# Have you ever served on a jury? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804 "2012-02-14T08:55:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/81 "2012-02-15T20:52:51Z")
Yes. Two women who were arrested for stealing plywood from a builder. They decided to act as their own attorneys. One shining moment - when they asked the builder how he could be sure the plywood in their pickup was his, considering all plywood looks alike, he said his name was stamped on all his plywood. The woman questioning him then sat down. There were other moments as illuminating as that. We found them guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/82 "2012-02-15T20:55:02Z")
Got summoned, but the trial didn’t go ahead for some reason, so got sent home. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/83 "2012-02-15T21:04:36Z")
I was summoned once but didn’t serve. I’ve worked on many jury trials, as a prosecutor and now as a magistrate, but have never had the chance to actually be a juror myself. Someday, I hope - I’m very curious to see the process from the inside. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/84 "2012-02-15T21:15:08Z")
Never been summoned, therefore have never served. And it’s not as if I don’t pay taxes, don’t register my cars, or do any of the other things that gets you in the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/85 "2012-02-15T21:34:46Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > No, received 2 summons, threw them away. Thanks for your public-mindedness. Are you sure that “n” belongs in your username? > [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > …A local college hit a MARTA bus that was turning left… Even a small college would total a bus, wouldn’t it? > [@Mr.Accident](#): > > …The last time I was summoned, and this was the best, was to be a juror on my own trial. They wouldn’t let me do it though. ☹ Wow. Tell us more! ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/86 "2012-02-15T21:36:47Z")
Gone in 4 times and served on one jury as an alternate. While I didn’t get to deliberate the other alternate and I were asked to wait around for the verdict and we did our own discussion while we waited. Afterwords, I went out for coffee with 2 of the women on the jury and got a recap of the deliberations. It was an interesting day. The case involved a homeless man suing the Salvation Army. He was mugged outside of one of their shelters after he had been refused admittance to his reserved space for showing up intoxicated. The guy, IMHO, had absolutely no case and I don’t think anyone involved including his lawyer ever thought he had a chance. But he wasn’t mentally stable and probably insisted on a jury trial. His case rested on 2 points…one was the “I had been drinking but I wasn’t drunk and they had no right to turn me away”. No deal on this one, running a shelter for homeless male veterans is hard enough without being forced to admit intoxicated people. The plaintiff seemed to think that the fact that he had never failed a drug test at the shelter somehow worked in his favor but to the jury all it proved was that he was an alcoholic, not a junkie. The second point involved who had jurisdiction for security over the space outside the shelter. The plaintiff insisted it was the Salvation Army. There was a Salvation Army security guard ( no witnesses attended the trial but they read from lots of depositions ) that patrolled the exterior but he insisted his purpose was to protect the building exterior. Oddly enoguh while it seems like it would have been easy enough to provide a factual answer to this question none was ever offered up. But the attack was very fast ( the mugger basically gave him a really hard kick to the kneecap - breaking his leg - then grabbed the homeless guy’s cellphone and ran. The police were there within 2 or 3 minutes, the mugger was arrested ( later tried and convicted) . The homeless man was then taken to a hospital where he got medical treatment and social intervention – a social worker talked with him and his children and he moved in with one of his kids the next day, It was this quick response that made me doubt the claim that the SA was responsible for security. I felt “the system” had worked for this man and he was bitter, angry and nasty. Anyway, it was an interesting day. Both attorneys were very young and the defense attorney had never tried a case before. The judge was really nice and also interesting and he frequently went off the record to discuss certain points of law and to explain things to us and tell anecdotes. It was sort of like an interesting civics lesson ( this was why the judge asked us alternates to stick around for the verdict – he wanted us to have the opportunity to observe the entire process). We spent lots of time in the jury room because they were trying to get some witnesses in and we even got a free lunch while we were waiting even though they aren’t supposed to buy you lunch unless you are deliberating. They guy lost, of course. Accortding to the jurors that deliberated there was actually one young female juror “that wanted to give the guy something” but they took the time to change her mind resulting in about 30 minutes of deliberations. They could’ve come in with a 5 out of 6 verdict it didn’t have to be unanimous but they wanted to take the time and come in with a unanimous verdict. My favorite moment was a typical Queens County moment…when we were in the jury room everyone was talking about their backgrounds which were really diverse and I mentioned that not only had I been born in the USA but my parents and grandparents had been as well. This seemed to qualify me as having the most interesting background in the room, everyone seemed fascinated by this. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/87 "2012-02-15T22:02:05Z")
