| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| darwin |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 00:15:02
I got called into jury duty today. I ended being dismissed because I take care of my son for 3 or 4 hours each day and we don't really have anyone to take my place without my wife missing work. I actually felt terrible being dismissed because I've never done jury duty and I do feel like its a duty that citizens should fulfill and the little that I saw seemed really interesting (it was nothing like the movies or TV). Up until the moment the judge asked me if I had a hardship that would prevent me from serving I didn't know if I would beg out or not. I kind of wish I hadn't.
Have others served on a jury? Was it interesting or boring? |
| 35 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| coastline |
Posted - 05/04/2017 : 07:31:28
quote:
Originally posted by Erebus
Guess I'm gonna be a contrarian here, but heh, why stop now, right?
I've been called three times, serving on two juries. Once was a medical malpractice case in which a surgeon apparently left a surgical towel, or "sponge", in a guy’s chest cavity. About a week into the trial another of the jurors told me in private that her son had been mistreated by a hospital following his motorcycle accident and that she was looking at her jury duty as an opportunity to "get some justice". Of course I knew this was improper. I went home that night stewing over what to do and then the next morning wrote a note reporting the matter to “Bailiff Wendy”. A couple hours later I got a call directly from the judge, and after my explanation he called me and the two sides’ counsels into his chambers. Upshot was that given a shortage of replacement jurors, a mistrial was declared.
The second trial I was on was a child molestation case in which another juror and I thought that the case against him had not been demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt, so we held out against the other ten jurors and eventually produced a hung jury, and therefore another mistrial. During this trial I encountered jurors saying things such as “well, I don’t know whether he’s guilty or not, but I’d feel terrible if he were and we acquitted him, so I’m voting guilty.” No conception of responsibility to find beyond reasonable doubt!
Both of these experiences were appalling, leaving me with even greater contempt for my fellow citizens. Jury of my peers, my ass! If I’m ever tried for anything I’ll do everything I can to get a trial by judge. So, far from feeling a “duty” to serve on a jury, I think only those with IQs above that of a walnut should be allowed to serve. You cannot possibly overestimate the ethical obtuseness of the common man.
[edit: fixed four irritating typos]
God, I miss erebus. I was reminded of him recently when I listened to the podcast S-Town. The guy that the podcast is based on has so much in common with erebus, including his strangely hopeful brand of cynicism.
__________________________________________________
If all you see is violins, then I make a plea in their defense. |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 11:53:40
Haha, what's the case exactly? I haven't seen that program since my Oz days.
I joined the secret forum, and all I got was this lousy secret
|
| kathryn |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 10:06:01
Homers, my friend just told me that her lame-o
brother has agreed to take before Judge Judy
his case against his roommate. Should be
a fun half-hour of TV viewing.
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 07:12:42
Haha yeah, the 'Well Hung Dury'.
I joined the secret forum, and all I got was this lousy secret
|
| Carl |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 07:11:20
Y'know, it's funny, a porn-a-like movie title came into my head earlier on;'Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter Gives Head'! :O :) |
| fumanbru |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 07:09:15
i guess that is kind of funny. thinking of what you two would be doing in the courtroom....i wonder if porn directors have explored court room themes. you could really do lots with the hung jury.
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ cause I'm a real go-getter!" |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/30/2005 : 04:32:21
Am I ever not?
I joined the secret forum, and all I got was this lousy secret
|
| floop |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 12:04:22
yes, please say you're joking. seriously |
| kathryn |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 11:42:55
Pls. say you're joking, Monkey man!
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 11:15:01
I'd sure love to be 'summoned to her court'.
I joined the secret forum, and all I got was this lousy secret
|
| Carl |
Posted - 04/29/2005 : 06:22:04
Anyone ever get summoned to her court? |
| VoVat |
Posted - 04/28/2005 : 17:43:27
I've never been summoned for jury duty. I'm afraid I will be at some point when I have something else planned.
I was all out of luck, like a duck that died. I was all out of juice, like a moose denied. |
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 19:39:23
Yeh, never been on a jury. Interesting hearing all your stories.
Covered a lot of cases ranging from arson, to child molest, to murder.
I do disagree that child molest cases never have no evidence. In the case of girls, if there is penetration, it can be detected in most instances.
One case I covered a meth head dad... was in court for sticking his finger into his four month old daughter, which ripped her badly. Dad, said "It was an accident I was just tossing her up and my hand slipped in her diaper... yada yada yada." Luckily he did crack-- this was a prelimary hearing-- the judge was asking him questions. He finally admitted he purpously did this to his daughter because he was mad his wife had gone out to party.
The other, a very sad case-- three teens a brother, and two fraternal girl twins were molested on an on going basis by their prominant dad. There were even people who knew the van was a rocking at a hs basketball game. The dad was basically "raping" one of his daughters. So many people knew about it but were afraid to do something. Once one of the daughters became 18 she filed charges against the dad. At first her brother and sister were on her side. But when the dad bribed the kids with money, they turned on her sister. It was a very brave fight, but she ended up killing her self. I had known her from a friend of a friend and she was super cool. So sadly, this is one of those cases where there wasn't enough evidence. |
| fumanbru |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 19:16:23
quote:
Originally posted by floop
quote:
Originally posted by fumanbru
[ it ended up being a hung jury.
but was it a hung jury?
i didn't want to post that, but did anyway. i am channeling VoVat
i like that. now i can say i'm a hung juror. thanks vovat.
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ and I got a free t-shirt with this dude on it." |
| fumanbru |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 19:11:44
quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
You are saying you were not asked any hockey-related
questions, FuManbru?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics
no hockey questions! shame on our legal system.
