For shereads...these are your peers.

[ABSTRUSE]

D.A. Confronts 'Jury Pool From Hell'

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Defense attorney Leslie Ballin called it the "jury pool from hell." The group of prospective jurors was summoned to listen to a case of Tennessee trailer park violence. Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, "I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."



When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed.


Another would-be juror said he had had alcohol problems and was arrested for soliciting sex from an undercover officer. "I should have known something was up," he said. "She had all her teeth."


Another prospect volunteered he probably should not be on the jury: "In my neighborhood, everyone knows that if you get Mr. Ballin (as your lawyer), you're probably guilty." He was not chosen.


The case involved a woman accused of hitting her brother's girlfriend in the face with a brick. Ballin's client was found not guilty.

 

[Guest]

ive been called for jury duty five times and never sat for a single case.
we used to sit around, thinking of things to say that would get us out of it...not very patriotic is it? hrm...

however, i never did need to make up an excuse. Four of the five times i was called, i knew the doctors in the cases...odd huh?

 

[ABSTRUSE]

ive been called for jury duty five times and never sat for a single case.
we used to sit around, thinking of things to say that would get us out of it...not very patriotic is it? hrm...

however, i never did need to make up an excuse. Four of the five times i was called, i knew the doctors in the cases...odd huh?

did you have a brick in your purse too?

 

[Guest]

did you have a brick in your purse too?

no one was supposed to know that.
damn you for a blabber mouth!

 

[ABSTRUSE]

no one was supposed to know that.
damn you for a blabber mouth!

next time don't hit me so hard upside the head.

wearing a helmet constantly is starting to grow on me.

 

[shereads]

ive been called for jury duty five times and never sat for a single case.
we used to sit around, thinking of things to say that would get us out of it...not very patriotic is it? hrm...

I tried answering, "No," to the question about being fair and impartial and that didn't work. It was only a murder trial.

Abs, these are good. Just fyi, I have no peers, as such. That's why I object to a jury of them.


Best Jury Wierdo is the Louisiana woman who sued to be allowed to wear her Star Trek Federation uniform as a juror - and won. Imagine being dragged down the Green Mile to your execution, knowing that among the people who convicted you of murder was a Federation lieutenant in full regalia.

(If you think the AH is an unhealthy obsession, see the documentary film, "Trekkies." Makes this look like a quilting bee.)

 

[Awful Arthur]

wearing a helmet constantly is starting to grow on me.

You look cute in a helmet too but you might want to go to a single bar face mask.

AA

 

[oggbashan]

I have been called for jury service twice.

Each time I was elected Foreman. All the cases were minor thefts or criminal damage. The only reason they went to jury trial was because the defendants knew they would be convicted in a lower court. Their behaviour in the dock was an obvious clue that it was a familiar place.

In one case all the defendants were pronounced 'Guilty' on all charges. Then the jury was told of the defendants' previous convictions. For this group of four, even aggregating crimes together such as '104 burglaries, 340 taken into account...' it took five minutes to read out their convictions. The newly convicted seemed to think another conviction was a joke.

For hours we had been arguing that each should be given the benefit of the doubt because this might be their first offence or even if it wasn't they might have been framed by the Police on this occasion. We finally agreed that the Prosecution had proved their guilt beyond reasonable doubt after a long discussion about what was or was not 'reasonable'.

The lady would had argued longest that they were innocent said as we left the court...








...'Oops!'

Og

 

[cantdog]

shereads:
Just fyi, I have no peers, as such.

Ayep. She beat me to it.

I've been in the jury room, and it is very odd the way people think. I call it thinking, because there isn't a good word for it. But I had been inoculated by my service on the ambulance. If you stay calm and lay out the logic step by step, it has no visible effect, but it's still worth doing. After the third bout of it, people look to you for leadership in a kind of translogical and instinctive fashion. The actual arguments mean little, but the conclusions sound good because you, the smart one, have said them.

