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Jury duty was one of the most powerful/rewarding experiences of my life

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T

T Dollarz

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The last three days I have been on jury duty and I must say, it was an experience that I will never forget. After showing up on Monday, my number was called early, about 10am. So already, the whole "waiting bored all day" thing went out the window. From there on it only got more and more interesting. There were 30 of us initially, and the attorneys question is and weed us down to 12 jurors. Once we knew the twelve of us we broke for lunch and then game back to hear opening statements from the attorneys.

Now this was a civil case, of a car accident, with a suit against one driver and a counter suit from that driver against the other. Because of this both sides had two lawyers, one for their case and one for defense. I could get deep into the details of the case that I have spent about 18 hours over the last 3 days being battered down in the courtroom with from attorneys, testimonies from the two parties and a witness, and doctors. Soooo many fine details at play. What made the case so compelling was that both drivers were at some fault, and all of us agreed on that.

One of the other interesting things about this was the genuine bond most of us jurors made with each other. By the end of the third day you really got the sense that we all knew each other, 12 complete strangers just a couple days prior. So after closing arguments from the attorneys today, we go into deliberation. The 12 of us go back into our jury room of the last 3 days, the deputy takes our phones and we all have to come to a verdict. It took us 4 hours of THOROUGH discussion and debate. That itself was such an incredible experience. We were all taking it very seriously. Out of the 12, there were about 8 of us that were deep into the discussion, and the other 4 really had nothing to say which was fine, the 8 of us were digging really deep into the case.

In the end, after three days of obscene amounts of coffee, copious debate, and inherent social bondage, we came to a consensus at about 5pm. We walked back into the courtroom to give our verdict, and as the judge read it, I was looking over at the defense, and the one lawyer when he heard we marked it 50/50 showed the biggest smile of surprise, filled with glee patting his client on the shoulder. That moment almost moved me to tears, honestly. I suppose it wouldn't hit home without knowing the details of the case, but for all of us it was a special time.

I will never forget this experience, it had a great effect on me. I can't believe the stigma associated with jury duty, I can't possibly think of a more rewarding way I could have spent the last few days. I hope that more people will go into the experience with an open mind, because for me it was a very powerful one.
 
I had to serve on junior jury duty because I accidentally broke a school bus window.

It's wasn't too rewarding.
 
I don't think anyone in my family has done this. Are there certain requirements or something? I hope I am ineligible.
 
I got called for Jury Duty three months ago.

I hope I never get called again. I've never been so bored before.
 
I always hope I get chosen to be on a jury. I always sit forever then get dismissed. Lame.

Your experience sounds great OP and I hope I get one similar someday.
 
I was picked for the upcoming week of May 16. I have to call in each night starting May 15 to see if I need to report. I'm 33, and have never been selected. I love government (and work in it). I started volunteering as a chief inspector at a city polling place in the February primary (two elections, so far). Being a public servant is an extremely rewarding experience, in my opinion.

It takes all types to make the world go round.
 
It makes me so happy to hear this! As a US citizen, jury duty is one of our most important civic duties and vital to our system of justice. It's one of the instances where there average citizenry has direct contact with our judicial system. Unfortunately, I have only ever been placed in a jury pool, but never even made it to voir dire. I consider you lucky.
 
My family is full of racist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic, commy hating, sons of bitches.

The excuse works 60% all the time.
 
I've done it once, and while the case was interesting the overall debate was not. It was a clear cut case of Police officers being clearly mistaken yet convicted to their word, which was plainly obvious by the time we entered the deliberation chamber. Out of the 12 jurors, all but one of us agreed within the first hour of being in the room that the defendant wasn't guilty. Or at the very least could not have been proven to be guilty. That was not the end of it however, as due to the nature of these processes, we spent the next four days wearing down the one woman who refused to give the "not guilty" vote.

The worst part was on day two when she put her head down on the table, covered her ears and said, "I'm tired of talking about this." And refused to speak to us for four hours, never once removing her head form the table until the day was done. We attempted to pass the time by re-attempting the debate from the position of devil's advocate in effort to undo our own resolve. She ultimately gave up on day four, much to everyone's relief.
 
I was one on jury duty once, and yeah, once you get into deliberation it can be kinda exciting. There was a lot of back and forth going on between people who felt differently about the case, and even after presenting how I felt about my side there were times I felt I could change my vote after hearing from others. Though there were couple people at the end that seemed pretty intent on their ways but flipped over probably because they didn't want to cause a hung jury.
 
Ominym said:
The worst part was on day two when she put her head down on the table, covered her ears and said, "I'm tired of talking about this." And refused to speak to us for four hours, never once removing her head form the table until the day was done. We attempted to pass the time by re-attempting the debate from the position of devil's advocate in effort to undo our own resolve. She ultimately gave up on day four, much to everyone's relief.
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When I served on an actual jury there was a holdout too. Thankfully not for 4 days however.

