Spent my morning in court today.

[Oxford]

Yep...just got released from potential jury duty...the first time I've been called by the Clay County Circuit Court. There were around 200 of us in the jury meeting room at 8:30 a.m. this morning and by 1:30 only thirteen were kept. I wasn't kept...slightly disappointing...but those thirteen will be tied up for at least the next three days...and the rest of were free to go back to "normal" activities. For me, being retired, that means just doing about whatever I want to do. :nod: :guitar:

The defendent was an approximately 18 yr old young black male, (sitting there wearing corn rows ) listening to court proceedings which would either convict him, or free him from the criminal offense of residential burgurlary. Of course, he was caught by the local police but denied his guilt.

Guess I'm too much of a redneck for those attorneys who screened us heavily for any signs of our personal bias's or tendancies. For example, here's some of the questions that either the prosecutor or defense attorneys asked us:

1-Do I own a gun in my home for home defense purposes?
2-Am I a member of NRA or any other self defense organization?
3-Have I ever fired the gun in self defense.
4-Do I know any lawyers?
5-Do I have any relatives in law enforcement?
6-Do I believe that at least one person in the U.S.A. who is in prison is innocent?
7-Have I been a witness before a court of law before?
8-Have I ever been convicted of a criminal offense?
9-Is there any personal reason(s) why I couldn't vote for conviction if the evidence presented proved the charges without a doubt?
10-Do I have any physical or mental impairments which would prevent me from serving on the jury?
11-Do I have a vacation planned, which cannot be voided without paying for the cancellation, during the next two weeks?
12-Am I on any medications which could impair my judgement?

And a whole lot more.

At least I got my walking papers by 1:30 today, and those other thirteen who were selected for jury duty can forget about anything else except what those attorneys present to them till this case is over. :nod:

Ox

[steel_warrior1]

-Yes
-Yes
-Yes (A rabbit charged me once)
-Yes (My girlfriends father)
-No
-Yes
-Nope
-No
-I'm not 18
-Might have strep throat or lost my voice
-I have always wanted to go to Hawaii
-This stuff is good, what did you call it? I can't see strait. Look at the colors.
I don't think I would pass this one.

[Oxford]

steel_warrior1...I edited my earlier post by numbering those questions for easier matching up with answers. :nod:

My answers were:
1 yes
2 yes
3 no
4 yes
5 yes
6 yes
7 yes
8 no
9 no
10 no
11 no
12 no

...and with these answers I got eliminated from consideration as a juror...this time at least. :nod:

[Big Dog]

A couple years ago I had to go to jury duty - Federal level! Bought a new suit, the first in twentyfive years! (Other jurers showed up in poloshirts and jeans . . .sheesh)
We were asked those same questions and more. I think what sunk me was when the legal beagle asked what our firearms experience was. I truthfully answered that I was an NRA life-member, and a collector of vintage firearms.
"Thankyou, Mr. Revell, you may go."
Dang it! I really wanted to be on that case. Just after the tragedy of 911, and this was a case of an Iraqi-born guy caught in a sting operation trafficking in stolen guns trying to send them to Jihadistan. I'd have given my left cojone to be a jurer there! Ah well. Always a bridesmaid . . .

Been up to State Court twice - got dropped early in one, and the perp was cut a deal on the second - we were all let go. Bummer.

[dhermesc]

The lawyers are looking for dumb, spineless wusses that can be swayed by slick talk and a few tears and not the facts of a case.

Ever watch the "Becker" episode when he's called for jury duty? Everytime he admits that he reads books and newspapers the lawyers kick him out of the jury pool. When its revealed he is wrapped up watching the soaps in the jury waiting room he almost makes it on a jury, then he slips up and reveals he reads newspapers and its back into the waiting room.

[Troy]

take the rejection as a compliment, both big dog and oxford. they want the brainless "follow the lighters" filling the courtrooms. if we started getting people up in the jury box with some common sense, the "system" might begin to work right after all.

[tommy]

them social workers at the hospital where my son was at told me it would be in my best interest to get rid of all my guns .well that went over like a lead fart i told them suckers hell no i ain't loosin my guns and that they are goin to be stayin right where they are. them people are cazy in the cazy hospitals.

not to menetion i got a neighor growin some herb and the smell is travlin down the street to the crack head and the other night i heard him in the field behind my house trying to find where the smell is comin from (dude got the killer skunk growin ) the bad thing is the crack head thinks it's me groing it .lol

[Doglips]

funny how they come up with the ??..but jurry selection is an art...the right jurry can make/break a trial.

[Oxford]

We were sworn to "tell the truth, so help me God," so some interesting comments were told in court when normally some of these things would not be said publically. And we were to think back in our history as far back as we could recall.

