Jury Duty

[Scarby]

i think you should class it as a honor to do Jury Duty.

[Babylon]

i think you should class it as a honor to do Jury Duty.

109545[/snapback]

Yes it's a great honor to lose £400 over two weeks in lost wages seeing as they will only compensate me £56 a day. It's also a great honor for the only other designer at my company who is going to have to work all night long to cover for me not being there. I'm sure his wife and baby will be chuffed they won't be seeing there husband and dad for two weeks.

This isn't about me not wanting to do it. If doing it didn't have a knock on to other people then i would gladly do it. I think doing it would be interesting be not at the expense of my pocket, the company I work for and the people I work with.

[Babylon]

You think a jury should only comprise people who are jobless/retired/have less demanding jobs? You obviously don't know much about how juries are meant to operate then.

Juries should be representative of society (class, creed, colour etc) and if you limit juries to those who are unemployed/retired/have less demanding jobs then the jury isn't going to reflect our makeup of society.

108684[/snapback]

I know exactly how a jury operates thankyou very much. Do you think all retired people are white and 80. Do you think all jobless people are scum bag 18year olds? They can cover all spectrums of life.

It's easy for you to sit there spouting what people should and shouldn't do. As your not in the position of being relied upon as i am (and many others on here) I don't expect you to understand.

I tell you what though, as you are so intent on me doing it give me your mobile number and i will pass it onto my boss and let him know you are going to come and fill in for me when i'm on the jury. Don't worry you only have two 70 page brochures to design by the end of the month, I'm sure someone such yourself won't have any problem. Oh you will also have to be able to speak some German to deal with the agency.

I had thought of doing that deathside.... when i send the form back i'll write that on it.

108787[/snapback]

I sympathise with you Babylon, but Jury duty is one of these duties that goes with the rights we have. Sometimes people base our civil liberties are all based on the idea that we are intrinsically 'due' them. Well unfortunately we're not. What would it be like if it was someone you knew who had been the victim of a crime and the prosecution said, sorry mate we cant do this trial because no-one can be bothered to turn up for jury duty?

And just for the record if I had a job and were called up for jury duty, I'd do it. Yes it might be a pain in the ass but it only happens once in your life, and I dont think its too much to ask to hold onto these civil liberties we so enjoy.

108822[/snapback]

Don't take this the wrong way but that is such a student answer. If it was just my life that got put out for this then that's fine, but it isn't it's the life of people who I work for and with. And the pople who's bills I won't be paying due to lost wages.

[stripeyfox]

I realise this is a really old topic but I couldn't see any others about it. I recently (ish) did two weeks jury service and although I was really nervous about it beforehand, I absolutely loved it.

Anyone else performed this duty in the since this topic was last active?

[DennisNedry]

I'd love to be called up for jury duty, especially if it was for a particularly compelling or heinous crime.

 

If you want to get out of it can't you just say you're racist or homophobic etc?

 

Edit: Babylon was a feisty one back then

[kingcarr21]

My mate did it and had 3 paedophile cases to do. He said it was horrific going into such detail. One of the worst experiences of his life.

[Alexikokopops]

I'd love to be called up for jury duty, especially if it was for a particularly compelling or heinous crime.

 

If you want to get out of it can't you just say you're racist or homophobic etc?

 

Edit: Babylon was a feisty one back then

 

From what I've heard the reality is that you're usually on something pretty dull for a couple of weeks, and if you do end up on something more interesting, it ends up like this...

 

My mate did it and had 3 paedophile cases to do. He said it was horrific going into such detail. One of the worst experiences of his life.

[David Guiza]

Would love to be called up as I've studied/worked in law for about 7 years now, would not want to be head jurour though! And the likelyhood of getting a mixture of interesting and not horrific is pretty slim.

I do think cases that have jurours should be assesed though, i'm fairly sure complex fraud cases no longer have a jury for example. The reason being, and it's similar to what Kingcar posted, sometimes human emotion and empathy can overide logic and sense, which becomes a dangerous thing.

Remember one of my lecturers telling me that should he ever be wrongly accused of a crime, he wouldn't want to face 12 of his peers, and much rather legal minds handle the case, as undemorcratic as that is.  

[stripeyfox]

My mate did it and had 3 paedophile cases to do. He said it was horrific going into such detail. One of the worst experiences of his life.

Well, fortunately I didn't get anything quite as nasty as that - but I did sit on a rape case which wasn't particularly pleasant. Also got a robbery and burglary.

It was very interesting though. When you turn up on the first morning it is genuinely one of the few occasions in life when everybody is equal, regardless of age, gender, profession etc.

And I have never quite felt tension like I did when we filed back into court to deliver the verdict. The thing is that during the trial there aren't that many people in the courtroom but when you go back to give the verdict, it is packed with the victim and defendant's families all looking at you waiting for your decision.

But overall, I found the whole thing to be very rewarding. Would love to get the chance to do it again!