I’m 33 and have lived in NYC since I was 18. In that time I have been called twice and served twice. The first time was for a narcotics grand jury. I had to serve three or four hours a day for a full month. The first case I heard was a routine buy-and-bust that had occurred right in front of my apartment building. Years later I was the foreman (chosen randomly) of a grand theft jury. The selection and trial processes were shockingly efficient. We were treated very well, and the judge, a hardass in every other way, was very solicitous of the jury. The defendant got a spirited defense from the PD, and the judge even spent some time talking with us after everything had been wrapped up. I left feeling pretty damned good about justice in the city and would welcome the opportunity to serve again. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/88 "2012-02-15T22:04:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Wow. Tell us more! It’s not much of a story really. About 8 years back or so, I had anger issues. I was 23 at the time, and one of my younger sisters was 13. I was babysitting her for my mom, as she had proven she wasn’t responsible enough to be home by herself. Well, my sister and I butted heads quite a bit back then. One thing led to another, she spit in my face, and I slapped her. I was arrested for it, went through a bail hearing and all that, and was sent to trial. When my trial date came up, I was sent a jury summons for it. I went to court, reported in as the defendant and as a potential jury member. The judge was ready to have me charged with contempt before I showed him the letter, and after that I was told they would not allow me to serve on my own jury. (I was picturing myself as daffy duck hopping from place to place in the court room.) That was pretty much it. My case ended up being dropped since they couldn’t find my sister to get her to testify. The sad thing is, we were living at the same address, and I told the prosecutor where to find her. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/89 "2012-02-15T22:16:59Z")
By ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/90 "2012-02-15T23:05:36Z")
I lived in Chicago for 13 years and Nashville area for 12 now and in those 25 years have never been summoned. ---
**Author:** ![Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Christopher\_Robin\_Davies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christopher_Robin_Davies)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/91 "2012-02-16T00:13:34Z")
I have served on a jury but we were not required to render a verdict. Very early in the state’s case the defendant changed his plea to get a reduced sentence. One thing that surprised me was that the prosecutor and defense attorneys gave statements before the voir dire was done. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/92 "2012-02-16T00:45:07Z")
I’ve been summoned twice but never served. I’m now permanently excused due to age and a physical disability. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/93 "2012-02-16T01:18:11Z")
I think I’ve been summonsed almost every year since I moved to my current location in 1995. I’ve had to appear twice and served once. The first one I served on. It was for Sexual Assault on (of?) a Child (it was inappropriate touching). The whole thing lasted four days from beginning to end, and we voted to convict. Jurors don’t participate in sentencing in my state (CO). I got paid $50.00 because the trial lasted more than 3 days, but I was on salary and got my regular paycheck. One of my managers implied that I should sign the check over to the company since they were paying me anyway. I told him that since 2 of the days were my only days off that week, I was entitled to keep it. That shut him up. For the second one, I checked in with the bailiff and was directed to a large room on the second floor, where I joined what would be more than 130 potential jurors for the same case. The had us all file into a large courtroom and take seats in the gallery. The defendant was brought in, and it took almost 45 minutes to read all of the charges. Another Sexual Assault on a Child, but these charges included several rape charges, including Sexual Assault on a Child by an Adult in a Position of Trust. I think that most of us put it together that it was a fairly notorious local case of a step-father raping his step-daughter almost daily from the time she was about 8 or 9 until she was about 15. There was no way I was going to serve on that jury if I had to set myself on fire in the courtroom (I have daughters, and the first trial was bad enough). They were doing voir dire in alphabetical order of last names, and mine was pretty far down, so I got to sit around and not talk with any of the other prospective jurors. For 3 days. When my turn came, I just told the defense attorney that I would believe the victim, and I was excused. I read in the paper that they had only been able to seat 6 jurors out of all of those people, so a mistrial was declared, and it was sent to a different venue. My youngest daughter has since worked for a local defense attorney, and is currently working for a Worker’s Comp firm, so I probably won’t have to serve again. It’s a small town. