Lawyers and Juries question.

[Kaboodle]

@Elendil_s_Heir

<snip> I’ve just been summoned for jury service myself (for the first time in my life, having been a registered voter since 1984), and look forward to having the chance to serve. Having dealt with juries for so long as a lawyer and now as a magistrate, I’ll be very interested to see what goes on behind the jury room door.

If you’ve been summoned by the CC Common Pleas Court, I just did that last year. It was the second time I served. I actually like jury duty if I can get on a case.

The first time I served I was on two juries. The first was breaking and entering and the second was a workman’s comp case.

My service last year consisted of sitting around in the jury room for a day. Getting called for a case the second day, yeah! Then getting jerked around for two days between the jury room and the courtroom (or the hallway outside the courtroom). Sure at one point the judge took us into the jury room and explained the facts surrounding the case. Another day we sat in court with the judge and lawyers and the jurors introduced themselves but there were no questions. We didn’t hear a peep from the lawyers. Then the next thing you know the judge is telling us a new witness came forward. Guess what? Everyone has to rework their case. No trial anytime soon, you’re dismissed.

I never even make it to jury selection. I hope you have better luck.

[hajario]

I was called for jury duty a number of years ago and a lawyer made it on the panel. They filled the jury before they got to me so I saw all of the questioning. It was a criminal trial and he was a tax or probate lawyer or something so neither side had an issue with him.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Kaboodle

If you’ve been summoned by the CC Common Pleas Court, I just did that last year. It was the second time I served. I actually like jury duty if I can get on a case… I never even make it to jury selection. I hope you have better luck.

No, it’s a muni court jury. Thanks for your good wishes.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan were both called recently (and separately) for jury duty: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/24/joe-biden-reports-for-jury-duty/

[Saintly_Loser]

I am personally acquainted with a federal judge from the Southern District of New York. He was not only called for jury duty once (not in the federal court system, but in a state court that overlapped the SDNY), but ended up on a jury. So, yes, lawyers, and even judges, get called.

As a side note, although he didn’t object and served on the jury, he thought that it wasn’t a good idea to put judges on juries, because he believed that the other jurors would naturally defer to a judge, and that would interfere with the way a jury is supposed to work.

[hajario]

@Saintly_Loser

As a side note, although he didn’t object and served on the jury, he thought that it wasn’t a good idea to put judges on juries, because he believed that the other jurors would naturally defer to a judge, and that would interfere with the way a jury is supposed to work.

The judge in the case that I mentioned earlier made the same observation about lawyers on juries. Since the lawyer in question had nothing to do with criminal cases, no one seemed to care. As it happened, one of my co-workers ended up on that jury and said that that’s exactly what ended up occurring.