I spent last week on a jury. It was related to an armed robbery case that occurred on the Navajo reservation, so it was in federal court. The first couple of days were jury selection followed by asking the same questions of several witnesses, so quite boring. From then on, the witnesses were interesting and there was much to keep track of; I took a lot of notes. Closing arguments ended Thursday evening so jury deliberations started Friday morning.
They picked me as foreperson. I’d hardly spoken a word to other jurors all week, so I’m mystified by their selection. Maybe because I’m an older male? There’s that patriarchy again.
I’m real impressed with the jurors; all considerate and respectful. We came to a guilty verdict on both counts, in little over an hour. The defendant will probably get 5-10 years and that seems fair.
I had my week of required availability this week, and I got called in yesterday (Thursday). I didn’t get much reading time in, because they called us into the courtroom after an hour or so, and the rest of the day was unpleasant – boring, and forced to sit in one place for a couple of hours at a stretch without being able to move around. As someone once said in a movie, I’m too old for this shit. I have to go back today, and now I’m one of the ones who will be questioned by attorneys (the prosecuting attorney is especially annoying), and have to listen to all the same stuff all over again. And these last spots are alternate jurors, which seems to me to be the worst of both worlds – I would have to sit and pay attention to the case, but probably wouldn’t have any say in the outcome. As the opposite of what some people once sang in a movie, I hope they don’t pick me.
Really, it sounds like it could be an interesting case, but my knees give me fits if I can’t get up and move around. I missed my chance yesterday to try to get out on grounds of physical discomfort (if that was even possible) and I don’t have a note from a doctor. So now I’m counting on the numbers – they have twelve people sitting for the last three spots. At least that’s the way it looks, although I don’t know if the first 12 are locked in after yesterday’s challenges were finished, or if some of them can be challenged today. Wish me luck.
I’ve been notified to appear for Jury duty 3 times. The first time was in Chicago. At the time that was four weeks, but if they chose you to be bussed to a suburban court, it lasted two weeks. I was selected for that and found out that rather than reporting at something like 7 am to downtown, I could just show up at the suburban court at 9.
I sat and played bridge or read for 5 days was was not even called in for voire dire once. I talked to the bailiff (I assume it was) and asked if I could be excused for the next week as the class I was to teach would start then. They let me go.
I was called in New Haven and a group of us went in for voire dire. The judge said they were empaneling a jury for a 6 week murder trial starting in a month, would that be a problem? I said I had moved my date already once to a time when I wasn’t teaching, and now they were going to delay it to a time when I was. I was let off.
The next time I was called, I also asked to defer my date. They said pick a date. I looked at the summer calendar and picked Friday July 5th. I was right about that. The call-in for that day was Wednesday July 3rd and the recorded message said no jurors needed to report.
I got a questionnaire about being on a Federal Grand Jury about ten years back, but I was scheduled to undergo 8 weeks of radiation therapy for my cancer. It could have probably been scheduled at a time of day not to interfere, but the doctor wrote and said I’d very possibly we sick to my stomach at any time of day and need to be excused, so they didn’t empanel me.
Now I’m too old – that is old enough that I could decline, which I likely would as my chemo makes me fall asleep randomly during the day – probably not a great thing for a juror to do.
My wife served on a very high profile local civil case shortly after we moved here. They were desperately trying to find people who had not heard of the case and kept questioning her in voire dire. “Are you sure you’ve not read about this?” until she told them we’d lived in the are for only a couple of months.
I’ve only been called to appear twice - 40 years apart. First time was right after I graduated college, and I was the office curiosity as we were all quite young and nobody else had ever been called.
Spent a few hours waiting around, was briefly brought into a room where they were selecting jurors, but they filled the spots before they got to me. Only real problem I had was I finished my book before they let us go. So, while not “enjoyable”, it was an interesting learning experience.
The second time was 2 years ago. I had actually been called for a date when I’d be out of town; it was very simple to state that when filling the online response out, and I picked a reschedule date later that same month. As I arrived at the courthouse, there were a bunch of news vans being set up outside - turns out, the Depp / Heard libel trial had finished up the previous day, and they were hoping a verdict would be released that day. Anyway - I spent maybe 90 minutes in the building, they called up a handful of people for what I think was a criminal trial, and told the rest of us we could leave. As I left, I saw even MORE news-vultures outside (the verdict was actually another day or two, but of course the newsies had no idea when it would come). The news vans were the most “interesting” bit of the whole thing.
I’ve been called to be “on call” a few other times - you call the night before, and they say whether or not you need to show up. Never needed to.
I think I’d find it interesting, once at least, but I have several medical issues that would make it a bit challenging. Several doctors would likely write a note stating so, if asked.
I think I’m exempt from county jury duty for another year as a result of 2022, though there’s a Federal courthouse not that far away and we would be in the pool for that, as well. And 5 years from now, we can request that we be permanently exempted (age 70+).
Well, I was selected for the jury, and not as an alternate. Turns out the first 12 were not locked in and three of them were excused today, and I was slotted in as one of those. We were sworn in and all, so it’s official. Trial starts Monday. I’m feeling kind of pleased, actually, but I’m not sure how much of that is from being allowed to go home before Noon today, or because the chairs are fairly comfortable, or mainly that I won’t be an alternate. Those three folks looked kind of glum, and I don’t blame them. We’re told it should be a short trial, all finished (probably) including deliberation by the end of the month.
No need to be glum. I was the third alternate at a trial, once. The other two alternates ended up being seated when jurors ended up dropping out for personal reasons.
And the seated jury voted the same way that I would have.
I’ve noticed that we’ve been actually using more alternatives in the past few years. Party due to COVID probably, and maybe for unrelated reasons as well.
In some jurisdictions where I practice, we’ll pick 14 (or whatever number) jurors and we won’t decide who the alternates are until the end (by chance, of course). Keeps everyone’s head in the game.
There was an op-ed piece today from San Diego about this today. Jury duty was a regular pain in the butt: nearest free parking two miles away, wifi was incompatible with iphones, various demographics inadvertantly shaded out and excused. The writer’s point was it takes an obsessive motivation to participate as a juror so it’s hard to get a jury of peers.
The instruction to not talk to anyone about the trial continues during deliberation, even for the alternates who are allowed to go home. When the verdict has been delivered, a staff member calls the alternates to let them know that they can talk, now.
Even if there’s nothing particularly juicy about the trial, that’s always a relief.
I didn’t mind not being able to talk about the case, but not being allowed to look up information on it got me. I was in the pool for a murder case. I was finally dismissed after about three visits to the court house and could finally Google information to see the background.
I’ve posted this in other similar threads, but I love jury duty. I’ve been on 2 trials and really got a lot out of the experience. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the attorneys and the judges on the cases. My felllow jurors were thoughtful and careful. The first case was guilty, no question whatsoever. The second case (domestic violence) was not guilty because the defendant had been charged with the wrong crime due to overly cursory questioning of the victim (he was charged with “strangulation” because that’s how the victim termed it, but he didn’t strangle (meaning choking around the neck, per the law here) but squeezed her body so tightly she couldn’t breathe and started to pass out. Sucked we had to let him off, but the law was clear and the attorneys all knew a mistake had been made. .
A guy stole a bunch of metal from the metal shop he worked at, including 5 metal wheelchair ramps. The bookkeeper was working late, heard noises, and went to check. She saw him taking things out and called the police. He was caught with the stuff.
I did! It was fascinating. Sure there were boring parts but I learned a lot. Why wouldn’t I want to serve my country? I am an immigrant, I owe my adopted country plenty.