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/94 "2012-02-16T02:12:36Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Is there a site online that has a complete chronology? When I google, the sites say that the third trial is pending. Thanks. Sorry you had to go through that. That’s probably correct; as mentioned, I lost track of the case shortly after the second trial began due to a hectic work/school life (and also purposefully let go), and have purposefully avoided any contact with the book and TV shows. Anything I know of the case after my own service is secondhand stuff mentioned in passing by friends or blurbs that pop up in the newspaper. I thought he had been tried a third time and had it thrown out, but that’s undoubtedly not correct. (OTOH, I still have the 10+ notebooks of notes I took in the case, chronologically ordered and indexing all witnesses and material evidence, so I can recall that first trial quite accurately.) [The Louisville Courier-Journal](http://www.courier-journal.com/) and [WLKY-TV](http://www.wlky.com/index.html) both have run numerous articles and clips on the Camm case, both had chronologies of the case (usually as sidebar links when a David Camm story is run) and I recall both as being fairly accurate and unbiased. Hell, loading up WLKY’s website, the very top “hot topic” is “David Camm Archive” and the very first video clip is about the case. I’m not exploring those any further, but I don’t hesitate to suggest them to interested folks. I’ve not read the book, and have my doubts about its accuracy (the author was not present at the trials, unlike the local Louisville-area reporters), and the 48 Hours writers were obviously just interested in the salacious parts of the story, not the nitty-gritty stuff. An aside that gets closer to the OP’s original topic, I got summoned again last spring. One of the first questions asked was “have you ever served on a jury before?” and when I said “yes,” they asked what it was about. “It was the first Camm trial.” Eyes widened, a little bit of silence, then nothing further needed to be said-- I was instantly dismissed. Shame, because I actually want to serve when called. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/95 "2012-02-16T02:28:09Z")
I’ve been called for the 4th time in 10 years in my present location. I was called 3 times in 15 years in my former location. I’ve served twice, once as foreman. Why is it that most of my friends are seldom called? ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/96 "2012-02-16T02:32:05Z")
Yes, and it was thoroughly depressing. Sadly, my “peers” can’t reason their way out of an open barn. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/97 "2012-02-16T02:44:43Z")
About five months after I passed the bar exam, I got called for jury duty, and actually sat on a civil jury. Car accident, a 5 mph rear-end fender bender. The guy was currently under the care of a chiropractor because he’d gotten t-boned by a street sweeper three months prior, and he also had fibromyalgia. He tried to convince us that his continued pain was due to this accident and not the prior one. We didn’t buy it. We found out afterwards that he settled with the street sweeper company as the jury was being called up. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/98 "2012-02-16T03:02:24Z")
Once, but I did not get to deliberate. I was an alternate chosen randomly after the trial (but before deliberations). ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/99 "2012-02-16T04:47:53Z")
Once in [del]1960[/del] about 1990, for two days. The accused admitted to assaulting a taxi driver but denied attempt to rob, we let him off as the Crown had no evidence outside the driver’s assertion that there had been any attempt to rob him. I was pleased to be able to serve. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804/100 "2012-02-16T05:04:27Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > …The first time was for a narcotics grand jury… > > Years later I was the foreman (chosen randomly) of a grand theft jury… Those sound like trial (or petit) juries, and not grand juries. > [@Student\_Driver](#): > > …(OTOH, I still have the 10+ notebooks of notes I took in the case, chronologically ordered and indexing all witnesses and material evidence, so I can recall that first trial quite accurately.)… Wow. In Ohio, juror notes (and mind you, not all judges permit jurors to take them) are collected and destroyed at the conclusion of the trial. Here’s G.K. Chesterton, c. 1909, on his experience as a juror: [Issue Content Essay | Lapham’s Quarterly](http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/voices-in-time/g-k-chesteron-empanels-a-jury.php?page=all) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-served-on-a-jury/612804.md?page=6)