[stripeyfox]

Would love to be called up as I've studied/worked in law for about 7 years now, would not want to be head jurour though! And the likelyhood of getting a mixture of interesting and not horrific is pretty slim.

I do think cases that have jurours should be assesed though, i'm fairly sure complex fraud cases no longer have a jury for example. The reason being, and it's similar to what Kingcar posted, sometimes human emotion and empathy can overide logic and sense, which becomes a dangerous thing.

Remember one of my lecturers telling me that should he ever be wrongly accused of a crime, he wouldn't want to face 12 of his peers, and much rather legal minds handle the case, as undemorcratic as that is.

We had a lady on our jury who was barely capable of getting to court each morning. She clearly had no understanding of what was going on and spent much of the trial fidgeting and playing with her handbag. I was so concerned about her mental capacity and her inattention could cause the trial to collapse that I brought it to the attention of the court clerk (discreetly, after we'd been sent home for the night) and she told me I'd have to write to the judge - which I did. I was shitting it thinking that it might cause a mis trial but the clerk came back to me the next morning and said that basically, there is no assessment of jurors at all. If you are capable of turning up, then you're capable of being a juror.

When we retired, there were (as in any group) some more vocal than others, but I was keen to make sure everyone was heard so I asked her to give her views and she said "I don't know, I wasn't really listening".

I would say that in that case, it was two or three jury members (myself included) who steered the rest towards considering "the evidence" rather than "he looks guilty".

So from the defendant's point of view, it really is a lottery who decides you fate!

[David Guiza]

We had a lady on our jury who was barely capable of getting to court each morning. She clearly had no understanding of what was going on and spent much of the trial fidgeting and playing with her handbag. I was so concerned about her mental capacity and her inattention could cause the trial to collapse that I brought it to the attention of the court clerk (discreetly, after we'd been sent home for the night) and she told me I'd have to write to the judge - which I did. I was shitting it thinking that it might cause a mis trial but the clerk came back to me the next morning and said that basically, there is no assessment of jurors at all. If you are capable of turning up, then you're capable of being a juror.

When we retired, there were (as in any group) some more vocal than others, but I was keen to make sure everyone was heard so I asked her to give her views and she said "I don't know, I wasn't really listening".

I would say that in that case, it was two or three jury members (myself included) who steered the rest towards considering "the evidence" rather than "he looks guilty".

So from the defendant's point of view, it really is a lottery who decides you fate!

Yeah that's exactly the type of person I was referring to, ridiculous that she couldn't care less about something as important as that, but we both know she's not alone in that regard. You'd like to think that a 12 person jury would contain enough people such as yourself who would actually consider the evidence and make a balanced and reasoned decision, but you never know I guess. 

The thought of some posters on here alone deciding on the fate of a person is a scary enough thought! Definitely should be more vetting on who and who cannot be a jurour, but no doubt people would complain that it's discriminatory (despite it being for the benefit of a fair trial). 

[stripeyfox]

The other strange thing is that you never really get to know if you made the right call. It's not like the Judge says "well done, that's what I thought as well".

On one of the trials in particular (where we found the defendant not guilty of the more serious offence, but guilty of a less serious one), I'm still not sure that we got it right. It seems now almost as if we were split between "Guilty of most serious offence" and "Not Guilty of anything" so the middle ground seemed like a compromise almost.

I think we got it about right, but it is interesting the roll that the group dynamics plays.

[Voll Blau]

A relative of mine's on it at the moment, and I have experience of sitting in court cases through my work.

 

We both agree it's a real eye-opener as to how much time is actually wasted in the court system and how disorganised legal professionals seem to be.

 

Always love looking at juries though. Not so much when they're sniggering at a murder suspect's hapless defence mind, had to bow my head to stop laughing back and getting in trouble with the judge.

 

The guy went down for it, if you're interested.

[Tincy]

I got called up when I was 19, the week before I had been attacked on a night out and was in a bad way, needless to say I got out of doing it.

[Babylon]

Wasn't I a proper cockend

 

Good news, I got out of it anyway. They rang me up and said "we've got too many people, do you want to give it a miss".... errrrr yes.

 

I would absolutely love to do it, I'm still in the same situation I was back then... but **** my employer now. They have shown no loyalty to me.

[ramboacdc]

explain it to them and they should be able to either take you off or help accommodate you somehow.

 

just plucked this off their website

 

Excused from jury service because of job or circumstances

Unless your occupation or circumstances fall within Sections A, B or C of your Jury Notice, then you can't be automatically excused.

• Receiving a Jury Notice

You may, if you wish, make an application to put off your service or to be excused for a period of time but not at this stage - only if you receive a jury summons.

 

may help!

[stripeyfox]

I was lucky. My employer paid me for the time I was on Jury Service and if you hand in all your bus/train tickets etc it all gets refunded. In fact they paid me back more than I spent. You also get £5 a day to spend on food (in the court canteen). The court will also pay for other legitimate expenses incurred on duty (such as childcare).

