Jury Duty!

[chicken]

Oh boy, I just got a jury duty summons. ?!?

If I get picked the trial extends past the date I become a Massachusetts resident, what happens then? Would I suddenly become an ineligible juror?

I hope I don't get picked, because I sure don't want to miss that much work.

Does anyone have any jury stories of their own to tell? Do, tell. :-)

Comments

[kaydee23.livejournal.com]

I always get picked. I've been on a worker's compensation case. A civil case over a furniture deal gone bad. (It was thousands of dollars worth of furniture.)

I was also on gang-banger murder trial that lasted 3 weeks. During the penalty phase, we found out the murderer (we convicted him) had robbbed, beaten, and left for dead a student at the school from my high school. I had to tell the bailiff so they could stop the penalty phase. The judge cleared the courtroom and asked me if I knew the student or even recognized him. I didn't. He asked me if it was going to influence my decision, and I said I didn't think so, but that I was very surprised to hear that the defendant was the one who had beaten the student from my school. I'd heard about this happening to a student at my school, but we had 2,300 students at our school, and I'd never seen him, and I'd definitely never taught him.

The defendant's attorney said he was satisfied that I could be impartial, and they started the penalty phase of the trial back up.

It was kind of exciting, in a scary sort of way. The murder victim's gang would sit in the courtroom for a while, and then the judge would make them get out so the murderer's family and gang could sit in the courtroom.

Also, they sat in the hallway of the courthouse and we had to walk by them every day. And after the trial each day, they'd mill about in front of the courthouse, and we had to walk right through them.

Then, when the penalty phase was over and we sent him to prison for a minimum of 20 to life, we had to walk through the murderer's family and gang out on the street. They were on one side, and the victim's gang and family were on the other side, and they yelled and swore at each and threatened violence against each other and against us. Both sides were pissed at us because we either gave him too much or too little time, depending on who was complaining.

In the movies and on television, they show the police coming out to settle that stuff down. I went back into the courthouse and asked if one of the police officers there would walk me to my car, which was several blocks away, and all these police officers just looked at me and started laughing and turned away from me. I asked them again, and they said, "If you're so worried, call a cab." Yes they did. I walked anyway, but no one followed me.

It was very weird and scary because only one sheriff's deputy was standing out there and there were over 100 people standing on the street screaming at each other.

Only in Houston.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Whoa! You lead a very interesting life. Thanks for the stories, they are quite fascinating.

I can't believe the police laughed at you. They need to take that stuff seriously. One girl here in Rhode Island, a witness, was murdered in her driveway the day before she was to stand witness.

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

No one reports crimes here because they are so scared of the perpetrators exacting vengeance.

[chicken-cem.livejournal.com]

Aren't you glad to be moving to Canada?

[the-automatik.livejournal.com]

Well, there is still crime there, actually. It's probably not as high of a rate, though.