Jury service

[catweazle]

Any of you guys served on a jury?  I had a jury summons a while back, but now had a letter saying I'm not needed.

I did this many many years ago, sat in the jury room for two weeks. Got called to the court 3 times. First one didn't proceed due to some legal issue the defence raised, third one got empanelled, (nerdy looking 19 year old charged with kiddy fiddling) - changed his plea at the last minute.

Only actually tried one case - an Asian doctor accused of using his mobile on a plane (before "airplane mode" became commonplace).

Sat through the evidence. Went to 'consider our verdict'. Got to the jury room, and one guy said "anyone think he isn't guilty?".

Decided we couldn't decently go back with a verdict after 5 minutes, so sat and nattered for two hours, garnering a free lunch as we did so.

Went back, announced the verdict, and he got sent down for 3 months.

[daviemac]

Did it a few years ago, one case in each of the two weeks, both lasted about a day and a half. Rest of the time sitting about in the jury room chatting.

[Watts.E.Dunn]

Begs the question did anyone meet the love of theri life whilst On service;?...

Or bump into anyone who had "serviced" them;?..

Or someone in the Dock that they knew;!....

[winkywanky]

Begs the question did anyone meet the love of theri life whilst On service;?...

Or bump into anyone who had "serviced" them;?..

Or someone in the Dock that they knew;!....

...or perhaps all three, a WG you fell in love with, who was in the Dock for tax avoidance  .

In such a case you would obvs announce the conflict of interest to Court staff   

[winkywanky]

Never ever done Jury Service meself.

I'd always thought it was impossible to get called up twice but apparently you can, I know someone who has.

Still keeping my head down as I write.

[willie loman]

as a true crime buff, i enjoy attending the odd trial, sitting in the gallery at a murder trial in edinburgh, i was joined by the accused s girlfriend who was a sauna girl who i knew well as they say, we ignored each other. i would love to be on a jury, its quite a good earner, and plenty of chance of meeting someone

[MrMatrix]

I did jury service 5 years ago. 2 trials in 2 weeks both lasting about 3 days each. One of the ladies on my last jury I got very friendly with and even kissed as we said goodbye. As it happened we lived in opposite directions from the court, other wise I would have most likely followed this up.
Hopefully I'll never get called up again. It just intudes into your life

Mind you one poor sod I was talking  to, ended up on a 6 week trial, he was a landscape gardener and wasnt best pleased to be there. 

[daviemac]

as a true crime buff, i enjoy attending the odd trial, sitting in the gallery at a murder trial in edinburgh, i was joined by the accused s girlfriend who was a sauna girl who i knew well as they say, we ignored each other. i would love to be on a jury, its quite a good earner, and plenty of chance of meeting someone

I don't know where you get that from, unless it's different in Scotland. In England if you lose earnings you have to sign the declaration on the Certificate of Loss of Earnings and there's an upper limit to what you can claim.

You do get a meal allowance and travel expenses but they are fixed and if traveling by car the mileage is calculated using Google maps. Public transport is the price of the ticket.

[WelshMichael]

Never ever done Jury Service meself.

I'd always thought it was impossible to get called up twice but apparently you can, I know someone who has.

Still keeping my head down as I write.

I've actually been called up 3 times, though only went the first time. Second time was postponed then cancelled as the court I was due to be in was closed for refurb and the cases were transferred elsewhere. Was let off the third time a week before I was due to attend as they had too many jurors available. The time I did go I was only needed 5 days out of the 2 weeks though luckily I was called for 2 cases in that time so wasn't sitting around in the jury room.

[conrod]

Did it in 1980's.  On call for 2 weeks. Only on the last three days, was I on jury service.

It was a case of Importuning in a public place (i.e. a gents' toilet)  It was exactly as defined by Oxford Dictionary, "the claimant then identified himself as a police officer and arrested him for importuning"

6 guys and 6 lasses on the jury.  At the start all 6 guys thought he was guilty but the six lasses thought he was innocent.  It was explained to the lasses how men actually behaved in public toilets that they weren't aware of.

About 40 minutes later, we all found him guilty.

[FiveKnuckles]

Got called a few years back and sat through a few cases. 
One was a bus stabbing, some local gang dispute. 
Another was some drunk woman shouting racist shit on transport, her plea soon changed after seeing the mixed faces on the jury and the case was closed for sentencing.   

[Chorley]

No! Thank fuck!

[teddyking]

Got called a few years back and sat through a few cases. 
One was a bus stabbing, some local gang dispute. 
Another was some drunk woman shouting racist shit on transport, her plea soon changed after seeing the mixed faces on the jury and the case was closed for sentencing.   

Loool 🤣🤣

[willie loman]

I don't know where you get that from, unless it's different in Scotland. In England if you lose earnings you have to sign the declaration on the Certificate of Loss of Earnings and there's an upper limit to what you can claim.

You do get a meal allowance and travel expenses but they are fixed and if traveling by car the mileage is calculated using Google maps. Public transport is the price of the ticket.

for most people it might be a loss, but the daily allowance given to me for just turning up, was fine 20 years ago,i wasnt needed, if the trial goes on for more than a week, the rate goes up to 100 a day, that was back then , given that up here they knock off early most days. In France and other countries, courts have a very long working day.

[radioman33]

Haven’t done jury service but watched some court cases as interesting.How your fate is all in the hands of them random people and not the judge.

