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Jury Duty

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Servent, May 20, 2015.

  1. Servent

    Servent Member

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    How many have severed on a jury. I just finished, there is no doubt he was guilty we gave him 35 years. After we found out he was on parole, that was revoked and has to serve that sentence out which is 15 to 99 before he starts the 35 he most likely will never get out. Have any of you been in a situation like this before.
    Danny
     
  2. blessedwife318

    blessedwife318 Well-Known Member
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    I was on a jury once buy it was a lawsuit so that was nice. We found in favor of the defendant, as there was no grounds really established for why the person was suing the company for millions of dollars.
     
  3. Br. Dan

    Br. Dan Member

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    I've served on a trial jury and we found the defendant innocent, much to the ire of the State. Another time I served on a grand jury, we sent most of the cases to court, but there were a few we no billed. I sincerely believe part of the reason this country is in the shape it's in, can be blamed on good, moral, upstanding Christians neglecting the priveledge to serve on a jury. I will serve every chance I get.
     
  4. JohnDeereFan

    JohnDeereFan Well-Known Member
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    For most of my life, I've been exempt from jury duty. Once I was eligible, I was called twice, but never selected.

    I was once on a mock jury, where I got paid $500 for determining whether or not a patent was legally valid (it was). It was excruciatingly boring, but $500 is $500.
     
  5. annsni

    annsni Well-Known Member
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    I have been called but have never served because each time I was called I had either a nursing infant or home schooled children to deal with. But now my youngest home schooled child is in 7th grade and can do her work on her own. I'm ready for it!
     
  6. Servent

    Servent Member

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    I did serve and would do it again. This was a 1st. degree felony theft case.
     
  7. just-want-peace

    just-want-peace Well-Known Member
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    I served on several petit (sp) jurys, and once on a murder trial, but now that I'm over 65 i have the option of just saying NO and that's it.

    I really would not mind so much IF there was not so much wasted time.
    Last time I was called & obligated, had to be there at 10AM. Sat around til approx. lunch time & told to be back at 2PM. Spent the rest of that day twiddling my thumbs.
    There again next day at 10AM, & taken in the court room for beginning of jury selection, but sat there for a couple of hours while there was constant back-and-forth yammering of judge & lawyers. Jury selection finally got underway, but less than half were chosen that day, so had to return 3rd day. Same ole, same ole, til selection complete & I finally had fulfilled my obligation.
    Ever since I turned 65 I have relished telling them "Thanks, but no thanks!"

    3 days totally wasted, when at least of 2 could have been eliminated by the lawyers and judge getting their conflabbing out of the way before having jurors report for duty!
     
  8. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    This might be off OP a bit, but what would you think of "professional" juries, made up of volunteers.
    Lets say they only did a weeks worth every 3 months. Might be perfect for retired folks.
     
  9. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    I've been called to serve 6 times.

    I've been selected for duty 4 times, twice on the county court and twice on federal.

    Of the other two times, on one I was not selected and got to go home at the end of the day.

    The other I was on call for the week and never had to go.

    All the jury trials were for civil offences and we didn't award any money to anyone.

    Two of those lasted for more than a week and were multi-million dollar cases.


    I have been deposed quite a few times (work related), charged once (work related) and a was witness to another (attempted homicide -convicted).

    Rob
     
  10. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    I was once called to serve in a jury pool, but never got to sit in an actual jury.

    The nearest I got to being an actual juror was when I was being interviewed to serve on one.

    Attorneys for both sides in the law suit interviewed this pool of about 20 persons and asked various questions. When it came to Yours Truly, they asked me to give a short bio of my life. I was about 50 YO back then. I merely stated that I was a "Yankee by birth [born in PA], but a Southerner by choice [moved to TN in 1972]."

    For some mysterious reason, I have yet to be called again to serve on a jury. :smilewinkgrin:
     
  11. just-want-peace

    just-want-peace Well-Known Member
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    Pears that neither side wanted anyone that obviously had common sense.:D:thumbs::laugh:
     
  12. Sapper Woody

    Sapper Woody Well-Known Member

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    Salty, at that point, it'd no longer be a jury "of your peers".
     
  13. preachinjesus

    preachinjesus Well-Known Member
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    I've been called for duty but always get scratched during voir dire. Given my background and current job, I make defense attorneys anxious.

    Of course, I'd be happy to serve if called.

    I like our system. It is as fair and impartial as possible. Even with jury consultants and high stakes DAs, it works. Since the reality is that 90% of cases get settled out of court, juries still are a testimony that our system has the components to work well.
     
  14. wpe3bql

    wpe3bql Member

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    I was glad to leave the Keystone State. Of course I missed my family and the church I attended, but I knew that the Lord was calling me elsewhere.

    As in many other states in the northern Rust Belt, taxes were (and still are) a major problem. Yours Truly was in a somewhat better situation. Back then I was single (still am BTW) and lived with my widowed mother.

    In addition to having to pay all the federal taxes, PA had both a sales tax and an income tax. Then the town where I lived "allowed" me to pay 2 kinds of per capita taxes + an earned income tax.

    My mother owned our property and also worked in the town where we lived. She was granted the privilege (in addition to all the aforementioned taxes I had to pay) of paying two forms of local property taxes + an occupational privilege tax.

    As I drove across the Mason-Dixon Line, I saw a big sign in my rear view mirror: Welcome to PA...STOP! Pay Taxes!

    I could go on about taxes, but it'd only derail this thread.
     
  15. OnlyaSinner

    OnlyaSinner Well-Known Member
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    Last time I was called, I reported the first day but was among the bunch released when it was realized they'd called way more than were needed for the session. However, in 1985 I sat as an alternate jurer on a murder trial that was fairly notorious. The crime had been committed 20 years earlier, the victim (a young lady) had been good friends with the state's lieutenant governor, and an airman from the nearby base tried and acquitted soon after the murder. At the time, I was relieved that no jurers had to be excused, but in hindsight wish I'd been in on the deliberations. The guilty verdict came back in just under two hours.

    A few years before that, I was a defendant's witness in an adverse possession (squatter) claim in the north woods. Plaintiff's attorney grilled me for at least two hours, and when the judge asked our attorney if there were any questions, the reply of, "No, your honor" was about the nicest response possible. The judge ruled that claim of ownership had come only two years before the hearing (our state requires 20 for such a claim, also that occupation be "continuous, notorious, and hostile"), and dismissed the claim. The landowners for whom I worked as a forester then offered plaintiff a lease; they didn't want to kick the man off, just to have it be clear who actually owned the land. Unfortunately, the fellow never paid the lease fee, something like $100/year for a camp on a large stream 1/4 mile from a designated Wild and Scenic River, and so after several years lost it.
     
  16. Gina B

    Gina B Active Member

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    Called but the guy changed his mind and pled guilty before the trial started.
    Do you feel weird about having been part of something with so big an effect on the guy or his victims?
     
  17. SaggyWoman

    SaggyWoman Active Member

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    While I was called to serve on jury duty,
    1. I was at college and couldn't/didn't.
    2. They didn't end up needing me.
    3. They didn't end up needing me.

    Oh, that I get called up..........
     
  18. Servent

    Servent Member

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    I did at first, but after seeing the facts in this case and then after finding him guilty hearing about priors, no problem.
     
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