Have you ever served on Jury duty?

Came close twice. I was living in a very small rural southern town, very redneck. Will not say the name...

Both times it was for drunk driving charges, the place was so small and trials so rare that they had to call up a pool every time. Both were interesting, most of the perspective jurors knew the defendants, judge, and both lawyers, many were related.

In one case the judge, defendant and lawyers withdrew into another room leaving us alone. A discussion of the case amongst the prospective jurors quickly started, the bartender who was serving the defendant said she believed he was too drunk to have been able to start or drive a car. A few of the other perspective jurors had been there and agreed... Kinda made things easier doing the trial right there... And apparently that was the defense, too drunk to drive.

I don't think the defense attorneys in either case wanted an outsider on the jury, I was rejected by them both times. To my relief.

I would one day like to serve on a jury, just for the experience.
 

Some, perhaps all states have an maximum age limit. It was 70-75 in a couple of the states that I have lived in.

I received a letter in the mail once, I replied to it that I would be back in the state after Sept 1st. They never followed up on it.
 

jerry old said:
Tish, that is what I'm talking about, we avoid the responsibility.
When employed a jury summons was a kiss of death.
We did not have time to serve of civic responsibility and we got the terms handed down by old tired juries that we deserved.

I know of no person. under retirement age that did not try to escape jury duty
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That's not true...... millions of people employed or otherwise have served on a jury and didn't try to duck it. I served.

When employed a jury summons was a kiss of death.
Why? That makes no sense to me.
 
RadishRose said:
That's not true...... millions of people employed or otherwise have served on a jury and didn't try to duck it. I served.

When employed a jury summons was a kiss of death.
Why? That makes no sense to me.
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Employers turn a jaundiced eye to employees being absent over a week
Asst DA's have told me, If trial is going to be long and drawn out event, employees fear they will not be missed...
 
Once, over 25 years ago. It was a DWI case In the County Court. The accused had hired a fancy pants lawyer from Seattle who specialised in DWI cases but who immediately proceeded to piss off all of the jury members. The State Trooper who made the arrest made a total ass of the lawyer during his questioning.

We spent only few minutes finding her guilty. It was rewarding to watch super-attorney's face when we gave our verdict.
 
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I was summoned several times in recent years when I was working and always answered in a very non-objective manner with regard to the crime with which the defendant was charged so I wouldn't be picked. I'm sure the attorney for the defendant always said "he's trouble" and let me go. I managed a sales force, and my job was virtually 24/7 so I couldn't add jury duty to my plate.

Now that I'm retired, I may be interested in doing my community a service and serving. Now they will probably never summon me.
 
Manatee said:
Some, perhaps all states have an maximum age limit. It was 70-75 in a couple of the states that I have lived in.
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dseag2 said:
Now that I'm retired, I may be interested in doing my community a service and serving. Now they will probably never summon me.
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Not sure why that makes sense. Retired folks have the time and I believe lifetime experience to make better judgements. My judgement is better today than it was, even if my hearing isn't!
 
I was selected and actually seated in the jury box and the trial was starting when it was discovered that the perp was wanted for something much, much more serious than this charge. That put an end to the trial and we were dismissed.

Other than that, I have been called several times but once the judge or the lawyers heard my last name, I was likely to be excused. I have a very unusual last name and my late husband was well-known in the system as he frequently had to present the state's recommendations in court. I always knew that as soon as I heard my name pronounced correctly, I was outta there pronto......
 
This last time I was called, it was on a domestic violence charge, including allegations of threats to kill. The guy was serving as his own attorney. He was arrogant, self righteous, and clearly was used to getting his way. He made a fool of himself with all his rediculous objections, just during the jury selection process. I was sorry when I got excused. If the evidence showed him to be guilty, I wanted to be sure that he didn't get off scott free. I guess you might say I became biased pretty quickly in the case.
 
The people that hate jury trials are judges.

When a case hits the courthouse no one knows if a jury trial will occur.
The court coordinator assigns an equal number of cases to the various courts (not true, but it is supposed to be true).
The DA assigns Assistant DA,'s to cases, the defense consist of private attorney or court appointed attorneys.

