Jury Duty

[Greenman]

Pah, I just chucked the letter in the bin (20 years ago now) and haven't heard anything since.

They didn't send it recorded post.

I done the same about 10 years ago!

Never heard back.

[ogri]

Not eligable

[Docca]

I’ve done jury service. Foreman, too ( lost my voice when giving the verdict)

It’s a privilege.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I've never been asked, but I'd do it if I were.

[Bustaspoke]

I did a fortnight's jury service a few years ago.The best advice I can give is to take some reading material as the process involves a lot of sitting around.Over the fortnight I was jury member on one drugs case & got sworn in for another but something happened so the case didn't go ahead.I was just glad not to be sworn in on something involving kids or the sex trade.From what I learned cases often get dropped at the last minute as the defendant admits guilt just before going to trial in order to get a lesser sentence.In my case work paid for me being on jury service & I think they then claim it back from the government.One workmate was sworn in on a jury & they were there for 6 weeks,then the case got stopped because a witness had been attacked in jail

[Wossname]

Eligible but never called. Mrs W was: 2 inquests - one for a diver who was found a month after he disappeared, and one for a man who was found in the morning beside his Mk1 Sprite in the garage, CO poisoning. Both concluded as accidental. She found it interesting and neither case was too gruesome, thankfully.

[Cousin Jack]

It seems to be a chaotic lottery. Never been called, but when I worked in London several mates in the office were called up for the Old Bailey - I always fancied doing something like that since I would have been on full pay for Jury service anyway. Missus was also never called until a few months back she got the call, aged 74. She really didn't fancy it at all, and the travel/parking for the court would have been a nightmare. A quick letter and she was excused.

[Scotsrich]

Did it once years ago, a pretty open and shut case that somehow dragged on for a week.

Highlight was getting bussed to a local hotel for a nice lunch. (I suspect that idea is long gone)

Since then I’ve been asked a further 3 times but managed to get them deferred every time due to work related stuff.

[Rockburner]

Eligible but never called. Mrs W was: 2 inquests - one for a diver who was found a month after he disappeared, and one for a man who was found in the morning beside his Mk1 Sprite in the garage, CO poisoning. Both concluded as accidental. She found it interesting and neither case was too gruesome, thankfully.

I've been a witness to an inquest*, it's interesting to see how your memory of 'details that were unimportant at the time' conflicts with other people's.




* A mother killed herself and her 2 kids at the end of my parent's driveway, I was the last person (probably) to see them alive because I was going out early in the morning on the bike (commuting to London), and asked her if she was ok and needed help (the car was parked oddly). People parking on that road in the woods wasn't unusual, so I didn't think much else of it until I got home that night. I think I spoke to her 'just' before she hooked up the hosepipe to the exhaust.

[Taipan]

Eligible but never called. Mrs W was: 2 inquests - one for a diver who was found a month after he disappeared, and one for a man who was found in the morning beside his Mk1 Sprite in the garage, CO poisoning. Both concluded as accidental. She found it interesting and neither case was too gruesome, thankfully.

I've been a witness to an inquest*, it's interesting to see how your memory of 'details that were unimportant at the time' conflicts with other people's.




* A mother killed herself and her 2 kids at the end of my parent's driveway, I was the last person (probably) to see them alive because I was going out early in the morning on the bike (commuting to London), and asked her if she was ok and needed help (the car was parked oddly). People parking on that road in the woods wasn't unusual, so I didn't think much else of it until I got home that night. I think I spoke to her 'just' before she hooked up the hosepipe to the exhaust.

That's awful. My mates younger brother dispatched himself the same way. The car he did it in was on finance so I got to collect it from the Police station. It was a bit grim valeting the inside of it knowing someone i knew well had sat in the drivers seat and topped himself. He did it because his girlfriend dumped him for one of his mates. He just couldn't handle it. I sometimes think of him and wonder where he'd be now. Such a senseless waste of life.