Sitting in the jury pool sucks but getting on an actual trial is a great experience.
 
Ominym said:
I've done it once, and while the case was interesting the overall debate was not. It was a clear cut case of Police officers being clearly mistaken yet convicted to their word, which was plainly obvious by the time we entered the deliberation chamber. Out of the 12 jurors, all but one of us agreed within the first hour of being in the room that the defendant wasn't guilty. Or at the very least could not have been proven to be guilty. That was not the end of it however, as due to the nature of these processes, we spent the next four days wearing down the one woman who refused to give the "not guilty" vote.

The worst part was on day two when she put her head down on the table, covered her ears and said, "I'm tired of talking about this." And refused to speak to us for four hours, never once removing her head form the table until the day was done. We attempted to pass the time by re-attempting the debate from the position of devil's advocate in effort to undo our own resolve. She ultimately gave up on day four, much to everyone's relief.
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Maybe she watched 12 angry men too often.
 
I had to do Grand Jury duty for 2 weeks. The first week none of us spoke to each other. The second week was awkward conversations. Last day we got a bit friendly with each other. Extremely boring imo. We had to listen to evidence after evidence. In one case we had to watch a 4 hr video from a surveillance camera.

Wish I had regular jury duty with a single case where we decided if a side was guilty or not.
 
I hate getting called for jury duty. It's a long distance to travel, parking isn't free, it's way too early in the morning, and I have very little chance of getting through the selection process. I've read that in my area they don't enforce any penalties for ignoring your jury duty notice since enough people do actually show up, so I'm thinking next notice might go straight to the recycling.
 
Familienoberhauptvogel said:
You don't get how debating for hours on end after sitting in a courtroom for what feels like an eternity over multiple days for no pay might be unpopular?
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Dunno how it works in the US, but down here in Aus, our employers have to keep paying us normal rate while we are on Jury duty.

I've always wanted to be on Jury duty. Never had the chance.
 
They've been sending me notices. When you work full time this shit is fucking awful. I delayed it once and gonna delay it again hoping they dont send me shit a 3rd time. System is complete fucked especially since employers dont pay for that shit most of the time.
 
falcs said:
Dunno how it works in the US, but down here in Aus, our employers have to keep paying us normal rate while we are on Jury duty.

I've always wanted to be on Jury duty. Never had the chance.
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It depends on your employer. Some do, some don't. Tends to be the better your job is the more likely your employer will pay for it, unfortunately.

I also had a good experience on jury duty. I wouldn't call it rewarding, but I do think it's something that everybody ought to do once.
 
Ominym said:
I've done it once, and while the case was interesting the overall debate was not. It was a clear cut case of Police officers being clearly mistaken yet convicted to their word, which was plainly obvious by the time we entered the deliberation chamber. Out of the 12 jurors, all but one of us agreed within the first hour of being in the room that the defendant wasn't guilty. Or at the very least could not have been proven to be guilty. That was not the end of it however, as due to the nature of these processes, we spent the next four days wearing down the one woman who refused to give the "not guilty" vote.

The worst part was on day two when she put her head down on the table, covered her ears and said, "I'm tired of talking about this." And refused to speak to us for four hours, never once removing her head form the table until the day was done. We attempted to pass the time by re-attempting the debate from the position of devil's advocate in effort to undo our own resolve. She ultimately gave up on day four, much to everyone's relief.
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Cant jurors be kicked out for such tactics?
 
falcs said:
Dunno how it works in the US, but down here in Aus, our employers have to keep paying us normal rate while we are on Jury duty.

I've always wanted to be on Jury duty. Never had the chance.
Click to expand...
I believe they are supposed to, but last time I had jury duty I worked retail and they just made that my day off, so I was still able to get ask of my hours for the week plus get to wait for my number to maybe get called.

Never been on a jury and would like to. I know out is an inconvenience, by really is disheartening to see people try to get out of it. Even if i got called in once a year I would still gladly go. Just take a book or a DS and wait.
 
I loved my jury duty experience. About 10 years ago I served on a jury for a bank robbery case (not an intricate Inside Man type of bank robbery, but a dumb guy with no plan and a gun). It was fairly brief at about one week and was interesting. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
 
I was on jury duty once. That more than anything convinced me to never ever commit any crime. One of the jurors was falling asleep next to me during the trial. During deliberations most of the other jurors wanted to rush to a judgement so that we didn't have to come in for an extra day. Was an extremely sobering experience.
 
I've gotten out of jury duty the two times I've been called. One was because I moved right before I was called and the other both dates I was told not to come in. I've heard the selection process can be boring as all get out and I don't really like the idea of being stuck in a room for 8 hours with nothing to do just to be told yes or no.

Being a part of a court case might be interesting, but even then you spend a lot of time listening to lawyers lawyer. It's nothing like it's portrayed on TV, even when testimonies are concerned.
 
