Who's done jury service?

[Bored Of Education]

12 good men and women and true.

Except I have a feeling it is always the same men and women for a couple of reasons. A friend of mine got called up for jury service about 3 or 4 times. We always joked about it being because she was the only person in Hackney that actually paid the poll/council tax.

I, on the other hand, have never been called up. Neither has my wife, my mother and father, my brothers nor, indeed, anyone I know, apart from the case above. No, actually, on of my very good friends was also called up once.

Now I know that jury service is supposed to be random but it does make me wonder whether my and my liberal Guardian-reading intelligentsia chattering classes peers are being ditched in favour of Daily Mail-reading "hang 'em high" Brexiteers?

So, to do an unscientific survey, who has done jury service here and how may times. Gory details of the cases optional.

[San Bernardhinault]

Who's done jury service?

I got a jury service summons here in the US, but as I'm not a citizen, I'm not allowed to do it. That is the extent of my experience.

I've heard it said here that new citizens get a lot more requests than other people. Perhaps to try and instill civic duty, or perhaps because they're more willing to sacrifice time to the process because they're afraid of the consequences. I suspect it's all urban myth.

[Sean of the Shed]

Who's done jury service?

Here's an ongoing thread from the past. I've just completed a second stint at Birmingham Crown Court a couple of months back, my first being at Lincoln about 25 years previously.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Who's done jury service?

In the good old days solicitors were one of the categories of individuals barred (i.e. exempted, hoorah!) from jury service (I assume on the grounds that we would act all legalistic instead of ordinary person common sense-ish, or even, implausible as it sounds, exercise disproportionate influence in a jury room), so I escaped the call once or twice on that ground. Then, sadly, that exception was removed, and I have done one stint in the years since.

I decided not to reveal to my fellow jury members that I was a lawyer, and gave myself a pat on the back for sound judgement on that score when another member of our jury revealed she was a lawyer, which resulted in one or two others deferring to her slightly and some further jury members clearly being pissed off and chippy in reaction to that.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Who's done jury service?

How do they even select people? I'm on Chorley's electoral roll, for example, but there isn't a crown court in Chorley, our nearest one is Preston. So am I even on the list of people from whom Preston is selecting its jurors?

[Big Boobs and FIRE!]

Who's done jury service?

I am like a magnet for this. I got called up for jury duty two weeks after my 18th birthday. I have had three more call ups since and one more that I got out of.

I have hated every second of it. I always get rape cases.

I have contravened all the major rules they give you.

I get very queezy hearing medical evidence and twice have passed out in court. Therefore, If the case is being reported on, I don't listen to the evidence and just went to the library during the lunch break to read the Internet reporting.

One case I changed my mind on just so it would finish and I could get to a mates stag do.

On another occasion Reading were drawn against Man Utd in the cup, but ticket sales were when I was on jury duty. I claimed a dental emergency and the trial was postponed for a day. I went to queue for tickets, only to find myself in line behind the court recorder.

Only one of my mates has ever been called up.

[Jah Womble]

Who's done jury service?

I was summoned in late 2007, eventually unable to sit because of the impending birth of my daughter. There seemed to be a hell of a lot of sitting around and drinking coffee: I did a lot of reading, as I recall.

In many respects, I'd have liked to have seen it through and sat on the jury, of course. Especially as there was every likelihood I'd have sat the Charles de Menezes case.

[Ray de Galles]

Who's done jury service?

Bordeaux Education wrote:

I, on the other hand, have never been called up. Neither has my wife, my mother and father, my brothers nor, indeed, anyone I know, apart from the case above.

Now I know that jury service is supposed to be random but it does make me wonder whether my and my liberal Guardian-reading intelligentsia chattering classes peers are being ditched in favour of Daily Mail-reading "hang 'em high" Brexiteers?

Your mother has done jury service, though she is a Daily Express/Mail on Sunday reader.

[MsD]

Who's done jury service?

I did it, and it was mainly my arguments in the jury room that got someone off a charge of possession with intent to supply.

He'd had a rough time, his gf (a right charmer) had grassed him up after he threw her out when he found out the baby he had started to bond with wasn't his. The police evidence was really sloppy and contradictory. They claimed to have turned up - 6 of them - as he was sending "threatening" messages, which turned out to be one message "fuck off and leave me alone", they were alerted to signs that he was a dealer e.g. his ferocious dog ("and how did you manage to get past the dog, officer?" "I said 'walkies!' and took him into the garden.") and so did a search which turned up a bag of coke.

There were two strict Muslims who refused to change to not guilty, as they felt he was guilty and that drugs are bad. No amount of arguing that the coke could have been hers, could have been for personal use, would sway them. There were a couple of others who weren't convinced but just wanted to get home, others agreed that the police had not done their job properly and were expecting us to convict on their say-so.

[elguapo4]

Who's done jury service?

I was on a jury for a murder trial in the early 90s, open and shut case, abusive husband stabbed his wife to death, it's amazing the amount of stuff they don't let you hear, I came across it in a book of irish murders a few years ago and found out exactly what a scumbag this guy was ,we were given a ten year exemption, almost exactly 10 years later I was called again but in the meantime was diagnosed with an illness that made me exempt, got a third call up two years ago

[Slightly Brown]

Who's done jury service?

