Jury Duty

[Nelson Bradford]

For the first time in my 72+ years I have jury duty beginning tomorrow. Have to be at the court house at 9:00 a.m.

Any suggestions?

-neb

[Gord Evans]

For the first time in my 72+ years I have jury duty beginning tomorrow. Have to be at the court house at 9:00 a.m.

Any suggestions?

-neb

1. Don't be late!

2. Don't forget your March 22nd hymn! (which we're singing this morning ...)

Oh, and a third but very important thought:

3. Don't forget flowers for Norma!!

[Barb Bouldrey]

Enjoy watching the real life process. You may not get selected. Often lawyers do not want Christians who take a firm stand against drinking and drunkeness if the trial is alcohol related. They have the mindset that Christians are too "black and white" in their thinking.

John has been summoned several times and never made the jury because preachers are too "black and white" in their opinions.

I have been on a jury twice and really enjoyed it. One trial was 6 days long.

Barb

[Cecil Wallace]

AND....
Practice saying "Guilty!" just in case you need it.

Be sure to volunteer to be the jury foreman on your panel if you are selected on a jury panel....... NOT.

Enjoy doing your duty.

I have not been chosen to be on a jury panel in many years, even when I'm called to jury duty.
I wouldn't mind sitting on a jury panel some time, even though I can get an exemption because of my 73 yrs of age.
:cool:

[Joel Merrill]

Yes, I have advice. When you go in, try to sit by yourself. Don't talk to anyone! Especially don't joke. Take a non-controversial book to read, like a cross word puzzle book. You could be there several hours even if you aren't picked. If you get picked, put on your poker face at all times.

I did jury duty a few years ago. The first case was a malpractice case against a doctor. The plaintiff didn't have much of a case and the whole process took less that a week. I thought it was very interesting to see how the system worked.

A few weeks later I was called for another case. This time the court room was full of prospective jurors. I didn't know it yet but this was an important murder case. I saw a kid I know from work. He had also been on the previous jury with me. He wasn't a close friend but since I knew him, I sat with him. That was a BIG mistake. Before the judge even came out, an older lady came in and sat a couple rows behind us. As she sat down, she said in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear, "I don't know why we are hear, they let them all go free anyway." When she said that, I remember thinking she had a bad attitude but in a crowd that size you are going to have some people who think that. Then the kid I was sitting with said, "Well we hang'um all here." After the judge came out and the first group was picked, he was chosen as one of them. Then the lawyers started their questioning of the jurors and I tried to take a nap. It wasn't long before they started taking the jurors one by one into the judge's chamber for questioning. They called that kid last. Then they called me. I was the only one they called off the floor. That kid had told them that I said, "We hang'um all here", and the judge believed him. So the judge chewed me out real bad and then went out and call a mistrial. They never did talk to that lady.

Joel :basic04

[Dana Grant]

For the first time in my 72+ years I have jury duty beginning tomorrow. Have to be at the court house at 9:00 a.m.

Any suggestions?

-neb

Make sure you take something to read and a bottle of water.


It could be a long day.

On the other hand, it could be a very busy day -- it just depends.

Be prepared.

Have fun.

I have been on a jury and thoroughly enjoyed myself, although it is a big responsibility not to be taken lightly, but I enjoyed the whole process.

[Doris Grant]

I have had jury duty several time and have even been called to serve for grand jury. It can be boring at times but if it is an good case it could become very interesting.

Doris

[Nelson Bradford]

I was planning on taking Barclay's commentary on 1 John.

WHY NOT?

I am VERY serious, Joel.

[Dave McClung]

Any suggestions?

-neb

Take a full supply of patience. You will do a lot of just sitting.

Recently, when I was called for Jury Duty, I had to go to the court house every day for two weeks.

I got assigned to three different court rooms, where we were introduced to the judge the lawyer's and the defendant. In all three cases, once the defendant got a look at the potential jury panel, they changed their plea to "guilty." (Who said I looked threatening?)

In Texas, where I am licensed as a lawyer, once a juror is assigned to a court if they are dismissed they can go home. In Washington, if one is dismissed from a case, they have to go back to the central jury room and wait to be assigned to another case.

[Joel Merrill]

I was planning on taking Barclay's commentary on 1 John.

WHY NOT?

I am VERY serious, Joel.
I don't think anyone would even notice that or know what it was. I don't think I would take an NRA magazine even thought I am an NRA member. My main point is just be careful. What happened to me will probably not happen to you, but I wouldn't sit with anyone I knew or strike up a conversation ahead of time. Just sit quietly and mind your own business.

Joel

[Andrea Larabee]

Enjoy watching the real life process. You may not get selected. Often lawyers do not want Christians who take a firm stand against drinking and drunkeness if the trial is alcohol related. They have the mindset that Christians are too "black and white" in their thinking.

John has been summoned several times and never made the jury because preachers are too "black and white" in their opinions.

I have been on a jury twice and really enjoyed it. One trial was 6 days long.

Barb

The first time I ever had jury duty was in Houston. It was a DUI case. The lawyer had no problem picking me, a church secretary, at the time. I even had a bad episode with my hypo-glycemia. The bayliff or court reporter (don't remember which) ended up giving me their pre-packaged peanut butter crackers to get my blood sugar back up. That lawyer STILL wanted me back the next day. I was surprised!

[Gary Swartzlander]

It can be an experience. About 3 years ago I was on a jury for a murder trial. The victim was a 3 year old boy. The accused was the moms boyfriend.

Without going into a lot of detail, we did what we could with the evidence we had and reached a verdict of not guilty. Following the trial when we were able to know more we found out that indeed he had done it, but because the boys mother had also been accused that information shared in her trial could not be used in the trial we heard. The mother was charged because she basically stood by while the boyfriend beat the boy. She's serving a life sentence in prison while the boyfriend later pled guilty to an abuse charge and is serving 4 or 5 years if I remember correctly.

Good Luck

[Joel Merrill]

It can be an experience. About 3 years ago I was on a jury for a murder trial. The victim was a 3 year old boy. The accused was the moms boyfriend.

Without going into a lot of detail, we did what we could with the evidence we had and reached a verdict of not guilty. Following the trial when we were able to know more we found out that indeed he had done it, but because the boys mother had also been accused that information shared in her trial could not be used in the trial we heard. The mother was charged because she basically stood by while the boyfriend beat the boy. She's serving a life sentence in prison while the boyfriend later pled guilty to an abuse charge and is serving 4 or 5 years if I remember correctly.

Good Luck
That doesn't seem right. :basic04 After the trial that I did jury duty on was over, we were all interested in the machine the court recorder used. A bunch of us went over to talk to her and have her show us how it worked. Someone asked her how often she is surprised by the verdict. She said quite often.

Joel

[Nelson Bradford]

Am going with original plan
-neb