[Mr Moofo]

Fair enough - I am sure that the courts will be more than happy to scrap the process - will save them time and hassle. And a judge who will find according to all the information he has on you.

Or what would you suggest as an alternative - I believe Bench Trials only have a judge - but no idea how that works
Yes, I have done it. Two weeks

So what's the difference between a judge finding according to the information they have in you and a dozen random people, some of whom may be thick as pigshit and will blindly go along with whatever a showy barrister tells them or may just find on the fact they don't like the defendant because they're a ginger/black/Scouse/bogtrotter etc ...?

because generally the jury is not made up entirely of bigots - and is hopefully a cross section of people. I can see in complex technical trials , a judge making a decision on "facts" may be the way forward.
And when I served , had anyone made racist, bigoted , sexist or idiot comments, I would have informed the judge. It is how it works.

[formula400]

Jumping on here

What’s the score with it. I have it next week. If I don’t get picked as a juror do I need to go back to work??? Do they find out if I have not been picked??

[Mussels]

As paying you for jury service isn't compulsory I don't think I'd take the piss with work, they will take a very dim view of it if they find out.
My work allows me a two weeks paid jury service each year, I'd be doing whatever I could to get out of it in case I end up on a long trial without pay.

[Felix]

71 years old is the age limit in Scotland albeit it’s not a limit as such, you can still be a jury member if you like but you can be excused if 71 and above if you don’t want to do it.

For the OP, what reason did you give for not wanting or being able to do it? They seem to excuse people from doing it these days rather easily.

Better late than never Coeliac mate. They could not guarantee me getting safe food to eat and i also told them until i get my diet under control i will need access to a toilet and at 59 (60 now) i wont ask anyone if i can be excused to go to the shitter, i just go. That is three excusals now and had an email to say i wont be asked again. The wife decided it was a good idea to put me on the electoral roll. This is probably why i started to get called up.

[Mussels]

So what's the difference between a judge finding according to the information they have in you and a dozen random people, some of whom may be thick as pigshit and will blindly go along with whatever a showy barrister tells them or may just find on the fact they don't like the defendant because they're a ginger/black/Scouse/bogtrotter etc ...?

because generally the jury is not made up entirely of bigots - and is hopefully a cross section of people. I can see in complex technical trials , a judge making a decision on "facts" may be the way forward.
And when I served , had anyone made racist, bigoted , sexist or idiot comments, I would have informed the judge. It is how it works.

When I was reading law at Uni we had a lot of discussion on it and I remember a case where a very biased foreman with a strong personality and good debating skills persuaded the jury to convict, when they shouldn’t have done.

I think that's less likely than a judge ruling because of their personal bias, they wouldn't need to persuade anyone else.

[Mr Moofo]

So what's the difference between a judge finding according to the information they have in you and a dozen random people, some of whom may be thick as pigshit and will blindly go along with whatever a showy barrister tells them or may just find on the fact they don't like the defendant because they're a ginger/black/Scouse/bogtrotter etc ...?

because generally the jury is not made up entirely of bigots - and is hopefully a cross section of people. I can see in complex technical trials , a judge making a decision on "facts" may be the way forward.
And when I served , had anyone made racist, bigoted , sexist or idiot comments, I would have informed the judge. It is how it works.

When I was reading law at Uni we had a lot of discussion on it and I remember a case where a very biased foreman with a strong personality and good debating skills persuaded the jury to convict, when they shouldn’t have done.

Hmm - I am not sure that the process works like that - however I accept that it could. The jury vote for the foreman (I ended up with the gig) - but if any of the jury are not happy with tone of discussions etc, you have direct access to the clerk of the court. You cannot discuss the case - but you ca ask about points of law, ask for clarification on the case / facts / etc. These are submitted in written form - and go to the judge.
I assume judges do this stuff day in, day out and can see the lie of the land.
In the case I was on one of the jurors wanted to find the party guilty because of their race. The other 11 told her to grow up. And it didn't matter in the end.
I thought the case we had could have gone either way - but the judge in summing up said that "there was no other reasonable conclusion"

I enjoyed doing it - but I wouldn't want to sit on a complicated financial fraud case, lasting months.
My case was 8 working days. The other option they asked me to sit on lasted 4 months.