Ugh I am gonna hate the day I go to Jury Duty. My twin brother actually was called it for it in the summer and spent HOURS waiting to see if he will be called.

They gave him 10 dollars for showing up though. If I ever get called I hope I get paid!
 
It was a traffic violation or something, but it was in Philly. Called day 1. Didn't have to go. Called day 2. Didn't have to go. Called day 3. Had to go.

So we went to Philly on the train. I got there at 10AM and got my place while my friend took her nieces and nephews for a walk in the city.

Went through all the preparation videos and such.

1:30PM we went up to the courtroom. Judge came out. Told us all the case was settled out of court. I was out by 2PM.

Spent a few hours walking around the city.

Was a fun day.
 
Served on a 2 week murder trial 5 years ago. It was interesting, but I have another summons for July 5th and I hope it is not another long trial.

Guy was guilty on the first vote once we got back to the jury room. He admitted doing it but tried to say it was self defense. We did not agree.
 
I was supposed to have jury duty yesterday, but it was apparently a very light day and I didn't get my number called. I didn't have to physically go to the courthouse to find out though, because they have a phone system where you call the night before.
 
Iorv3th said:
Everytime I get it they end up settling out of court and I don't have to go in.
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Lucky. Mine was settled but not until like the 11th hour. Everyone was already there and pissed off they had to waste their time.

Me, I got a nice day off work, time in Philly, and a check for $80 for sitting and waiting 4 hours.
 
Can't stand this process over here in nyc.

I don't want to be bothered with this at all. Wish I could opt out of this crap.

Just seeing the jury duty slip in the mailbox makes me ill... lol
 
Got picked a long time ago but while we were outside the court room waiting to go in the security guard came out and told us to go home because the trial was postponed, and would require new jury selection.

Sent a notice a few months back but got out of it because I just moved last year and I'm now outside the Houston city limits, nixing my eligibility.
 
I get dismissed every time and I would like to serve on a trial. Every time they ask me if I am willing to trust police testimony more than a regular persons and I say no, because a cop shot my dad in the back after mistaking his identity and if a cop can do that I can't trust their judgement more than anyone else. I am then dismissed shortly thereafter.
 
I got a summons a few months ago but I postponed it until December lol. School was about to start and I couldn't afford to miss.
 
The first time I was summoned for jury duty, I never got picked for a case. It was nice in that I got to relax for a day but it would definitely have been interesting to get involved.
 
Received the letter three times.
First they didn't pull my number.
Second I got out of it because they scheduled it on my birthday.
Third is coming up next month.
 
I served once on a minor criminal trial back in 99.

It was a little interesting because the dude walked into a restaurant and robbed it...what specifically was interesting was that we basically differentiated that: we didn't think the guy actually had a firearm (so he didn't have unlawful possession of a fire arm...guy had prior convictions), however, we felt the restaurant cashier had reasonable cause to believe he was armed (so we called him guilty of armed robbery).

I think there was another charge, but I don't recall what it was or whether we found him guilty of that third charge or not.

After we delivered our verdict, taking a look at the guy, and you could kind tell we made the right choice.


I'll add that I asked to postpone for a month due to originally being scheduled during finals month for University (originally called up May, postponed to June).

My number came up twice, and i had to serve the second time.
 
Sounds like a great experience, OP. Its good to know some juries take their responsibilities so seriously.

Ominym said:
I've done it once, and while the case was interesting the overall debate was not. It was a clear cut case of Police officers being clearly mistaken yet convicted to their word, which was plainly obvious by the time we entered the deliberation chamber. Out of the 12 jurors, all but one of us agreed within the first hour of being in the room that the defendant wasn't guilty. Or at the very least could not have been proven to be guilty. That was not the end of it however, as due to the nature of these processes, we spent the next four days wearing down the one woman who refused to give the "not guilty" vote.

The worst part was on day two when she put her head down on the table, covered her ears and said, "I'm tired of talking about this." And refused to speak to us for four hours, never once removing her head form the table until the day was done. We attempted to pass the time by re-attempting the debate from the position of devil's advocate in effort to undo our own resolve. She ultimately gave up on day four, much to everyone's relief.
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This is the kind of bullshit I'm concerned about. Gather a group of people into one room and chances are you'll nab at least a couple morons or trolls.
 
I put away a guy for a double homicide.

It was tough.

Then I found out once inside they got his DNA and linked him to another unsolved murder in Georgia.

In essence I helped give three families that I will never meet closure.

It is a humbling experience to say the least.
 
Happy it worked out for you. Personally, I dread it and do whatever I can do get out of it. I once almost got picked for a murder trial and the judge said it was expected to last over two weeks.

That's two weeks where I would not be able to work. And my job does not pay for when I'm away on jury duty.

That's just not happening. No way, no how. If we had laws that required employers to pay then that'd be different. A lot of employers do not.

I'm glad we have lots of people who can fill these roles, cause I sure as hell can't.
 
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