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Off to Jury Duty.
That is all. Enjoy you week folks if I'm not back on for a few. I actually hope I get picked for a jury, though. The last time I got picked, I was selected for a murder trial, but they let me go because it was a two week trial. I've always been interested in the legal process, and I've been fortunate to never really be on the bad end of it.
I said "duty"...
I loved jury duty when I was working for someone else. Now not so much. I never try get out of it though. If I was wrongly accused of a crime I would hope people would show up.
I haven't had the pleasure yet.I wouldn't mind though.Its one of the few rights we Americans haven't been stripped of.
Now Imagine if there were career jurors like polititians?Scary....
I did a week last year. It was kinda cool... but I'm self-employed so I only got paid for days 4 and 5 from the state... so that part sucked. It was also during the beginning of the whole Sullivan mess... so there was media all over the whole week watching him come and go (and no places to park).
My main conclusion about the whole process is that there's a lot of scum in our areas, and it takes way too much of our time and our money to prosecute them.
I'm going in June. We randomly sat in on a murder trial last year. That was pretty interesting. It was the one were the Scintologist business owner shot his partner in the head three times over near 84th ave and Washington st. If you remember, swat was called out and EVERYONE was there and the whole area was closed down.
I also hope I get selected.
Don't forget Jury Nullification.
I got summons for June 5th.
Wish me luck bros
I sat on a week-long civil case a few years ago - very educational.
At times, it was a pain, but it felt good to be part of the process and I'm glad I did it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irving
The victim was a friend of mine.
I'm a pretty laid-back guy, but if I'm being honest, I'm glad the murderer FUBAR'd his suicide and will spend the rest of his miserable life rotting in a cell.
I want to be on a jury some day, but all three times I have gotten a summons so far I was dismissed without even going in.
Did he try to kill himself after? We only came on the last day and misses a lot of the info. Sorry for your friend.Quote:
Originally Posted by RMD
Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irving
Yeah, he planned it to be a murder/suicide. Walked up behind Tom and shot him 3 times, then put the G19 under his chin and pulled the trigger.
I always thought I would want to see a trial in real life. Then I was selected for a jury about 3 years ago. I ended up in the #1 chair for a week and a half. The process I learned was very educational. The subject matter is something I will never be able to forget for the rest of my life.
"Molestation of a minor by a person of trust" or something like that were the charges, and that was only 2 of them, I forget the other 2, but they were similar.
There are things you wish you never got to hear about first hand in life.
They brought in witnesses from when this guy was a teenager (like 30 years prior) and they told their stories of what he did to them (his step sisters). Screaming and crying in the courtroom, having to be restrained by the bailiff and all. I wanted to vomit where I sat and unhear and unsee the things I had been witness to.
Seeing and hearing things like that is what make me wish that the death penalty were used more often for more crimes.
I never want to be on a jury again. I WILL NOT serve on a jury again. I will say whatever I can to get out of it. I'll give the judge a titty twister if I have to.
Judging people is a hard thing to do. Think about that too. The decisions you make could affect people for the rest of their life. We had to deliberate for almost 2 days because the evidence and judges rules were not 100%.
Well, made it to the courtroom and through the questioning, but I was never called to the box, and was sent home.
So instead of working, I went and saw Men in Black III, hehe..
Back to work tomorrow tho...
I sat in on a murder trial in Denver county, we convicted the guy on first degree murder, after all his friends rolled over on him. But now when I go for jury duty, and the defense kicks me out right away. It's interesting the things they bring up, and you think, why is that relevant, then it all comes together.
Fortunatly where we are we dont get too may request
dang it, wish I'd known, we could have done lunch!
"Do you have any bias in this case?" The guy your client punched in the face 10 times is my half brother. Oh, and I work for the Sheriff's Office. "Have a nice day, sir."
My only time being called.
My # is up. Never had to go in before but I will be there tomorrow. Suppose I need to leave the "Right arm of the free world" shirts at home. [Coffee]
jerrymrc don't feel like the lone ranger, I go Sept. 4.
Jury duty sucks!!!!!!!!!
I mentioned that I do competitive shooting on my form and thought for sure they'd throw me out, but I was picked. I was the very last picked and they had a chance to throw me but didn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrymrc
I missed the first jury duty I talked about in this thread by the way. I straight up forgot about it. I emailed them to ask what to do and they threw me back in the rotation. I got selected and spent three days hearing about a stabbing. Tried to convict but it was only me and one other guy so it went to a hung jury/mistrial. Have fun Jerry!
My first jury duty when I was 18 I was selected, was for a couple who couldn't speak english, needed a translator, and was for domestic abuse. It was me and 5 women...[ROFL1]
I had to go again in 2008, but was released because they settled, then I just had it again last thursday but they said issues came up with the case and we were all released!
