interesting insight on how courts work

[PepperElf]

warning this is long.

First off I went and fucked up - I'm on jury duty and ... I forgot to call in Thursday night to see if we had anything scheduled for Friday. Turns out we did. I called the court house on tuesday (Monday they're closed) and they said to just come in the next time and that for a single miss they don't punish. (thus implying that if it happened again there'd be punishment).

Since it's just district court - disability hearings & misdemeanors - we only have 6 jurors. They pick 12 randomly (lotto ball thingy) and then from that 12 pick out 6.

Until last week we've only done disability hearings - determining how disabled (all, none, partial) someone is in order to determine what sort of help they can get etc. Only the Judge asks the jury questions to determine eligibility and then they pick the final 6. (heh makes it sound like BSG).


Today was the second actual criminal case we've had (i missed the one on friday )but it was interesting to see how it differed from the ones we usually get.

First the Judge asked the 12 questions to see if they knew anyone involved in the case. Then the Prosecution asked his questions - and conducted opening remarks. I think... It sure sounded like opening remarks, discussing what kind of evidence we'd be presented with. Then the Defense asked her questions, and did her opening remarks, asking if we felt it was possible to get in the situation the Defendant was in, through no fault of your own.

By the end of that part they'd already switched out, I think 5 jurors, with the new ones asked a summary of the previous questions.

Juror 1: Grew up with the defendant
Juror 2: Cousin to Arresting Officer #3
Juror 3: Previous experience with friend or family member over a similar charge (discussed in private with the Judge & both counselors)
Juror 4: Replaced Juror 3 but... he knows the Defendant
Juror 5: Singled out by Prosecution & openly said what he felt about the law in question. (also discussed in private with the Judge & both counselors)

Finally they had 12 Jurors who had no connections to anyone involved in the case who felt they could fairly judge him. So the Court Clerk gave both the Prosecution & the Defense paperwork to use to strike jurors - they get 3 each - if they want. Then we sat and waited...

For the rest of us in the unselected jury we pretty much knew we were off the hook now. Unless something really strange happened they weren't going to pick any more people to fill the jury.

Notably, I also thought that once you served on a jury you wouldn't be picked until everyone else had a chance... but apparently that isn't so. I haven't been picked once, but one of the jurors had already served on Friday's trial (ended up in a mistrial they said). Actually a couple of them got picked again for todays... weird.


Anyway...

Something strange happened, but not what I was expecting. The Judge and counselors and all parties involved came back into the courtroom to proceed and ...

Maybe it was knowing that the cops had video evidence to support their claims. Or facing people he personally knew in the jury... but for whatever reason, the Defendant changed his mind and changed his plea.

I don't know what punishment he'll get - fines or another hearing for sentencing perhaps, but I'm just guessing. I do know he's responsible for paying the court costs & juror pay though. The Judge explained that part, and that the Defendant was made aware of that prior to the case.


Part of me is curious as to what else is going on here. But not enough to go and buy one of those "recent arrests" newspapers for a dollar. maybe after i'm off jury duty. they didn't say anything about not reading those but... i'd rather not cloud my judgement either

[crazylegs]

Maybe it was knowing that the cops had video evidence to support their claims. Or facing people he personally knew in the jury... but for whatever reason, the Defendant changed his mind and changed his plea.

This is suprisingly common (well, in the UK at least); very often the defendant will wait until the last possible minute to see if the IP/witnesses/police turn up - it's a gamble on the defendants part to wring the process out as long as possible.

[auntiem]

My Dad was on a jury once and the accused took one look at them and promptly changed his plea.

[kpzra]

I was on Grand Jury duty (3 months of handing down indictments) and we had one case where we took a break because the accused wanted to talk with the DA. He decided to take the deal that had been offered so we were free to go for that day as he was the only case...at 930am. I had taken the night off work for my duty days so I had a nice 3 day weekend.

[PepperElf]

i'm pretty thankful it's not grand jury

dad had that twice. one of the stories he came home with ... i didn't puke, but i had never before realized a baseball bat could be used on someone like that. (I was under 10 at the time)

[Andara Bledin]

I also thought that once you served on a jury you wouldn't be picked until everyone else had a chance... but apparently that isn't so.

They don't really care if you've been on a jury or not other than if you've served, you get a 1-year break before you can be called again.

I did notice that the order they called roll was the order that we were in for the entire set, so it wouldn't be surprising that people who were released from one trial but not actually dismissed would end up back in the same position they had been prior.

As for forgetting to call, I've gotten duty notices about 5 times in my life. I've remembered to call only twice. The second time, they had me come in and then I was the next-to-last to be dropped from the actual jury.

^-.-^

[Dave1982]

Notably, I also thought that once you served on a jury you wouldn't be picked until everyone else had a chance... but apparently that isn't so.

It varies from state to state (and the Federal courts have their own rules). For example, in Massachusetts, if you are summoned for jury duty and actually report to court, then you are off the hook for 3 years (regardless of whether or not you were actually picked to serve on a jury). If they cancel your date prior to going to court it doesn't count and you can be called again at any time.

It probably says somewhere in the paperwork they sent you when you were summoned what the rules are in your state.

[Victory Sabre]

I've been called into jury duty twice in my life. The first time I got called in, but it was settled out of court before jury selection.

The second time was about 5 years later. It was for a murder trial. Since my cousin was murdered, there was no way in hell the Defense wanted me on the jury.

