> Unfortunately, when I talk to my "smart" friends who have been called for
> jury duty, they report that as soon as one of the lawyers finds out what
> they do for a living ("programmer", "tech writer", "university professor",
> etc.), they are summarily dismissed. Far too often, the lawyers trying a
> case do not seem to want intelligent jurors who can think for themselves,
> rather they seem to want jurors who they think can be manipulated into
> voting their way. I've also heard of potential jurors for criminal trials
> being dismissed after the lawyer asked them how they feel about the
> police: are they likely to believe the police are always right and vote
in
> favor of conviction, or do they distrust the police and so are more likely
> to vote in favor of acquittal?
I've been a juror and the rules change from court to court. Eight people
didn't show up, and a whole bunch tried to get out. (This was before the
nine judges with 100+ jurors in the room). The people who were trying to get
out had excuses like, I'm a teacher or doctor, I'm going on vacation, and
others. The judges only let one person go, he was a houseparent in a
juvenile detention house.
Everyone had to show up at noon Monday. There were strict instructions on
how to get an excuse from JD before your week came up. Of the eight people
who didn't show, two were dead, three thought it was canceled (it had snowed
heavily the night before), and two said they had no transportation. The last
one was on vacation, but the judge had not allowed the vacation as an
excuse. The guy had just taken off, he didn't have reservations he couldn't
cancel and other things. He just said, "I had already scheduled that week
for vacation, so I can't come in for jury duty." A warrant was issued, he
was arrested.it was funny.
For the three trials I sat on, the questions to the jury pool were very
general and was done by hand raises. Do you know the defendant? Do you know
the arresting officer? Do you have an experience in (the crime location or
field). There were no questions about occupation or education or other
things which may mark a juror as 'trouble'.
One judge did say that for a capital crime, there would be hand written
questionnaires, but the questions would again only pertain to knowledge of
the crime, and the answers would be typed up.
But other things were different. You couldn't take notes during the trial,
while we were arguing there were a lot of questions the judge wouldn't
answer, things during the trial were not like you see 'on TV'.
A friend's father was on a federal jury and had practically the same
experience. Another person I know only had to call a number each morning for
a week, never had to leave work.
Kevin T.
Back from the show. Is the phone ringing?