Like BBF, I usually pass out whenever anything medical is mentioned (I once keeled over after seeing the rubber sheeting they put on the bed you lie on for kidney-dialysis), so have been excused doory duty twice.

I'm glad: Edinburgh is fairly small and the chances I'd have run into some radge's cousin would be high.

[evilC]

Who's done jury service?

I got called up almost as soon as I was eligible, at 18 (I think it was). I suppose that makes it statistically quite likely that I'll get called up again, at some point.

The people I shared the jury with were a bunch of twats on the whole.

[Incandenza]

Who's done jury service?

A co-worker of mine was on the jury for a serial killer trial recently. It got a lot of media attention. She didn't tell us that was the case she was on, of course, but from her schedule and when she started it, we figured it out. Then when they showed the reading of the verdict on TV, we all heard her voice as the jury foreperson.

[Bored Of Education]

Who's done jury service?

Ray de Galles wrote:

I, on the other hand, have never been called up. Neither has my wife, my mother and father, my brothers nor, indeed, anyone I know, apart from the case above.

Now I know that jury service is supposed to be random but it does make me wonder whether my and my liberal Guardian-reading intelligentsia chattering classes peers are being ditched in favour of Daily Mail-reading "hang 'em high" Brexiteers?

Your mother has done jury service, though she is a Daily Express/Mail on Sunday reader.

Good grief, that is terrifying. I must have blocked it from my memory. Did the defendant hang?

[multipleman78]

Who's done jury service?

I have been summoned for jury duty five times in 16 years. The last four have seen the cases thrown out before they happened or i have called the jury number and been told not to attend.

The first time i went i was told to expect lots of sitting around. Instead i was first name out of the bowl and was sitting on a jury by 10am. It was a murder trial where 4 young men faced us accused of murdering another young man in a gang fight in Kilmarnock.

It lasted a week and even had Donald Finlay, perhaps Scotland's most famous QC, working for the defendants. In the end they turned on one another. One guy had clearly backed off when his mates used knives was given a deal for a reduced sentence if he testified against his friends. He did so but we were already going guilty by that time.

His lawyer asked the judge if he could serve his 2 years in an English jail to be near his mum and be away from men he had just turned on. The judge said no which i thought was a bit harsh.

One thing i do remember about the high court in Glasgow is how the jury exit out their own door but it brings you out 30 yards to the left of the main door. Very easy for someone to follow you. The next morning you have to enter through the main door anyway.

On my first night i came home and went out to the ice cream van. As i was waiting in the queue i heard a voice behind me, "did you enjoy your jury service the day big man?" For two seconds my pulse rocketed before i turned to discover that one of the folk in the next close was hanging out his veranda shouting this. I went on to discover he was a chef at the court and had spotted me.

[jwdd27]

Who's done jury service?

I've never had the call in my 26 years of eligibility, and neither has Mrs D in her 30 years. I'm amazed at these multiple call ups. I can only recall two work colleagues ever being called up, out of hundreds of people.

I'd like to think I'm on an exemption list because of politics, credit history or such like.

My mother gave evidence at many trials (child protection social worker), and says that jurors are, on the whole, morons. And that two of them always end up fucking.

[Patrick Thistle]

Who's done jury service?

I've done jury duty. My experience was positive. My fellow jurors were a real mixed group of people but they all seemed to take it seriously. It kind of made me feel more positive about the idea of juries generally.

AFAIK nobody ended up sleeping together. Not to cast doubt on jwdd's mum or anything. (Also I imagine if you've got a stake in a case and the jury finds against you it's more likely you would think they were morons.)

[Patrick Thistle]

Who's done jury service?

Sean of the Shed wrote: Here's an ongoing thread from the past.

I thought we'd had a thread before. I've said pretty much the same thing on there.

[Southport Zeb]

Who's done jury service?

I was called up a few years ago and ended up on a child abuse case, which was rather unpleasant. It lasted about four days after which we were discharged, because it was the week before Christmas and there were no more cases due until the New Year. By this point though the Christmas rota at work had been worked out and so I had to have the whole week off.

[blameless]

Who's done jury service?

Only ever been called once, back when I lived in Scotland*. An attempted murder that the accused's brief was trying to argue down to an assault charge (the accused had attacked an old dear with a hammer when she caught him burgling her flat) - didn't do him any good though, as we unanimously found him guilty of the attempted murder. The photos of the victim after the attack were... not pleasant.

*Scotland's only a wee country and there's 15 people on a jury there. Many adults of my acquaintance have been called at least once.

[Giggler]

Who's done jury service?

I've never done it but my dad has. His favourite anecdote is from when they were questioning the defendant about his use of physical violence:

"And you headbutted him?"

"Yes, I did."

"Why did you headbutt him?"

"Well, I'd broken a finger the previous week so I couldn't form a fist to punch him with."

[IronSeaPower]

Who's done jury service?

Just the once.

Rape and indecent assault going back to some time..allegations that were adjacent to a change in the Law.

The defendant still went down.

I would be pleased not to have to do that again.