[Texaspice]

I just finished a trial as a jury member and it was extremely difficult. I felt like it was my duty as a citizen so I did nothing to get 'off the hook' but now I am feeling pretty terrible about it. Without getting into the specifics of the case - we found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to prison. Although I didn't have reasonable doubt I did have a tiny amount of doubt (and really how can you ever be sure 100%?) and now I wonder if we did the right thing.

Of course it is too late now - and really this just might be my emotions and not have anything to do with the facts of the case.

Anyone else ever face this? Have you ever been called for jury duty and tried to get out of it? Could you be fair and impartial?

I am also curious what the systems are in other countries besides the US.

 

[Brandon]

I've had jury duty twice, the most recent at the beginning of '06. Both of the cases I sat on were automobile accident cases, so they really weren't too big of a deal to be impartial on. The case in the most recent trial was basically a man trying to get money out of Geico for a wreck that he was in and claimed that he'd sustained injuries that Geico wouldn't pay him for.

We ended up finding for the man and awarding him $2k in addition to the cost of his expenses and hospital costs/medication. He wasn't thrilled but he was happy enough. The Geico people weren't happy at all, needless to say.

Their attorney stopped everyone outside of the courthouse and wanted to talk to each juror about why they'd decided on the verdict. To my knowledge, everyone just told him that they didn't have time and left.

I don't know that I could be totally impartial in a more emotionally-challenging case, like a murder or a rape or something. It would be really hard.

Oh, and I never tried to get out of the jury duty. I didn't want to do it, but I knew I should as my civic duty or whatever. And not being at work is sometimes a good thing too.

 

[Skylark]

I was called up for jury duty once, and I got it rescheduled to my fall break week so it would not interfere with my college classes. I showed up at the courthouse at 8:30, listened to the bailiff talk about what to expect next, and then waited.... and waited... By 9:15, the prosecuting attorney determined the chief witness was not going to show. It was a domestic abuse case, and allegedly it's common for the abused spouse not to show up, especially if the spouse is female.

We all went home. When I got my $15 check the next week, I decided it was the fastest $15 I had ever made. 45 minutes of sitting around, that was it.

If I were to serve on a jury now, I would first have to figure out if I know any of the people involved and whether it counts to have written a crime brief now and then that included the person's alleged actions. When I was called for jury duty before, it was in a much more populated county. Though I have not been here as long, I've been out in the community much more than I was before, and I can tell you I never checked police dispatch logs before it was part of my job.

 

[Eclipse]

Never been asked but since I am "disabled" 1/3- 1/2 of the time, timing would be critical if I could do it or not.

 

[catswym]

i have. just once.

the defendent was a black man accused of selling drugs in a school zone by some cops. it was a horrifying experience for me to see how (despite little to no evidence against him) a majority of the other jurors were willing to convict him basically because he was black and poor.

i was 22 at the time. if i had any faith left in the judicial system at that time, it was completely shattered by the end of that trial.

 

[Fallen]

I was suppose to a few months ago, but they settled out of court and all of us had to wait over 4 hours for them to tell us we could go.

 

[veggielove]

My mother served on a jury once, was very excited about it at first, and at the end was very upset. It was an excessive force case, and she could see both sides, where the cops had been very scared because of location and what not. They decided the cop did use excessive force, which cost him his job and more. She felt so horrible afterwards, she swore she would never serve again. So i think your feelings are common.

 

[ynaffit]

I got jury duty scheduled last month but I've postponed to the week after classes end in December . . .