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ and I got a free t-shirt with this dude on it." |
| floop |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 17:49:27
quote:
Originally posted by fumanbru
[ it ended up being a hung jury.
but was it a hung jury?
i didn't want to post that, but did anyway. i am channeling VoVat |
| kathryn |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 17:22:46
You are saying you were not asked any hockey-related
questions, FuManbru?
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| fumanbru |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 17:12:29
quote:
Originally posted by darwin
What kind of questions do they usually ask?
at my case the potential jurors weren't asked any questions. it was very interesting. there was a room of about 200 potential jurors and they were choosing for 5 cases. for my case i was the 19th person called up. then they would ask you to stand and each lawyer would look at you and say "yae" or "nae". no shit. no questions. completely based on looks. i was very surprised. not like i had seen on la law.
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ and I got a free t-shirt with this dude on it." |
| fumanbru |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 17:03:44
i was on jury duty. manslaughter case. i was pretty excited at the time to get chosen cause i knew work would pay my wages while i was away fulfilling my civic duty. it ended up being a joke. felt kind of bad for the accused knowing that his life was in the hands of a jury.
at one point we had 11 non guilty and 1 guilty. the next day it changed to 11 guilty, one non guilty. it ended up being a hung jury. many of the jurors just wanted to go home and could be very easily convinced to vote one way or the other.
the case itself was entertaining. the accused was attending a two day drinking/drug binge with friends and family on an indian reserve. the rcmp thought the deceased died of a drug overdose but the autopsy showed that he was probably kicked to death. not a lot of evidence because all the witnesses knew each other so they didn't want to incriminate their friend. all in all a very interesting experience!
"I joined the Cult of Frank/ and I got a free t-shirt with this dude on it." |
| Carl |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 11:13:48
quote:
Originally posted by kathryn
I've attended something like 10 trials start to finish, plus
I've tracked dozens of cases which (and this was my
last point) fell apart when inevitably the accusers
couldn't cope with the process.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics
WOW. |
| darwin |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 11:13:29
Erebus - I agree with COF maybe the system often works because of conscientious people like you. Maybe not, but I still respect your efforts to keep the process as impartial and rational as possible
BLT - I would think being an alternate is the worse possible situation. All of the work; none of the responsibility.
I was the second potential juror called. They called 18 out of the about 50 people there to sit in the box. They first went through the hardships, which is where I was dismissed, and were next going to do questions from the judge and then lawyers. What kind of questions do they usually ask? I was thinking I might get thrown off because I'm an egghead PhD, but I didn't stick around to see. I would also probably require a pretty high level of proof before I would convict anyone. |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 11:01:02
I imagine that would be rough.
"Joined the Cult of Frank / And you'll be enlightened" |
| kathryn |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 10:59:54
I've attended something like 10 trials start to finish, plus
I've tracked dozens of cases which (and this was my
last point) fell apart when inevitably the accusers
couldn't cope with the process.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 10:54:09
Were you present in the courtroom when the testimony/evidence was presented?
"Joined the Cult of Frank / And you'll be enlightened" |
| kathryn |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 10:36:54
Homers, you're still poignant.
KSR, you're my hero for many reasons.
What people tend to forget or not realize is that it's very
rare for a child molestation case to even make it
that far up the ladder, to actually end up before a judge
and jury. I have never followed such a trial without
being convinced of the total guilt of the accused.
I still believe in the excellent joy of the Catholics |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 10:22:48
I still wanna get asked.
I joined the secret forum, and all I got was this lousy secret
|
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:52:58
Thank you.
I apologize for telling you to eat shit and for being overly emotional about this, but i was there.
Ok, tea and crumpets, anyone? |
| PixieSteve |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:47:37
1 - no
2 - no
i'm not gonna post here again.
 Oh let it linger |
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:45:22
You still aren't answering my questions. |
| PixieSteve |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:38:58
i appologise for calling you an idiot. i am pretty fucked off you told me to eat shit but would feel a hypocrite if i asked you to apologise first. i don't wish to argue with someone who is so emotionally caught up in such a case.
Oh let it linger |
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:38:29
You aren't answering my questions. |
| PixieSteve |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:35:03
was your case an exception to the no evidence rule then?
Oh let it linger |
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:34:08
steve, now I have two questions for you:
1. Have you ever served on a jury?
2. Are you a parent?
I was good for the job as was every person on the jury because they are taxpaying, voting citizens and capable of making rational decisions. This is not a fascist state. People from all backgrounds, income levels, education and yes - intelligence levels - are fit to sit on a jury in this country.
There are those that would change this...to have a select segment of the population sit on the jury or do away with the jury altogether.
Do the math on that one.
Fast forward that a few decades or so.
BLT, he walked.
They'll retry him on the one charge but the prosecution told me that they felt that it was highly unlikely they could get the girl into court again as the first time was extremely traumatic.
He quite likely committed what i beleive to be one of the top three most socially damaging crimes and he walked. |
| TRANSMARINE |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:25:04
I guess there is no documented law in USA which states in any texbook or annal that jury duty is mandatory. Now, I am just going off what a friend has said (he studied a little law and now works in the space division of Boeing...heh), but apparently it's true. He has been ignoring his summons for years, and has gotten away with it ever since he responded to a city inquiry of his absences which said he would be cited with charges for not showing. He asked them to prove to him where he is, by law, obliged to fulfill this duty. His request was ignored, and thats the end of the story.
Catchin' blue in his eyes that were brown
-bRIAN |
| BLT |
Posted - 04/27/2005 : 09:21:21
I wouldn't call a mistrial "walking." It's not like double jeopardy is going to get in the way of re-trying him.
And if you feel that strongly about it, why don't you get a gang of vigilante parents together and take him out? |
