Question About Jury Duty

[ICTChris]

I have a friend who was called, she said she was really keen and thought it would be fascinating.

Turned out it was a historic sex abuse case, while trial was a long parade of tearful people recounting horrible abuse from the accused when they were children. The jury swithered but convicted and then they read out all the guys previous - he’d been convicted loads of times for exactly the same thing. Horrible experience.

[paranoid android]

I have a citation for today - called the number last night - not required to attend today, but I have to be ready to take a call, and phone them again after 5 tonight.

Only time I've been on a jury was a murder case - I won't go into detail, but it was grim -even more harrowing for the families involved.  We were told the court would try to excuse us for a long time due to the nature of the case.

The other time I went through the selection process was for an assault on a polis - just as well I wasn't chosen - as soon as I heard the incident had taken place in The Calderwood in Bonnyrigg, I was leaning strongly towards a guilty verdict.  

[Derry Alli]

Done it a few years ago. Strange to say but I actually enjoyed it.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

5 hours ago, ICTChris said:

I have a friend who was called, she said she was really keen and thought it would be fascinating.

Turned out it was a historic sex abuse case, while trial was a long parade of tearful people recounting horrible abuse from the accused when they were children. The jury swithered but convicted and then they read out all the guys previous - he’d been convicted loads of times for exactly the same thing. Horrible experience.

Which sort of goes back to my earlier point, compelling evidence from victims, but probably swithered due to inexperience with how victims can present as witnesses, defence lawyers create a bit of theatre etc and try to distract the jury from convicting with dramatic cross examination and focusing on things that dont matter. I understand the need to keep previous convictions away from trials in many cases but imagine the guilt you’d feel as a juror voting to not convict a beast because you couldnt relate to a witness etc and it turns out they were hurt in exactly the same way as previous victims etc. perhaps for sexual crimes a panel of judges or something would be better. 

[Halbeath Raith Rover]

Did it this year.

 

Two days off work, got a cheque for £130 when i claimed missed wages as advised by employer, who then forgot to deduct my wages by £130, so I liked it.

Mix of fascinating and boring, especially with the link from court to the cinema we were in.

Assault. No real evidence, PF was shite too. Not proven within 15 mins deliberating.

[DA Baracus]

I believe Freddy Quimby should walk out of here a free hotel!

[Dunfermline Don]

I have been called 3 times this year and managed to get excused as I work in social care and we are short staffed.

[Hedgecutter]

A couple of months ago I came back home from holiday to find a letter sitting on my doorstep saying that I was to be in for jury duty two weeks later.  Given that I was due offshore then as a self-employed worker (ie no work, no pay), I phoned them up and said it simply wasn't going to happen (stopping short of saying "heads up: I'm not coming. Fine me all you want.  Worth it m8")

F***ing hate having this outdated system thing hanging over me though.  Caused me all sorts of grief and anxiety the first time around when I thought I was going to have to chuck a job, all for something I might not even have been picked for. Their shitey £40pd reimbursement wouldn't even touch the sides.

Anyway, I offered them my jury-related services for November instead saying I could manage X & Y, how about that instead, and they came back to me saying they've struck me off the list for three years.

I get the impression that they're fairly reasonable if you show some willingness, rather than flat-out dodging it at every opportunity (which I guess the majority of folk will do). 

[scottsdad]

Scrolled too fast and thought the thread title was "Question about Jim Duffy" 

[parsforlife]

3 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

heir shitey £40pd reimbursement wouldn't even touch the sides.

 

Is that all they reimburse? They are deliberately making the system disadvantaged to anyone earning.

Never mind- I’ve checked it’s now £64 https://www.gov.uk/jury-service/what-you-can-claim-if-youre-an-employee

Which is halved if you spend less than 4 hours in court.

If I’d spent 4 hours in court you’d have just about completely written off my work day I’d have lost a minimum of £34 a day for an average of 10 days if I was on minimum wage, more if not.    They have just about made accepting Jury duty unavailable for the working class.   How the f**k does that equate with be tried by a jury of your peers?

[Bert Raccoon]

I find committing enough petty crime to avoid jail or a fine but just about enough keeps you off the radar for jury duty 

[hk blues]

8 hours ago, parsforlife said:

They have just about made accepting Jury duty unavailable for the working class.   

But most folk don't really accept or not, it's compulsory and most folk will just suck it up and go.  

[Jambomo]

On 24/10/2022 at 14:42, Mr. Alli said:

Done it a few years ago. Strange to say but I actually enjoyed it.

I was on a jury years ago and enjoyed it as well, well maybe it was more interesting than enjoyable.

I did find it weird knowing I’d sent somebody to jail. He did deserve it though. 

[Derry Alli]

2 hours ago, Jambomo said:

I was on a jury years ago and enjoyed it as well, well maybe it was more interesting than enjoyable.

