I’ve been called 4 times and sat on 3 juries. The level of stupidity displayed by the “jury of my peers” is astonishing. It really makes me wonder about our criminal justice system.
The trials were all very interesting though and I’d do it again anytime. Of course I get full pay from my company which is nice.
the unkindest cut of all
Judge: This case involves an accusation that a handgun was used. Do you feel you could fairly judge the facts in a such a case?
Me: What kind of gun was it? Was it a .38 or .357? Or maybe an automatic, say a .40SW or .45 Colt? I personally like the .40SW because it’s a small enough frame to fit in my hand, but then it’s got some fairly decent knockdown power. What about you Judge? What do you carry? You look kinda old, so I figure your a .38SPL kinda guy. I’ve got one too–well no, I take that back–I’ve got a .357 which all of you know shoots a .38. It’s a sweet revolver: 6" barrel, black, a nice rubberized/maple grip that fits comfortably in my hand–yep, she’s a doozy! I remember once we went out to this range and I had a couple of my old college textbooks, and we were “testing” the strength of a .38 and .357, so I loaded both into the cylinder, and that .38 did a number on my Calculus III book, but that .357 tore it to shreds. :: sigh :: What was the question again?
Judge: You are dismissed.
Tripler
C’mon people, you gotta learn to dance! 
Really? I was down there about a week or so ago for my stint, and they didn’t say anything against it - I didn’t get in trouble for bringing my diet coke in, either. But then again, I could’ve just gotten away with it.
I got excused after going through voir dire on an armed robbery case. I was very disappointed…I am, honestly, a very open-minded & objective person. I could tell the way the defense was wanting to go with the case based on some of the questions I was being asked. But, I got excused. 
However, the woman who was worried about her elderly, semi-invalid mother for whom she was the sole caretaker did not. Wazzup with that? sigh
Mark Twain wrote a little piece about how awful the juries are, perhaps as an aside in a longer book — does anyone remember where?
He mentions one juror who thought that incest and arson were the same thing!
I served on a jury in a drug possession case a few months ago. There was one guy who got dismissed when he said he worked for the state attorney general’s office and was in the middle of a trial… my group of jurors turned out to be pretty good, and I enjoyed the experience.
If I were, there’d be smiting like you wouldn’t BELIEVE!
So, I go in, my first call to duty ever – all my friends tell me, “it’s a cinch, bring a lot of reading material because you’ll do a lot of sitting around,” my dad relates how he’s never been called ever, I go in prepared with my Complete Works of Shakespeare and a notepad to kill time.
Oh, no no no!
First pool, first pick, for a FIVE-DAY criminal justice trial (of which I can’t discuss the specifics, but it’s severely gross).
Thank God the prosecuting attorney’s a cutie with a Jeremy Irons voice, else I’d probably stab myself in the eye with a court-appointed pencil.
It could be worse. My Civics teacher told the class about one jury she sat on, for a sexual assault trial. One of the other jurists asked if everyone could hurry up with deliberations, because she had a hair appointment at 3:00.
For avoidance, the creativity award has to go to a reenactment-type guy I know. He strips the insignia off his uniform (the black 1932 SS uniform) and reports vaguely in-character, answering everything with quick, crisp enunciation and slight accent. He always responds fairly objectively and plays along like he wants very much to serve his civic duty, but he’s always been dismissed so far.
Yeah, I’ve actually always wanted to be on a case–especially one that would only last a few days–but I always get dismissed. Either the prosecution or the defense finds some reason not to like me. Consider it an adventure, and come back and tell us about it when it’s all over.
What is the reasonning? I just can’t see why a physician should be systematically sent back home.
I’ve been called a few times but never served. Once I escaped empanelment for a two-week trial because I’d proofread some of the pretrial depositions in the case. Neither side’s attorney wanted me on that jury.
Another case was a criminal trial. We jurors got the instructive talk from the judge, sat around, got trooped into the courtoom for jury selection, sat around while the lawyers sidebarred with the judge, got trooped back to our lair, sat around some more. At last the judge came in and told us that when the defendant got a good look at us he decided to change his plea to guilty.
In theory? in most places with this rule, the fear is that a doctor on the jury will unduly influence the decision of the other 11, especially in cases ( e.g., murder, civil personal injury) that have a medical component. That, and the idea that a doctor’s real life job is too important, so he shouldn’t be taken away from it.
In practice, the general lobbying clout of the the medical profession usually has something to do with it.
(I don’t mean to single out doctors here. My state used to have a ridiculously long list of professions that were exempt. Funeral home owners were on the list.
Some years ago, the law was changed, and now pretty much any profession can be called for jury service. Even judges.)
I have no idea if there are any rules regarding doctors. My WAG would be a normal GP or clinical doc would have to miss work like the rest of us mortals. The exception I can see working would be an ER doc or people like EMT’s. A GP can have patients rescheduled or seen by other doctors. But an ER doctor is so specialized and needed, why take the chance? Normally, there aren’t many reserve ER docs to cover the doc’s shift for days or weeks. Those people have to sleep, too.
I’ve been twice called to jury duty, and each time I was very disappointed to be sent home. A colleague told me that mental health professionals are often dismissed by either the prosecution or the defense, so that may have been it.
The last time I was called, we were all herded into a big room at a courthouse in Boston to wait for further instructions. An extremely pregnany woman came in, and the clerk asked her if she wouldn’t rather postpone her jury duty until after the baby. The woman answered exactly what I was thinking: “This may not be convenient or comfortable, but it’s certainly not going to be more convenient after babay is here.”