Just back from jury duty.

[alarimer]

I have to say it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience for me, mainly because of my fellow jurors. The case was really short, only a day and a half. It was clear, though, that they had all (or mostly all) made up their minds before we even got to the end of things. In the end, I suppose we did the right thing but I am uncomfortable with the rush to judgment. The last time I served, the same thing happened. I was surrounded by unthinking, thoughtless people who wanted to get out of there on both occasions.

I have decided that, if called, I will never serve again, because I find the idea of judging another human being repugnant and I am inclined by nature to favor the underdog, which in my opinion is usually the defendant. I feel really bad for the defendant. I don't think he is a bad person at all; I think he just made a mistake.

[Wapsie B]

1. I've found that the jury selection process is doing a horrible job at weeding out

those who see the accused automatically guilty. It's been my experience that there's not a lot of deep thought going on during deliberation after a trial. Unless the defendant is a cop or someone wealthy or in any other demographic favorable in the eyes of conservative America you're guilty until proven innocent.

[alarimer]

2. They didn't question us individually except as a followup if we raised our hand

I suppose because that would have taken too much time. There wasn't much thought at all. It wasn't very complicated and it wasn't obvious that anyone on either side was lying. But still, I would have felt better with a little bit more deliberation.

[hamsterjill]

3. They figure if the defendant is charged, he is guilty automatically.

I mean, how could the system be wrong???!!! (Sarcasm, of course).

I've found the same to be true when I've been called. Most people don't care about the evidence. They just want to get out of there and go on about their lives. They would feel differently if it were THEM on trial!

[Kat45]

4. I had the opposite experience.

I was on a jury for a DUI. I have no idea if the man was guilty or innocent, but I did not think the main witness, the cop who arrested the man, presented a very good case. IMHO, he did not prove guilt. I thought the deliberations went on much longer than should have been necessary. I got the impression that people were reluctant to let somebody off the hook for a DUI (in case he did do it).

[AnArmyVeteran]

5. Don't stop serving... sanity and reason need to be present in juries...

I don't have much faith in peoples' judgments, especially as jurors. It takes a lot of life's skills to be a good juror. If you stop serving you will leave that responsibility to the least qualified people. And who knows, if you were a defendant before a jury wouldn't you want people who could reason and see through the facade that usually accompanies a typical trial?

[alarimer]

8. I don't think I can be objective enough

Most of the time I sympathize with the downtrodden. I err on the side of the defendant almost always (except when the defendant is a rich white banker who defrauded little old ladies out of their pensions- then I would bend over backwards to convict them). On the other hand, since most people are the opposite of me, maybe it would do some good.

Mostly I think the system is terrible. I would not want to be judged by these assholes.

[Roon]

6. I served on a stabbing case once

The girl probably stabbed that other girl but the prosecution had a very weak case. The witnesses were all drunk in a dark bar parking lot,not very realiable and not one of them could say for sure or not that the defendent stabbed the victim.We found her not guilty.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. The only time I've been called for jury duty...

.
...I ended up being selected for a murder one trial. A young woman had
shot her boyfriend and disappeared and seems to have ALMOST gotten away
with it (mistaken time of death at first gave her an alibi).
.
Young, pretty, white, corporate-type defendant. Slightly older Mexican,
bearded, hardcore hippie yoga instructor victim. She claimed that he had
been so remorseful about what he had just done to her that he took the
gun she had pointed at his head and PULLED it hard into his foredhead
saying, "I deserve to die" and the gun "accidentally" went off.
.
It felt like I was Henry Fonda in "Twelve Angry Men" except the reverse --
at the beginning of the deliberations I was totally convinced that she
was guilty. Many of the jurors (totally unfamiliar with guns) had not
understood what was an EXCELLENT presentation by the prosecutor about
the shooting. I asked the judge to allow her to explain again and she
did -- which turned around the judgment of about half the jurors. It
started out (I think) two for 1st degree murder, 9 for 2nd degree, and
one not guilty. When we finally gave up, I think it was nine for 1st,
two for 2nd, and one for manslaughter.
.
The one not guilty/manslaughter vote was an old homophobic racist. The
defendant claimed that the victim had anally raped her (EVERY one of the
witnesses testified that this guy was an EXCEPTIONALLY gentle, peaceful
man who they had never heard even raise his voice -- including one ex-wife
and an ex-longterm girlfriend) and this juror kept asking weird questions
about the victim's relationship with the buddy who testified about his
character at the trial -- sent weird homophobic questions to the judge in
paper form during the trial, and insisted on referring to him as a "GAY-ro"
instead of a guru. We later found out that we probably could have had him
removed as a juror, but they keep you in the dark about such things while
the trial is in progress. We came close to turning him in and he changed
his vote from "not guilty" to guilty of manslaughter.
.
It had to be a unanimous vote. The trial took two weeks or more and two
of the jurors were self-employed contractors and after a while, ALL they
had to talk about was getting the damn thing over with so they could start
making money again.
.
We ended up with a hung jury (not that I like to brag about that or
nothin').
.
They tried her again the following year and convicted her of second-degree
murder.
.
It was grueling. It was frustrating. It was VERY sad. And it was fascinating.
.