[OakTree]

I did jury service in the late nighties at the old Bailey. It was quite a harrowing rape case. The trial lasted two weeks. We then went off to decide the verdict and I was quite stunned that after all that time we’d sat in the court, the first thing out of one of the other jurors mouth was (in a rather posh voice) "Well this chap is certainly guilty as far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t even changed his shirt all this week."

He was also quite keen to be the foreman of the jury. Fortunately he was comprehensively voted down.

[davidgood]

Never ever done Jury Service meself.

I'd always thought it was impossible to get called up twice but apparently you can, I know someone who has.

Still keeping my head down as I write.

I have done it twice about 10 years apart in different courts.

I think it is rare but  you can be called several times. You can refuse if it is less than 2 years since the last stint. If you are over 70 you do not get called.

Regards,

davidgood

[daviemac]

I have done it twice about 10 years apart in different courts.

I think it is rare but  you can be called several times. You can refuse if it is less than 2 years since the last stint. If you are over 70 you do not get called.

Regards,

davidgood

The upper age limit is 75 now mate.

Edit

In England and Wales, don't know about Scotland.

[Aldebaran]

Got called up many years ago, and was quite looking forward to it as an experience. My boss said "How long do you think you'll be away?" so I phoned and asked them because my boss wanted some idea, and the guy at the other end just said  "Oh, well if your boss is objecting I'll take you off the list." and before I could object he hung up, so I never got to serve.

[Blackpool Rock]

for most people it might be a loss, but the daily allowance given to me for just turning up, was fine 20 years ago,i wasnt needed, if the trial goes on for more than a week, the rate goes up to 100 a day, that was back then , given that up here they knock off early most days. In France and other countries, courts have a very long working day.

Not done it myself but I know of people who have done it and was surprised at how much or rather little they pay, one person I worked with seemed to resent the fact (understandable) they were out of pocket but still had to begrudgingly attend.
The problem here is how diligent and committed will some people be to the process if they have an axe to grind due to being out of pocket 

[Blackpool Rock]

Haven’t done jury service but watched some court cases as interesting.How your fate is all in the hands of them random people and not the judge.

Yeah I know someone about 30 years ago who said they were quite shocked at quite a few of the other jury members and how bad their thought process / decision making was as to whether the defendant was innocent or guilty

For one case the jury were asked to go away and come back with a verdict but it was getting late in the day.
Some of the jurors were obviously looking to just get the verdict (any verdict) agreed so they could get off home, stuff like "I can't be late tonight as i'm supposed to pick my lad up from football training" was met with someone else saying they were starving yesterday by the time they got home so i'll say guilty if it gets me out quicker  When pointed out that some people thought the guy was innocent he then switched to saying Well OK then innocent, I don't care I just want to go home 

Part of the problem was that people didn't seem able to grasp the verdict wasn't whether they liked the look of the accused or thought he looked dodgy (which he did) and it wasn't whether they thought he was guilty but whether the prosecution had been able to prove that he was guilty, as in innocent until proven guilty.
It sounded like a serious case which would have meant a few years behind bars if convicted and quite shocking that people were more than happy to potentially ruin someone's life as they didn't want to wait for their tea two nights in a row 

I believe the system is increasingly trying to move away from jury tried cases especially for some more serious cases or ones that are likely to drag on a bit as they understand the majority of people just aren't up to the job.

[winkywanky]

Yeah I know someone about 30 years ago who said they were quite shocked at quite a few of the other jury members and how bad their thought process / decision making was as to whether the defendant was innocent or guilty

For one case the jury were asked to go away and come back with a verdict but it was getting late in the day.
Some of the jurors were obviously looking to just get the verdict (any verdict) agreed so they could get off home, stuff like "I can't be late tonight as i'm supposed to pick my lad up from football training" was met with someone else saying they were starving yesterday by the time they got home so i'll say guilty if it gets me out quicker  When pointed out that some people thought the guy was innocent he then switched to saying Well OK then innocent, I don't care I just want to go home 

Part of the problem was that people didn't seem able to grasp the verdict wasn't whether they liked the look of the accused or thought he looked dodgy (which he did) and it wasn't whether they thought he was guilty but whether the prosecution had been able to prove that he was guilty, as in innocent until proven guilty.
It sounded like a serious case which would have meant a few years behind bars if convicted and quite shocking that people were more than happy to potentially ruin someone's life as they didn't want to wait for their tea two nights in a row 

I believe the system is increasingly trying to move away from jury tried cases especially for some more serious cases or ones that are likely to drag on a bit as they understand the majority of people just aren't up to the job.

Aren't there even some big, longstanding democracies who try very big cases with a panel of judges, not a jury?

I'm sure I remember being surprised at this.

But when you consider the golden rule (OK, well my golden rule  ) that at least 10% of people are selfish twats and don't really care about anyone or anything but themselves or their own, then to hear some of these jury stories is hardly a surprise at all.

[winkywanky]

And I would add that over recent years, any sense of collective responsibilty or duty has been on the wane generally.

Not enough people want to do the right thing.

[Stevelondon]

I’m glad some of the more incredibly complex trials are carried out without juries. Years back there were cases where the poor jurors didn’t have a clue what was going on never mind having to come up with a guilty or innocent decision.

I suspect I’m like a lot of others. If I could have found an excuse to get off not doing it I would have.
Bloody boring.