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JURY DUTY

13:25 / 28.01.05

I'm off to the courthouse this morning for jury selection. On the one hand, I want to do my civic duty, but I'm concerned about the financial end of things. You get "paid" to do this, but after doing the math i realised if the case goes on for a month I'll have to choose between paying my rent and eating, and I prefer to do both.

Has anyone else here ever done this?

14:00 / 28.01.05

Yep - I've done it. Be prepared to be bored out of your mind. I was there for two weeks and it involved mainly sitting about with the other people in the jury pool in a big sixth form common room sorta thing. There was a TV in one corner and a small canteen, as well as books and board games. You weren't allowed out once you were in.

As for the court itself - the first Jury I was picked for I got excused from since I know the defendant. Arson. That was a bit odd actually as I had to write "I know the defendant" on a bit of paper to pass to the judge who gazes imperiously over and says "Juror Jub - you are excused". Back to the common room for me then.

After another day or two I got picked for another one. Affray. It was clear from the first hour of the four day long trial that they were guilty, and we had to listen to hours of bull from their barristers about mitigating circumstances etc.

As for pay, I don't know how the system works in Canada but in England you fill in the forms and the Court invoices your work (or something) so you end up with the same amount as if you were at work. I'm sure they'll explain it all to ya!

15:23 / 28.01.05

All you have to do is say you're an Anton Levay styled Satanist who would never be able to convict someone of any crime, because in your opinion "do what thou will shall be the whole of the law" or however it's said. Might wanna check that up on the internet before you say it.

15:38 / 28.01.05

the first Jury I was picked for I got excused from since I know the defendant. Arson.

Chrisakes Jub, what sort of people do you hang around with?

18:22 / 28.01.05

Arsonists, apparently.

~L

18:22 / 28.01.05

Arsonists, apparently.

~L

22:34 / 28.01.05

I have served on two juries, and I think jury service has an undeservedly bad rep.

I have been called four times and it's amazing that I actually served on two juries--the chances of getting on one are quite slim--there's elimination round after elimination round, and it's mostly luck of the draw.

I seem to have this luck. One case I jurored for was a federal case (US), civil law, sexual harrassment suit against a state agency. Lots of strange office politics, stupid birthday cards, poorly written memos, and a cast of odd characters.

The second was a drunk driving case, and another guy and I hung the jury because we don't automatically trust cops, as the others seemed to. Again, the characters involved, the people called for witnesses, were just wild.

I think the other 'lither who responded was British--it works a little differently here. Its extremely unlikely you'll be held out for weeks. Usually you can leave the room for various reasons, but you have to go back in.

I agreee, however, that I could have pretty readily gotten myself off of either jury I was ultimately on--the questions they ask all jurors make it pretty clear what you _aren't_ supposed to say. ("Do you have strong feelings about alcohol use, especially drinking and driving, that might make it difficult for you to be fair to someone accused of a serious offense involving alcohol?" "Have you ever been sexually harrassed?") But I got hooked by the stories during the voir dire.

But as I said, It's extremely unlikely you'll actually make the pool. Bring a book and a zen state of mind and try to find it enjoyable.

22:54 / 28.01.05

I got called once before and was picked for a grand jury. It was pretty cool. The ADA presented us with three cases - one I think was possession of cocaine, one for receiving counterfeit currency through the mail, and one was a murder/manslaughter case. The ADA explained the circumstances of each case, what our indictment options were (ie possession of class whatever, etc), and kind of summed up whether the evidence was fairly solid for an indictment or whether there was some question about it that required our decisionmaking.

One key difference between a grand jury and a trial jury (in the US) is that while a trial jury is held to the standard of proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," the grand jury's standard is less - can't remember the wording, but essentially 'he might very well have done it, you'll have to prove it in court.'

The murder/manslaughter case turned out to be fairly tough and that's why it was such an interesting experience. A man in our county had killed his buddy in a drunken jealous rage (slept with his gf), and we had to decide btwn Murder in the First Degree, Murder Two, or Manslaughter. It was pretty clearly murder, but was it premeditated or not? We heard testimony from an eye witness, and saw photos of the injuries the defendant sustained in the struggle. I was aghast at the aggressive & righteous way some jurors salivated after a murder one indictment (I thought it was probably not premeditated).

I've gotten called up for jury duty again Feb 9th. My bf told me to skip it, but I'll go... you never know what kind of case you may hear, and I find it all pretty fascinating.

23:34 / 28.01.05

Erm...well, I went to the courthouse and once inside I looked blankly at the big sign that tells you whats on each floor. I could not for the life of me tell where I was supposed to go, so I went to the security/information desk where two uniformed types were having a rather jovial conversation. "I'm here for jury selection." quoth I. "Thats cancelled today. Youre free to go!" "Thats it? Do I come back another time?" "Nope. Tell your boss youre coming in to work." "I'll do that." So I spent the day hanging out in art galleries. Relief tinged with regret.

As far as the money thing goes, it says on the summons that prospective jurors are not paid for attending a jury selection, but jurors get $5 a day for the first 5 days, then $40 a day. Which, in the unlikely event of a solid month of "juring" (weekends off) comes out to $650 canadian. My rent is $620. Now, on the way to the courthouse today I ran into a friend who said my employer is supposed to cover lost wages or something and that I should look into it. I guess it's academic now.

One of the ways you can be excluded from jury duty is if you've served in the past 2 years. Does this count? prolly not.

16:03 / 29.01.05

I think you do have to actually serve in order to be excluded, at least that's how it is in the U.S.

But if it does happen again, to you or anyone else reading this, really, I think people should make an effort to do it, just for the human interest of it all. I realize this is only if you could actually afford it, and especially if you can just get your employer to reimburse you lost wages, I think it's a real trip--literally, a kind of cheap vacation into the dark side of a different world, right where you live--and it's so eerie to think about the way thousands of complex sad stories like the ones that wind up in court are happening under your nose, all the time. And you can feel smug for doing your civic duty.

21:45 / 29.01.05

In the US a cancellation is not counted as serving. I was called up for 2/13, and then got a cancellation notice through the mail on the very same day that I got my call to duty for 2/9.