Thanks Lisanne and Quiltncrazy. It's nice to know I didn't offend.
Being a juror really is an interesting experience, and one that I think everyone should do at least once. Getting out of it can be a bugger. I agree with the previous poster who said the judges take a dim view of those who try to get out of it. I was being questioned on one and some guy sort of snickered and said he would be biased and he obviously expected to get excused. The judge told him that if he was selected, it was his duty to be unbiased and he'd be held in contempt of court (or something like that) if he failed to deliberate in good faith. It was so clearly a ploy to get out of jury duty that the judge had to call his bluff and slam him. On another one a guy said he had to be in Japan in just a few days to speak at a conference. No mercy. The judge just said, well, you're not gonna make it. Some are really harsh.
You do have to have the patience of Job for jury duty. So much hurry-up-and-wait time. And so much bickering in the jury room. On one trial the forewoman was a 3rd grade teacher, and that's how she talked to us. I wanted to throttle her by the fifth or sixth day in a row of this. Patience is not one of my many virtues. :lol:
Overall, it's a cool study in human behavior. And the BEST thing to get is to be selected as an Alternate. You get all the in-court experiences, and none of the petty nonsense of trying to get people to all agree during deliberations. You just get to hang out in the waiting room and read while the fireworks go on. 8) In answer to the original question - I think people can be unbiased and make a rightous decision - but many of them do have their own agendas and egos and all those other annoying traits they bring with them. Some don't pay any attention, and are then useless in deliberations. Some make up their mind as the trial starts and nothing will change their mind during the rest of the proceedings, including conflicting testimony. On one trial we had to have the reporter re-read whole chunks of testimony that some people missed the first time. It really does make you (or at least me) want to smack 'em upside the head. :twisted: As an alternate you don't have to deal with so much of that.
Hmmm. I haven't been called yet this year...