[Mr Moofo]

Hmm - I am not sure that the process works like that - however I accept that it could.

That's all I'm saying.
I know people that could take your shirt off you, then sell it back to you and you'd thank them for it.

Some people make a living from convincing lots of people to do all sorts of things, even part with money they've spent their wholes lives saving up for, so hoodwinking eleven random people off the street would be child's play.

Indeed, lawyers and barristers are very good at it

[DefTrap]

Not done it (I think I got asked once, aged 18, but I wriggled out of it because I couldn't be arsed).

Only thing remotely similar (and this is really stretching it) was a tribunal for a local youth team football coach (long story short - they sacked him. "My mate" decided he needed defending, hence the tribunal, and brought me along for moral support.) It was eye-opening to see how two sides could see the same evidence in such a different light. I abandoned "my mate"s point of view quite quickly when the tribunal team presented evidence from numerous opposition team coaches who had willingly written open letters to our local FA about what a horrendous, foul-mouthed and abusive chap our own team coach was. "My mate" stuck by the claim that the team coach was being victimised but the evidence just didn't support it - I felt embarassed even being slightly associated with "the defence" to be honest.

But a useful exercise in seeing how strange some people are and the lengths they will go to defend their right to be a prick, and how the victim mentality can blindside you to clear evidence of wrongdoing. And also interesting that "the system" is there to allow them to make these claims, however obviously wrong, ignorant and indefensible they may be.

[Count Steer]

Got asked once but was in the process of moving to a different area so, got off.

Wife did it at a place that included Gatwick in it's area. Got a juicy cocaine smuggling case. The best the defendant could hope for was incarceration in the UK - he broke down when he was to be sent back to South America to serve his time. (I can only assume he was a mule that, having lost his payload, wouldn't be safe, even prison).

[McNab]

Jumping on here

What’s the score with it. I have it next week. If I don’t get picked as a juror do I need to go back to work??? Do they find out if I have not been picked??

They will tell you if they need you back at some point. So it's up to you to judge if it's worth going back to work.

First time I did it was this exact time of the year, 2nd January and the first week there were no cases at all and we would hang around until about 11 and were then told to come back at 2 as there was a case that was due in, but ultimately didn't appear the first week. One day they told us we could go at 10 so I went to work (only to find the place closed cos the heating system had shit itself). Second week was much the same, but by the end of the week some cases were starting to appear and I got on one on the Thursday that lasted until Friday afternoon.

Second time I did it it was a busier time with a good few cases going on. Still a lot of sitting around waiting to be called, going to the court, sent back again. I was there at the court for all of the 2 weeks, not being sent home early as cases can start at any point in the day, even half an hour before closing.

As a tip, don't talk to anyone outside the court. When I parked up on day one I had a nice little chat with someone about my bike and bikes in general. And when I got called into the Jury, the guy was sitting in the dock. The first chance I got I mentioned this to the court usher and was told I had to write a note to the Judge who then wanted to see me in court where I was questioned about the conversation with everyone present. The guy denied it was him, to which I said I could have been mistaken (I wasn't) and I was sent out again. We were all called back in about an hour later and dismissed from the jury. The Judge did say it was nothing to do with me and was due to a point of law. Funny thing is, later that day were were assembled again for another case, only to find ourselves back on the same case, to many confused looks in the court. We were sent away again. Then we were all assembled again in the jury room and we asked if it was for the same case, which it was. Apparently a computer picks the names out of a hat for who goes on the juries and by that time most people had been assigned cases, so it kept picking the same people In the end the ushers did it manually, literally pulling names from a hat.
I dodged a bullet there though as the case was still going on when my 2 weeks were up.