The judge prays no trial will occur, the DA prays no trial will occur; the court appointed attorney prays no trial will occur
The Private Attorney prays a Jury Trial WILL Occur

Remember the court coordinator, the person who assigns the various cases to the courts (Dockets).
That person does not care how long jury cases take, they assign cases by numbers rather than possibility of trials by juries.
A judge trapped in a month long trial, as his docket continues to grow, makes for a very angry judge.
 
Only sat on one jury. It was an insurance fraud case. A landlady was accused of removing equipment from an apartment building she owned; then filing a false police report (theft) and an insurance claim.

It was likely all true, but the prosecutor was so inept that she got off.
 
jerry old said:
Employers turn a jaundiced eye to employees being absent over a week
Asst DA's have told me, If trial is going to be long and drawn out event, employees fear they will not be missed...
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This is another reason people don't want, or can't serve on a jury: From the Louisville Bar Assoc. website: "Jurors receive a per diem payment from the state while on jury duty. Kentucky state law does not require private employers to pay employees for absences resulting from jury duty or court appearance". Also, "In some urban areas a person may be required to serve as few as 14 days, while in some rural areas a person may be asked to serve as many as 150 days".

The per diem in Kentucky is $12.50 a day. In a long trial, this could result in no food on the table or a missed mortgage payment. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and getting just $12.50 a day can be ruinous if it means no paycheck while serving on a jury.
 
caroln said:
This is another reason people don't want, or can't serve on a jury: From the Louisville Bar Assoc. website: "Jurors receive a per diem payment from the state while on jury duty. Kentucky state law does not require private employers to pay employees for absences resulting from jury duty or court appearance". Also, "In some urban areas a person may be required to serve as few as 14 days, while in some rural areas a person may be asked to serve as many as 150 days".

The per diem in Kentucky is $12.50 a day. In a long trial, this could result in no food on the table or a missed mortgage payment. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and getting just $12.50 a day can be ruinous if it means no paycheck while serving on a jury.
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That is really outrageous.
Here in Western Australia, if working, one simply claims for the time they are away from work. We get full Untaxed pay.
So we make more money as a jurist than if we went to work.
 
Bretrick said:
That is really outrageous.
Here in Western Australia, if working, one simply claims for the time they are away from work. We get full Untaxed pay.
So we make more money as a jurist than if we went to work.
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Kentucky is a bit behind the times. The Dark Ages comes to mind. :rolleyes:
 
caroln said:
The per diem in Kentucky is $12.50 a day. In a long trial, this could result in no food on the table or a missed mortgage payment. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck and getting just $12.50 a day can be ruinous if it means no paycheck while serving on a jury.
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About the same most every place I have lived. Another good reason to call us retired folks, we can better afford it.

Some employers pay people for jury time, but its not a requirement and many do not.
 
Sassycakes said:
It's strange but I just got a call from my oldest grandson and he said he just got a Jury notice. Now I'm thinking I should post I won millions of dollars and maybe the same thing will happen to him. :love: :love: :love:
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I just got a jury summons last week, but when I called at the time it specified, my jury group number wasn't mentioned, so I assume I'm off the hook.

I was summoned and got interviewed back when I was in my 30s, but I didn't have anyone to watch the kids if I got chosen to serve. My way out was - when asked a question about my ability to judge people fairly, I answered "Only God can judge" and I was immediately dismissed. Probably helped that I wore a suit and tie that day....it was for what you might call a blue-collar crime.
 
jerry old said:
Tish, that is what I'm talking about, we avoid the responsibility.
When employed a jury summons was a kiss of death.
We did not have time to serve of civic responsibility and we got the terms handed down by old tired juries that we deserved.

I know of no person. under retirement age that did not try to escape jury duty
Click to expand...
Don't get me wrong Jerry, I would not avoid it, I have been called up 4 times and 2 of those times I was heavily pregnant the other 2 I was not chosen
 
I served on a jury decades ago, a civil case of wrongful death involving a car accident in which an older woman was killed. It was a very educational and positive experience.
 
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