First name called. and about 36 behind me. I am not going anywhere for a few days. Trying to rearrange my travel plans that I had for thursday. [Bang]
ouch, that sucks. does it look like it will be a long case...like 3 days plus?Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrymrc
Should have elected for a different date.
I had one for July but i was on vacation that week so i emailed them and asked for a different date, now i have september 26. I have only gotten like 3 notices and only had ti show up once and that one got plea bargained the morning of jury selection. I dont think i would ever get picked for a trial but i wouldnt mind. I am sure within a few questions they would tell me to leave [Beer]
I thought what are the odds? and it will only be a simple one.... One of my co-workers in the hospital was there as well. At least we got to have lunch together.Quote:
Originally Posted by trlcavscout
More after the trial. The judge said that the court will pay for any added expense to my change of plans and already wrote a letter.3-4 days.Quote:
does it look like it will be a long case...like 3 days plus?
Never been called, but haven't been eligible up until I retired from the AF in 09. Even if called, I doubt I'll be around very long, but you never know.
In the 6 years I lived in Colorado, I never received summons until the week when I was moving to New Mexico. I had to report for Jury Duty on Thursday. I was going to be moved out of my apartment on Friday and was going to start the drive down that day. I was supposed to start working at my new job on Monday.
I reported for duty even though my Dad told me to just skip it, and that since I would no longer be a resident of Colorado they couldn't fine me or something. Regardless, I made it through the selections, for a 3 week murder trial. I explained my situation to the judge and she dismissed me. Could have been interesting though!
New Mexico jury duty is WEIRD though! When you get sommons, you have jury duty for 6 MONTHS! You have to call in nightly to see if you need to report the next day. Pretty horrible system and I hope I never get called for it.
How many jurors? 3,6, or 12?
They'd toss you out in a heart beat.Quote:
Originally Posted by SA Friday
I went today. 6-1/2 hours later, the defense attorney decided he didn't want me as one of his jurors. I coulda told him that at 8:30 this morning.
So I missed ya? [Flower]Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Steve
Guess so. I was in the first batch called for Judge Kennedy.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerrymrc
Former LE and Retired AF? Defense would boot you in a heartbeat...Quote:
Originally Posted by SA Friday
I was juror #1. Small world. Don't tell me you were #2?Quote:
Originally Posted by Zombie Steve
So it is over. The charges were Sexual assault on a child, Sexual assault on a minor by a person of trust, and about 5 others. Not Guilty on all counts.
In the end it was a matter of he said/she said and the victim did not help the case at all by giving testimony that was 180 from her 2 previous interviews. Many things did not add up at all. The DA brought all these "Expert" wittiness's that he tried to use to explain away why she had a different story now.
twelve people of very different backgrounds took about 2 hours to sort it all out. In the end only a couple of us had that thought that "something" may have happened but due to the nature of the family dynamic many of us thought that it was a case of the girl getting confronted with one thing and making up a story about something else.
Of course jerry got to provide a little back ground to the other jurors since when I figured out where this took place was in my hood and when the description of the house started I almost started laughing. It was my floor plan.;)
In the end we found out that the man had refused a last minute plea bargain. The DA basically had nothing. The investigation was botched from the beginning. So you perform a search warrant 6 months after the crime?
To add insult the DA gave us Death by Power-Point for his closing arguments. I am not sure how the family afforded the lawyer they did but after watching him for 3 days I was impressed.
Well thank you for going through all that and giving a man a fair trial. Not much more you can ask for these daysQuote:
Originally Posted by jerrymrc
After 3 days of almost no emotion he broke down as the verdicts were being read. This whole thing started in 01/11.Quote:
Originally Posted by sniper7
It did open my eyes on how they just charge someone with a bunch of crap and hope for a plea bargain when they have nothing.
I am sure that when he stood his ground they had to come up with smoke and mirrors to have any case at all. The DA's office should have dropped the charges long ago and the comment was made about why this trial was being conducted in the first place by one of the members.
But then I did recognize a face from long ago. The lead detective for El Paso county was someone I met 10+ years ago when I had to ID some pictures from another case in the hood. What a friggin Pit Bull.
bro in law got selected on tuesday. I just got off the phone with him, he's crapp'n his pants about a bad group of guys in DouglasCounty that their going to convict. He was almost an antigunner, but he said he needed some additional hw that requires a faster tactical reload, until he can buy his own...Nothing changes your feelings about the 2nd until your life is in danger.
I'm gonna let him borrow my g19 w/night sites, shotgun and ar. I figure between the 3 he should be covered...
Ya, not to mention an associates in Crim Justice and a Senior at Metro for a BS in Chemistry with a Criminialistics concentration. Two biggest disqualifiers in the country, retired cop and too much education. I'll never get past day one of selection.Quote:
Originally Posted by TFOGGER