Very sad. It made me despair.

cantdog

 

[Op_Cit]

ive been called for jury duty five times and never sat for a single case.
we used to sit around, thinking of things to say that would get us out of it...not very patriotic is it? hrm...

however, i never did need to make up an excuse. Four of the five times i was called, i knew the doctors in the cases...odd huh?

Just mention the term "jury nullification" and you'll be out the door in no time. Seriously, all you have to do is raise your hand and ask what it means.

The mafia that controls the legal system (a.k.a. the Bar) hates the concept even though it is the reason the jury system came into existence in the first place.

I used to want to be on one until I saw that the last person they (either side) want on a jury is a rational one.

 

[Guest]

Ok, speaking of "peers". I was on a jury for civil suit involving less than a thousand dollars. One juror must have been asleep during the trial, only he thought differently than the majority. He was 35-ish.

The jury room had its own W.C. We were instructed to only discuss the case when all 12 of us were in the room, i.e., not when someone went to the closet.

During civil arguements to the one dissenting juror, he got up and said, "I'm going to the bathroom. I don't know how long I will be."

Perdita

 

[shereads]

I have been called for jury service twice.

I hope you insisted on dressing as a famous figure from history. Maybe not Henry VIII.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Abs, these are good. Just fyi, I have no peers, as such. That's why I object to a jury of them.

I go out of my way for you and this is what I get???

I will not be ignored.

You think you're better than everyone else...don't you Sher?

flicking lights on and off while listening to Madam Butterfly..........

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Scott Adams said that the court system was fucked up because it is painfully easy to get out of jury duty and thus the only people who do it are those whose personal lives are worse than jury duty. He said "If I was one of those people I'd convict an innocent man just to see the look on his face as the verdict was read."

Considering the stunt I pulled at the last time I was called to jury duty (I was in the middle of a big summer internship but didn't want to delay into the school year), I'd tend to agree with them.

Still liked the look on both the lawyer's faces when I said I didn't believe in mandatory drug sentences. Hee hee.

 

[Awful Arthur]

ive been called for jury duty five times and never sat for a single case.
we used to sit around, thinking of things to say that would get us out of it...not very patriotic is it? hrm...

however, i never did need to make up an excuse. Four of the five times i was called, i knew the doctors in the cases...odd huh?

A judge I know got so fed up with jurors making up things to get themselves off juries that he began ordering those excused to observe the trial until it ended or for at least a week. He instructed them that being excused from a jury did not excuse them from jury duty and applied the law.

AA

 

[shereads]

I go out of my way for you and this is what I get???

I will not be ignored.

You think you're better than everyone else...don't you Sher?

flicking lights on and off while listening to Madam Butterfly..........

I don't know everyone.

 

[carsonshepherd]

This was in Memphis? Why does that not surprise me?

(I can say that 'cause I LIVE there... or here. Whatever)

 

[Guest]

This was in Memphis? Why does that not surprise me?

(I can say that 'cause I LIVE there... or here. Whatever)

im tracking you as we speak...wiff my handy dandy gps

 

[carsonshepherd]

im tracking you as we speak...wiff my handy dandy gps

 

[OhMissScarlett]

This was in Memphis? Why does that not surprise me?

(I can say that 'cause I LIVE there... or here. Whatever)

"I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."

Carson, I told you to lay off the booze and drugs before jury duty.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Carson, I told you to lay off the booze and drugs before jury duty.

 

[oggbashan]

I hope you insisted on dressing as a famous figure from history. Maybe not Henry VIII.

I made the mistake of turning up wearing a suit and tie. If I hadn't got a beard I would have been rejected by the defence. The beard cancelled out the effect of the suit.

Next time I'll wear jeans and sweatshirt. That and the beard should get me challenged by the prosecution.

Unfortunately most of the local lawyers know exactly who I am so any disguise wouldn't work. Last time I appeared before our local magistrates applying for a drinks licence for a club event I knew two of the three magistrates socially and the third knew of me. They threatened NOT to give me a licence because I was 'notorious'. The police witness jumped up to intervene on my behalf and was told to shut up.

The magistrate's clerk recorded the decision in formal language despite the Chairman's decision "OK, <nickname>, just this once. We want a free beer when we come."

Og