Funny thing about who was picked for the jury. When the guy sitting next to me in the courtroom was asked if he'd ever been convicted of a crime he said, "Yes, I was convicted of assult." I thought for sure he'd not make it...but yes, he got on the jury. I suppose that fulfills the theory that the jury is made up of peers of the defendant.

When asked by the lawyers, about three of us agreed that we were NRA members and about 10% of the entire group agreed that we had self defense guns in our homes. I suppose the defense lawyer redflagged our names and quickly struck our names from the jury list. We were low risks to be sympathetic to perps trying to get out of paying the price for their crimes. :nod:

The question was asked if any of us had situations in our past with the law when we weren't satisfied that it was resolved to their satisfaction, two young women said that they had been raped, one having been raped twice. The perps had not been caught and they had resentment for the law, they agreed. They probably weren't selected, either.

And several prospective jurist's said they'd worked nearly all night before the 8:30 a.m. jury selection meeting. They agreed that they probably were too tired to think clearly as a panalist.

All of those questions were designed to develop a psychological profile of the prospective jurist's. I agree with Troy's comment that probably the lawyers would prefer to have people on the jury who they can influence to their client's advantage...in order to win their case, and to eventually pad their pockets with even more with future legal cases. In the case in which I was involved, my guess is that the state was paying for the defense.

[Big Dog]

Yep, funny thing was, I could clearly see the utter distaste on the faces of both Legal Beagles when I made my statement. Both the defense and the prosecution. Neither side wants jurors who can think independantly from the herd. A free-thinker is dangerous!
Using the "NRA gambit" is even better than asking the Judge "Lets hang this sucker!" Hehehe.

I was even the Foreman of the jury, before the perp copped a plea. I guess his lawyer knew she wouldn't sway this Florida boy. Honestly though, I'd have considered all evidence, and would've done my best to render a proper verdict. But I won't cave-in to a lawyer . . .

[Oxford]

Big Dog you were the foreman of the jury, as you stated. However, yesterday time and again the attorneys and the judge referred to the "foreperson." No offense intended BD...I kept thinking, is that something like foreskin?

No, I'm not PC. Call it like it is. That's the kind of communication I like. :nod:

[Big Dog]

Ox, the really funny thing is, I ws also the only man on the selected jury - and only one other man among the backups! And they made me the . . . uh . . . "foreperson". Probably woulda got some flack from the distaff members had I decided against the rest of the group. Maybe better off it died on the vine . . .

[Oxford]

Yep...as the foreperson, it mighta been fun gett'in plucked off the vine by the nonforepersons...ugh! However, it seems to me that the jury wouldn't have been balanced, sexwise, that is.

[rosierita]

i've been called a few times for jury duty. nothing really major but 1 time. the 3 times i was ever called for magistrate court, i was 9 mos pregnant w/ my son. ummm.... i was called again a few yrs later, but by then i was busy homeschooling him & his sister, so i got out of that too.

[Oxford]

rosierita...well...that seems like a logical decision by the Judge. Can't have a baby delivered in the middle of the courtroom during a trial. Yet, that could be more entertaining then listening to the attorneys as they pranced around defending or accusing the defendant of his charge(s). :nod:

[incucrash]

I got selected today
8:30 DEC 2
Can't wait!

[rosierita]

LOL! yeah, they did NOT want me there! i got about 1 letter a wk. heehee. each time i called, to tell them i was still pregnant...... they'd ask for an update. LOL!

[Oxford]

rosierita...blow by blow, kick by kick...when the baby turned around inside. :nod: Arent' those lawyers a little too prying? When my wife was called to go in for jury duty she wrote that she was taking medicine for bowel trouble. They wrote back and said forget it. We don't need you. :guitar:

incucrash...good luck in the process. If you've got time, and can afford to be away from work...it could be in interesting experience. However, the odds of getting picked from the entire slate of those receiving notices is low. When I went in for jury duty there were approximately 200 in the jury meeting room to start with. When I left, only thirteen were kept. That's how low the odds were. And...if you belong to NRA, or answer several of the questions I wrote about in my first post on this thread in the wrong manner...you're almost sure to be scratched from the final thirteen.

Good luck, though!

Ox

[incucrash]

I didn't even get asked any questions, they asked general questions of, if your immediate family serves/served in military/law enforcement, stuff in that nature. If there are any reasons for you to be prejudice/unfair. I sat for 3 hours with a 10 minute break, out of I think 41 people, 2 got excused, 13 got selected, 12 i think and 1 back-up, and the rest of us went home, it was a complete mess and stupid time, My job is going to take the Jury duty money ($40/DAY) and pay me what I make there, so thats good

I get the day off

Time to clean the guns and goto the range, and then clean the guns again

:-)

[Oxford]

Could have been something you wrote on the form you most likely filled out before going to court...like...NRA member???, or some other "ungodly terrible" thing! :nod: