Have you ever been called for Jury Duty?

Bretrick

Bretrick

Well-known Member
Location
Perth Western Australia
I was called about 25 years ago. The case was one where someone crashed into a car parked on the side of a country road and cause major injuries to the owner of the parked car.
The person who hit him was charged with "Reckless Driving causing injury"
Found him not guilty because the parked car was on a corner and the other car had really no time to take evasive action.
Trial took two days.
I was paid two days wages, tax free.
 

Have gotten summons several times, but never sat on a jury. Often it has not gotten past the summons...only had to go to court 2-3 times, but never called up to serve.
I did have a friend sit on a grand jury once. She was not allowed to discuss cases they heard, but found it an interesting experience
 
Bretrick said:
Found him not guilty because the parked car was on a corner and the other car had really no time to take evasive action.
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I'm not understanding how the driver was not guilty. Parked yet the driver of the vehicle that was moving couldn't evade a parked car?

I guess I'd have to see pictures or a police rendering of the accident to understand.

As for jury duty, was called but excused because I knew the defendant.
 
I served on Jury duty when I was only 21 yrs old. The case was about Rape, incest, and corrupting the morals of a minor. After all these years I still remember the name and address of the person on trial. He was proven guilty.

After that trial, they interviewed us for another trial. We had to call home and make someone pack our suitcase because we would not be going home. Fortunately, I wasn't chosen for that one. I would never want to be on Jury Duty again.
 
Knight said:
I'm not understanding how the driver was not guilty. Parked yet the driver of the vehicle that was moving couldn't evade a parked car?

I guess I'd have to see pictures or a police rendering of the accident to understand.

As for jury duty, was called but excused because I knew the defendant.
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It was on a country road with a speed limit of 110km - 68 miles - on a corner
 
I was called but was working taking care of a blind women at the time so I was excused.
I can't say I was disappointed.
Our court house is on a very busy street and very little parking is available. People who have gone to court said they had a long walk in all kinds of weather and even had to add more money to the meter during breaks.
Of course being late because of parking or sloshing through snow is no excuse.
There are plenty of people who are more than willing to do the job. I've always thought there should be a pool which names can be drawn for jury duty.
I've met so many people who have said they were never called and wished they had. More power to them.
I suppose there are many reasons why that wouldn't work but for myself, I'm glad I was excused.
 
Bretrick said:
It was on a country road with a speed limit of 110km - 68 miles - on a corner
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So the driver was going 68 mph & didn't have time to avoid the parked car? Was that a blind corner? Can't imagine a blind corner with speed possible at 68 mph.
 
Yes for the beginning of this month to Federal Court as a petit juror. Some of those civil trials go on for months where lawyers have been arguing one minor point for years. Something like that would have pushed me over the edge into madness, but it was not a good enough reason to be excused. Finally, the Friday before I had to appear for jury selection, over 20 miles away, they released me and I got my life back. Next time, I will be too old. Haha.
 
I've been on a jury pool twice......we had to report for duty at the courthouse and wait around all day multiple times. Twice I was selected for actual duty in a courtroom, both were uninteresting cases.....driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. Both defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges and given lenient sentences and warnings of no more latitude if they appeared in court again.
The only interesting aspect of it all was that the judge both times had previously been the litigator for the legal firm my family has used for years. I knew him personally and he had been a guest in my home and dined at my table. He actually greeted me by name from the bench when he saw me in the jury box.
 
I have been called up three times. the first one I was heavily pregnant with my youngest son, and low and behold it was a case of Pedophilia the person's lawyer asked me if I could be objective, I told him NO.

The second time I was living in Newcastle and knew the person who committed the crime rather well as they were my next-door neighbor.

The third time I wasn't picked.
 
I've never been picked, I got real close once, there was only one more person they needed and there were only two of us left in the pool to choose from. They asked me if I could be objective (it was a murder trial and my sister had been murdered a decade before), and I said I thought I would be, but that I wasn't sure if subconsciously I'd be.

Other than that I've had twice where I got a notice, one of the times I had to report to the courthouse but was not even selected to be in a pool for a trial selection, and the other time I just had to call a number the night before and found that my particular number was not in the range of people that needed to report.
 
Two times that I sat around all day in the big waiting area, once that I made it to Voir Dire (sp?) and wasn't selected and once when I was actually selected.

Voir Dire took all morning, then we were seated, then taken to the jury room for instructions. At that point, we were sent to lunch. Came back, more instructions in the jury room and then seated in the jury box. There was some action going on at the judge's bench and we were quickly ushered back to the jury room.

After about an hour, the judge came in, thanked us for our service and dismissed us. It turned out that the defendant was wanted for something much much worse that what he was being tried for today and the court was going to concentrate on that.

Then I "aged out" of jury duty obligation.
 
I’m ecstatic to have ‘aged out’. Never served.

Slightly off topic, what kinds of things do they offer for lunch, breaks, etc? If people have to stay for extended periods, I hope they provide nice hotel rooms. I guess that’s very rare.
 
I was called for jury duty once. I explained that I couldn't do it because I'm half deaf & I was the only one of my mom's 4 kids who was taking care of her & paying her 24-hr. nurses (she was bedridden for her last 5 months).
The moron on the phone told me I had to "Figure it out."
I said, "That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard; what does that mean?"
After threatening to arrest me for "Contempt of Court," I laughed & said, "Well, you have my address, so you know where to find me" & hung up.
They gave up on me. Good thing; I'll have no part of our pathetic justice system, anyway.

There are people who want to serve on a jury, but they seem to need people who can't, or don't want to.
 
Jules said:
I’m ecstatic to have ‘aged out’. Never served.

Slightly off topic, what kinds of things do they offer for lunch, breaks, etc? If people have to stay for extended periods, I hope they provide nice hotel rooms. I guess that’s very rare.
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They don't provide food but they pay for your meals (around $20 each). They also pay for travel expenses based on distance and lodging if required. However, it varies by state.
 
Jules said:
I’m ecstatic to have ‘aged out’. Never served.

Slightly off topic, what kinds of things do they offer for lunch, breaks, etc? If people have to stay for extended periods, I hope they provide nice hotel rooms. I guess that’s very rare.
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In my case I have forgotten the eating arrangements.
We were allowed to go home after the first day of the trial, just forbidden to discuss to case.
 
Pink Biz said:
Summoned a few times and served on a jury just one time. The case was about a drunken melee at a community festival wherein a Porta Potty was destroyed and the guy inside was injured.
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Finding it very difficult not to laugh.

In answer to OP, I was on jury service about 25 years ago and only sat on one case.
A couple of lads held up a Post Office with a toy gun.
 

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