I did find it weird knowing I’d sent somebody to jail. He did deserve it though. 

Aye, I got made 'spokesman' purely down to the fact everyone I sat on the jury with were absolute shitehouses and were afraid to do it. 

Two even tried to walk me through the town after it, citing they were afraid for my safety. Imagine the look on their faces when I walked into the first pub outside court.

[Leith Green]

Been called a few times, actually had to do it twice.

First one Sherrif Court, some bam who got out after his culpable homicide sentence, went back to (insert name of shithole in West Lothian) on the bevvy with his brother, took a kitchen knife with him, "just in case" and once pished started attacking and stabbing some random young guys on the street. 4 days in court, we were about to go into the jury room and consider when we were told he had admitted the charge for a reduced sentence. What a waste of time.

Second one was about 5 years back, a sex case in the High court, not the best.

Got a 9 year exemption after that one.

Those ones I was paid for the time off by employer - am self employed now and the daily rate is farcical..............

[Fullerene]

1 hour ago, Mr. Alli said:

Aye, I got made 'spokesman' purely down to the fact everyone I sat on the jury with were absolute shitehouses and were afraid to do it. 

Two even tried to walk me through the town after it, citing they were afraid for my safety. Imagine the look on their faces when I walked into the first pub outside court.

When I did Jury Duty, they asked "Does anybody want to be spokesman?"

One guy replied "Well I'll do it if nobody else wants to".

He was most annoyed when I said "Yeah.  I'll do it."

[John MacLean]

2 hours ago, Mr. Alli said:

Aye, I got made 'spokesman' purely down to the fact everyone I sat on the jury with were absolute shitehouses and were afraid to do it. 

Two even tried to walk me through the town after it, citing they were afraid for my safety. Imagine the look on their faces when I walked into the first pub outside court.

I ended up as 'spokesman' simply because I was* big and tall. 

My reading of the guilty verdict for a particularly nasty assualt on a pregant woman was greeted with shouts of "you b*****d" from members of the guy's family sitting in the court. 

It was just before lunch that the vedict was delivered so it was recommended that we had lunch in the jury room until the family members had dispersed. 

Strange thing was that night I went to the local Chinese takeaway and sitting waiting was the girl who had been assualted. I had genuinely never seen her in the area before or since for that matter. Or her previous partner who was about to extend his holiday courtesy of Her Maj. 

*I guess I am still tall but not quite as big. 

[Mark Connolly]

41 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

When I did Jury Duty, they asked "Does anybody want to be spokesman?"

One guy replied "Well I'll do it if nobody else wants to".

He was most annoyed when I said "Yeah.  I'll do it."

When I was on jury duty, there was a woman who was obviously desperate to be in charge, but was going to attempt the "Well if nobody else will" line.

Fortunately, this was spotted by multiple other folk, and she spent most of the time fucking seething when she neither got the gig she wanted, nor was she able to produce the martyr card.

[Derry Alli]

1 hour ago, Fullerene said:

When I did Jury Duty, they asked "Does anybody want to be spokesman?"

One guy replied "Well I'll do it if nobody else wants to".

He was most annoyed when I said "Yeah.  I'll do it."

There was a guy there who we thought was like that. It was a 5 day case and the defendant never got brought in until day two, I think his family the next day. They're apparently a bit of a deal in Dunfermline (god knows how this was brought up) and it was at that point he become this gif :

[TxRover]

Pretty fascinating to see the way it plays out there versus over here in the Colonies, Texas, in particular (in my experience). It used to be they called people to jury duty off the voter rolls, but they were calling people every two to three years because so many eligible people didn’t register to vote just to avoid jury duty. They switched to using the drivers license list, and now it’s a summons every six or seven years.

The pay is even shittier ($6 the first day, and $40 thereafter), the parking is either very remote or close and expensive ($20 nearby), the chance of actually being selected is small (called 7 times in 32 years, selected once, and never empaneled…lawyer looked us over and settled), and a goodly number never show up.

The fun bit about people not showing up is every now and then a judge gets pissed off and sends out his bailiffs to arrest those ordered to report who didn’t and bring them before him/her. Last time that happened, it turned out two people called were worker bees at a major industry in town, and their boss told them if they took the day off for jury duty, they didn’t need to report for work the next day. Now, that’s actually a crime, as jury duty is a “civic responsibility”, and firing a person for performing jury duty is a crime. That judge got his bailiffs, and every spare sheriff they could round up, to go on down and drag the manager that said that, his boss, and the company CEO into his court within an hour or so…it was a pretty spectacular little display of power by a relatively low level judge, and the reaction from those bosses was beautiful, although the guy who actually said that didn’t enjoy the visit much.

At least now you can register and answer questionnaires electronically and are often excused the night before.