There is quite a lot of sitting around but it's a good opportunity to have a chat with your fellow jurors (not about the case, obviously).

[DB11]

explain it to them and they should be able to either take you off or help accommodate you somehow.

 

just plucked this off their website

 

Excused from jury service because of job or circumstances

Unless your occupation or circumstances fall within Sections A, B or C of your Jury Notice, then you can't be automatically excused.

• Receiving a Jury Notice

You may, if you wish, make an application to put off your service or to be excused for a period of time but not at this stage - only if you receive a jury summons.

 

may help!

 

I think your reply to the OP is 11 years too late

 

I'd be really interested in doing jury duty. I have sat in the public gallery a few times back when I was a student and found it interesting... some of the clerks were proper nobs though. I think they assumed I was associated with the defendant as they treated me like I was guilty too!

[midland_red]

you can get excused on these sort of grounds......however.....you can only do this once. Your next summons will have to be met if you get one, even if you've already booked your holiday.

If you get called up for a long case - fraud especially - the judge wil lask people if they would have difficulty sitting for a long period of time, and those who answer yes with a good reason will be reassigned to a shorter case.

Like others I think its a civic duty too.

[Christoph]

Nothing like a 10 year thread bump . 

 

Guessing working for a small business didnt work out too well then Babylon? haha 

[separator]

My stepdad did jury service a few years ago, ended up on a high profile terrorism case, think it lasted about 6 weeks.

[The Year Of The Fox]

What sort of criminal record stuff makes you unable to be called up?

 

Driving endorsements for example?

[Rob1742]

The reason that I would go would be to sample court experience. You never know if you will ever have to make an appearance yourself and I suppose having sampled it for jury service would give you a level of knowledge

[Babylon]

Nothing like a 10 year thread bump .

Guessing working for a small business didnt work out too well then Babylon? haha

It is what it is (I sound like Nigel Pearson there), let's put it this way I'm a lot more world wise now. I used to prioritise work over other stuff... I don't do that now!

[pSinatra]

I was at Sheffield University when I got called up for jury service.  I didn't even know I was on the electoral roll?

 

I loved it.  Sheffield Crown Court was a stinky old building & we were in court 1 - the main one.  It was 1998 &  they've had a new courthouse built since then.

 

 

This is the main court.  The dock is on the right & the jury sat in the left corner, just in front of the judge.

 

The first week was awful.  A load of people sitting in a basement with no windows & nothing to do, except sit there waiting for a trial to begin - so we could get called up.  For a whole week I turned up, sat there for 8 hours & went home again.

 

The Monday of the second week, I finally got called up.  Walked into the court for the first time, sat down, not really knowing what to expect.  I could see three men sitting in the dock opposite & they looked rough as fvck. Two of them were brothers & were both bouncers.  Did the hand on the bible stuff & read out some sort of oath.  The usher then stood up & read out the charge.........murder.  I shit myself.

 

The murder was actually in Hull, where an alcoholic who weighed about 7 stone was beaten to death at a party.  One of the defendents was there for helping to cover up the murder & he was dismissed after a few hours.  He would later face a trial of his own.

 

It was pretty graphic stuff & the trial went on for a whole week.  These 2 huge men had beaten a frail man to his death - kicked, punched & beaten with copper piping.  The photos of the scene will stay with me forever.  The dead man's face had been caved in.  Photos of hair sticking out of a crack in a wardrobe door, where his head was when they kicked him with such force it had left an impression of his skull in the door.  Photos of a shoe with a piece of the dead man's skin attached.  Copper piping with blood, skin & hair attached.

 

The problem was that the murder had happened at like a half-way house for alcoholics.  All of the witnesses were alcoholics & unreliable.  It was clear to the jury that the two men were guilty & we would have said as much, given the opportunity.  It all seemed pretty straight forward to us.  The jury were constantly being asked to leave the court, as all sorts of plea bargaining was going on that we weren't privvy to.  They ended up pleading not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter - which was accepted by the court.  The jury was no longer required.  They were eventually sentenced to 3 years each for manslaughter.  They had already done 12 months on remand, so would be out in 6 months.

 

Disgusted with the outcome of the trial, but found it all very fascinating & genuinely enjoyed it.  I got on well with the other jury members & found their input interesting too.  A varied bunch of people & all decent folk.  A business owner, a brickie, a secretary, etc.  An old dear who sat there doing her knitting in the numerous quiet moments.

 

At the end of my 2 weeks jury service I got asked if I could do an extra week.  I would have loved to, but I had to sit my first year exams the following week.

 

I did speak to another chap one morning from a different trial.  He was a juror on a fraud case.  He had been there 2 months so far & he hated it.  I don't suppose all trials are going to be interesting.  It was horrendous, but feel quite lucky to have got the trial I did.