It would be interesting to sit on a jury, but because of work, it would be a major hardship to do so

[Immortal1982]

I laugh about the only time i had jury duty. It was for a criminal trial involving escape or aiding/abetting charges, IIRC. Could've been conspiracy. The one woman when asked, admitted she was currently facing similar charges. She had helped hide her nephew after he had made a pretty brazen escape from a multistory jail that involved throwing his cellmate out a window.

This was about 5 years ago. A few PA people on the forum may know what case im talking about.

[fireheart]

Out of my family, only one of my aunts has ever needed to serve jury duty. Ever.

Nobody else in the family has been summoned.

Although my criminal justice tutor once mentioned he'd gotten summoned and when he mentioned his job, he was immediately struck off

[Sarlon]

I'm 30 years old, been a registered voter since I was 18 years old and NEVER been called up for jury duty.

My dad however....

3 times.

Each time he got excused because he used to be a guardian ad lidiam (erm can't spell, basically a rep for minors in court, but not a lawyer), and had seen and heard to many things about to many things to hold an unbiased opinion, got out of jury duty every single time.

[kpzra]

My husband has been summoned twice (once after we moved to Nevada), I've been called once for Alaska and once for Michigan. The Michigan one came after I'd been living in Georgia for months and was getting ready to move to Alaska. The Alaska pool has nothing to do with being registered to vote, it's tied to filing for a PFD (yearly Alaskan money). If you skip out on jury duty twice or more they hold your PFD until you report to the court. We are odd though and actually enjoy it.

[Gerrinson]

I'm now 35 years old, and I've been called for jury duty 7 times, starting when I was 18. I'd be looking at number 8 but I lived outside of MA for a couple years which seems to have reset the clock.

This year I got my notice like clockwork. Last time I had been called for jury service: 6/5/09. Date I received my notice: 6/11/12. 6 days after I became eligible again.

My best friend, who has lived in MA his whole life, and for a long time in the same home as me, has only been called to jury duty twice. Why me?

That being said, I've never actually been on a jury. The one shot I had, while unemployed which would have been interesting because of not interfering with work, the prosecutor rejected me. It was a DUI case and I was 21. Too bad for him, as I have zero tolerance for drunk drivers.

This last time, I got into the court room but didn't get on the jury.

Totally off topic, I did see the most God-awful piece of commemorative jewelry the last time I went to jury duty. One of the other jurors showed up in a classy outfit of moon boots, blue sky with white clouds pajama pants, and a Jeff Gordon NASCAR jacket. She had a gold plated airplane on her ring with 11 cubic zirconias set in the top. The plane itself was longer than her middle finger (where she wore it) with a wingspan as wide as her hand. It was a 9/11 'collector's edition commemorative ring' as she so proudly (and repeatedly) told all of us.

[Jester]

Never was summoned in Arizona, but over the last few years here in Florida they seem to keep summoning me. As I recall, I've been summoned four times. Once called and excused. Once excused because I already had purchased my plane ticket for an out-of-state vacation that conflicted with the jury duty dates, and went in immediately (long before the jury duty) to show them that, and they excused me, telling me they would summon me at a later date. That was the last time I've been called, and haven't yet gotten the new summons they "promised" me.

Only one was federal, and that one was amusing for this: we showed up, did roll, filled out some minor paperwork, and were told to relax. So I broke out my paperback book which I had brought along just in case. (Electronic devices are not allowed in federal buildings.) We hung around for about 2-3 hours waiting, waiting, waiting...and finally one of the court officers came in and told us the case had been resolved and we were all excused.

And then there was the one time I actually got into the jury pool. It was a civil medical malpractice case, and during the qualifications, they asked all of us a lot of the typical questions. Here are my answers.
Do you know the plaintiff? No.
Do you know the defendant? No.
Do you know anyone involved in this case? Not that I'm aware of.
Are you involved in the health care industry? No.
Do you know anyone involved in the health care industry? I know a couple of doctors in town, and a friend of mine works at the hospital in administration. (Small town, no big deal.)
Are any of your relatives involved in the health care industry? Yes, I have seven cousins who are doctors.

PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: "Excuse me?"
ME: "I have seven cousins who are doctors. Typical Jewish family."
This elicited quite a few chuckles.

As the qualifications went on, a couple of annoying women kept saying they were sure I would be picked, because the lawyers loved me. I told them I would laugh my ass off if they got picked and I didn't.

They got picked and I didn't. Neither one of them looked at me as they walked up to take their place in the jury box. Months later, I ran into one of them in a bar, and she told me that they both wanted to kill me that day.

I found out later in the day of the qualifications, after the proceedings were over and I was a free man, when I ran into the defendant's attorney at a nearby bar (he could talk to me now that I was not a potential juror) that the plaintiff's attorney had struck me from the pool. I asked if he knew why. He didn't, as they don't have to give reasons for striking potential jurors from the pool, but he did say he thought it might have something to do with all my relatives who were doctors.

See? You don't have to lie to get out of jury duty. Just tell the truth!

[Andara Bledin]

I'm pretty sure I got out of serving on the jury I was up for because I was too attentive. I think it unnerved the Prosecutor, who was decidedly new at being in that position; notably disorganized. Or, he could have thought that an answer given by one of the two people that had been in that seat prior to me was my answer and got rid of me for the same reason he got rid of them.

^-.-^