Jury Duty

[Wayne Goodwin]

I got called for Jury Duty for May 20th .

Since i have so much trouble holding my water the Doctor sent me a paper to send to Clerk of Court to get me out of it .

What are your thoughts concerning Jury Duty ?

[Mickchick]

I don't like juries, period, but it's our justice system, and it's one of our civic duties. I've only been called to serve once and the judge excused me (over my objections, lol!) b/c it was a criminal trial and I was a prosecutor though I. A different office. I've never been called any of the other places I've lived.

[blithe spirit]

It's one of those things like voting...a civic duty....a jury of your peers and all. I have been selected to be on juries several times,never actually been seated though...I always go.

[Wayne Goodwin]

Back before i was hurt . I was called and picked . When in court room the lawyers were asking question to perspective jurors . It was a trial where someone worked for someone and didn't get paid . I had experienced that also . I spoke up and the lawyer excused me .

[P.A.]

Jury duty is a civic duty and responsibility. Just think about this way. If you were on trial would you want a jury of people who just had nothing else to do.

[Shadowman]

I served a couple of times many years back but in the end all the cases ended up being settled.  One was a case where a girl had been drinking all day and late in the day took some friends home. While backing up out of the driveway onto the highway a motorcycle ran into her killing (I don't remember) one or both people on the motorcycle. As always there are some details in these cases that make it difficult.  In this case the motorcycle had been going at least 100 mph according to the accident scene investigators. The prosecutors charged her with a heavy charge that essentially would have put her in prison for life.  That ended in a mistrial but reading the paper a year or so later I saw she settled for a lessor charge but still got a lot of years in prison.  Another one involved an older woman who shot her husband after decades of abuse. She did not do it during an incident but as he slept. I remember thinking that I would have plugged him a couple of decades earlier. She too settled later and got 10 years in prison, which I thought sad it being on top of a her life already being taken away. But I do not mind serving on the jury if it does not interfere with my exciting life.  :-)  They give you travel pay and pay you and maybe give you lunch.

[Lifesighs]

It's been several years back now but no one will choose me as a juror after the death penalty trial I served on. I was working at the time, it was over a period of 4 months, the first trial was to establish guilt the second trial was for the death penalty. Same jurors, I remember about 3 weeks between the trials. I'm not interested in doing it again.

[crestofwaves]

I go every three years.  I have been called onto a panel since 1974!  I was the foreman, and I remember saying "We find the defendent, Luis Ayallo, not guilty."  But we all knew he was guilty as sin of breaking and entering.  The prosecutor did not prove his case, however.

 

I used to love to go because I got to talk to people from all different walks of life.  Now, everyone is either on a lap top or a cell phone, so it's not so much fun anymore, but I would go again if called.

[crestofwaves]

As a teacher, I always asked for a deferment until the summer, and sho nuff, that's when they would call again.  Now, I'm thinking how stupid I was to give up my own time when I could have given up school time.  Stupid teacher!!!

[Karin M Fichtner]

I've been called to Federal Court in Alexandria, Va, in May.  This is the 4th time they've asked me to serve since I moved to VA.....in 2006.  Once was another Federal thing, and the other two were for Stafford County.  All three times I didn't have to go.  I don't think I'm going to get out of this one, however.  I don't know how I'll get there, since no trains stop here in Stafford, and they say they have very little parking in the courthouse area.  If I took a train, the station is about 5 blocks from the courthouse, and my back isn't going to want to walk that far.  We'll see what happens.  I will make every effort to go.  I have always wanted to be on a jury. 

[Lucinda Stone]

i sat on a federal jury for about 3 months back in 1996. fascinating case about a hazardous waste site. well, back in the day, the 1940's into early '70, companies just dumped anything anywhere. some of these chemicals later became 'hazardous waste' but of course at the they didn't know that crap would get in to water(or maybe they did but didn't care) anyhow, this was the civil case to determine who had to pay what portion of the clean-up costs... most of the companies were long out of business but we still had to have the successor company pay up.  really interesting to learn about all the manufacturing that went on back then, every now and then a 'witness' would be called, some little old guy who used to wheel the chemical filled barrels down to the river and just dump them in, can't blame him, just doing his job...we learned how a site is cleaned up and funny thing was, i took the train into boston every day for this trial and we passed right by another hazardous site that was being cleaned up...  have since been called a few times but never chosen....