard from the arresting officer, saw the defendant’s signature from the scene compared to her regular signature, etc.</p>
<p>The other jurors on the panel were a fascinating group IMO. One guy did serious competitive ballroom dancing (with costumes) with his wife as a hobby. Another owned a hot air balloon business. One was a physician. I enjoyed getting to know each one of them.</p>
<p>The whole thing took a week. The court assistants brought us lunch platters when we were deliberating. We did convict her, and both the judge and the district attorney came to the jury room afterwards to answer any questions we had about the process. I was curious about why we had been instructed that we could not take notes. (I like to make notes as I do not totally trust my memory.) The judge said that is his policy, but it differs by courtroom. The idea is they want you focusing on the testimony rather than writing anything down. </p>
<p>I felt REALLY good about serving and the process. The case was also a huge lesson in serious consequences, which I was sure to share with my kids and anyone else who would listen to me. That young, college-educated, professionally employed woman’s life would now be forever impacted by this.</p>
<p>My next time around I was called but not chosen to serve (possibly in part because I now have a history of having convicted someone).</p>
<p>I found them to be pretty fair but I was irked when a juror told me later on that so and so did not want to vote “not guilty” because she did not like the defense attorney. She thought he was arrogant. But during the whole jury deliberation she mentioned something else, she let us to believe that in her heart, she found what the defendent did was wrong. What a fake!</p>
<p>I’ve got jury duty in two weeks. The last two times i was there (which seems to occur regularly), I was in voir dire for murder trials. I do not want to be on a murder trial . The first time, they never picked my name from the panel before completing the jury, so I was sent home. The second time, I delineated the crimes against my family in answer to the standard questions, and I was sent home. (In a bizarre coincidence, my s was assaulted in a town near ours the night before I was at JD.)</p>
<p>This upcoming time, I will list the same crimes. I doubt I’ll be put on a jury, though you never know. I don’t object to being on one per se, but it’s a hard time of year, what with the students I counsel being in the middle of finals by then, and the unreliability of my county’s judicial system. I’d just as soon not serve, especially for murder, given our realities.</p>
<p>I’ve served on one jury–a DUI in Massachusetts. The trial itself was tedious, but when we were finally allowed to debate, one woman spoke up:</p>
<p>“Would someone explain this to me?” she said, with a strong Russian accent, “it’s really up to us to decide if he’s guilty or not? I just became a citizen 6 weeks ago, I never really believed that part.”</p>
<p>At that, the rest of us sat up a little straighter and took our jobs a little more seriously. There were two charges, and we found him guilty on one, and not one the other.</p>
<p>I’ve served on both a criminal trial for 2nd degree murder, and also on a grand jury. The trial was a terrible experience. All of you who had good experiences on juries should count your blessings. We had to vote on 16 separate counts. We were unanimous on 15 of the 16 counts, including the count for the 2nd degree murder. There were 3 of us who felt the defendant was innocent of the 16th count. Oh, wow. The arguments were horrible. I heard things like “he’s guilty of everything else, so he must be guilty of this.” My favorite was “oh, you know how these people are - if he’s not guilty this time, he’ll be guilty next time.” But the 3 of us, who interestingly were the two most educated, and the one least educated, held out. One of the jurors even mentioned that he knew where I had parked, and I should watch it. I was getting real close to calling the officer in charge of the jury and complaining.</p>
<p>Have any of you served on a grand jury? That’s an experience. 2 days a week for 6 weeks. But it was truly fasincating. We heard many, many cases and returned indictments in most (but not all). In one instance, the prosecuters brought in a witness. I’d never heard of this before. But apparently she had refused to talk to the police, who thought she was a key witness. So they put her before the grand jury. The way it works then is that she is sworn in, and we jurors got to ask all the questions we wanted. The jurors had zero sympathy for her. Frankly, I’m shocked that no TV show has ever had a grand jury shown, because that was the most interesting experience I’ve had in a long time.</p>
<p>I served on one trial. Defendant accused of passing bad money in two counts. prosecutors had proved only one of the counts and did poor work prosecuting the second count. Then they put the witness on the stand and low and behold he implicated himself in the second count. Guilty on both! The only time the defendant woke up and sat up in his chair was when the secret service was explaining what was WRONG with the counterfeit money. That was valuable information to the defendant.</p>
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LOL. Might was well get an education if you have to stand trial!</p>
<p>I was served long ago when I had 3 toddlers at home and was a stay at home mom without childcare options. I was excused and not called until about two years ago.
I wanted an opportunity to serve because I think it’s our civic duty and I think it would be interesting.
In the jury room, they renumbered us and I drew 8. I thought - Cool! I will be picked to serve then they marched us into the court room. The police officer sitting at the prosecution table was my former neighbor. Needless to say, I was out.
It was a drug case, a mother in her 30’s for cocaine possession and intent to sell and she was found guilty.
I was called again a few weeks ago but my number was too high and they picked a jury before they got to me.</p>
<p>hayden - you were threatened by another juror? wow. just wow.</p>
<p>Both my parents served on a federal grand jury for many months. This was about 15 years ago when they had first retired. they went once or twice a week for a long time, over 6 months. Said it was fascinating. I thought, at the time, it was odd they were on the same grand jury but apparently no one had a problem with it.</p>
<p>JustAMomOf4, yeah, it was unfortunate. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in a case, and the only people you talk to are the others on the jury. Pesonally I think the man was just bluster, but one of the other jurors walked me to my car. </p>
<p>The biggest shock for me regarding the grand jury is that for rapes and molestation of minors, although the general public never hears the minors’ names, the grand jurors hear all the names, and even see the tapes of the molested children in order to judge the believability of the child’s testimony. (Of course it’s a big offense to ever release the names of the suspects or the witnesses.) It’s even more sad than you could ever imagine, when instead of hearing the facts of the case, you actually see the child on video, describing what was done to them. I never thought it could get any sadder than hearing the facts of child abuse, but making it so personal is so much worse than I ever imagined.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought it would be interesting to be on a jury, but haven’t been chosen. The first time I was rejected (presumably) for being an architect on a construction case. The second time I went in and filled out the 30+ page questionnaire for the Martha Stewart trial. I was just as glad not to be chosen for that, I’d have lost a lot of work time.</p>