I've actually lost count of how many juries I've been on. A few times I was certain that I would be excused - but still got seated. One was drug possession with intent to sell. I told them that by BiL was a narcotics prosecutor, and got seated anyway. :shock: I was on two different domestic abuse cases, even after disclosing that I'd been a victim of this in the past (not my sweet DH now), and still got seated on both. :shock: One was really hard because the children testified. That was so heartbreaking. I've also been on a burglery one, two assault ones, and started an attempted murder of a police officer one. That one ended up with a middle-aged or older jury of the most conservative looking people you could find, and the defendant plea bargained on the second day. He knew he was a goner with this group, particularly since there were a lot of witnesses. I served just another day on a property damage and unlawful restraint one, which luckily was plea bargained shortly after the trial started. Everything was being translated from arabic and it was really hard to follow. Those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.
I was excused from one because I learned too much. I was trying to still run my department via telephone during breaks and after being in the courtroom, so I was leaving a little late. I was still wearing my Juror badge, and ended up in an elevator with the defendant and his attorney on an assault trial that just started. They still talked about the trial, and I heard enough to know he was way quilty. :evil: I told the judge (via a note) I could no longer be unbiased, and they excused me.
The first assault one was a nightmare - the defendant actually said - under oath - that he chased this guy down and hit him on the back of the head with a 2x4, but we had one elderly man on the jury who was extremely bizarre and kept saying things like it may have been self-defense, or maybe the victim taunted him, etc. That went on for daaayyys - in July, with no a/c in the jury room. He admitted at one point that he loved being on jury duty and would keep holding out as long as he wanted. He's lucky HE survived jury duty. The one thing I REALLY learned is that a jury of your peers can be a scary thing to count on.
I do think I was able to listen and judge fairly, even given my background with some of the charges. We let one domestic abuser go because the wife's story clearly just didn't hold together. I thought I might have issues with that trial, but it was an easy decision.
It's a fascinating process and you do really have to listen and take notes. It's interesting how the attorneys can say something - without really saying it. For instance, in one trial the defendant was an admitted drug user. The attorney apparently wasn't allowed to tell us that he'd been in trouble before, but could ask the cop under oath if he was familiar with the guy. Yes. Did he go to his house and arrest him. Yes. Did he know where he lived. Yes, he was very familiar with it. It made it clear that he was well known to the cops, without actually stating the guy had been in trouble before. It's also fascinating to me how they pick a jury. The one who tried to kill the cop had a conservitive jury. The one for the drug dealer looked like a bunch of college kids with only a couple of us grown-ups. They each have their own 'flavor.'
I do love hearing "the rest of the story" from the attorneys. Several times we were able to learn about prior arrests after the fact, and it only reinforced our decision. I've never second-guessed any of them.
Oh gosh, sorry this is so long. :oops: Guess I've served too often and talk too much! :lol: