What is Jury duty like?

Question

I am supposed to do an interview on a person who has been to jury duty but I don't know of anyone.

Was this person part of the voir dire, or screening process?

Was he or she dismissed or chosen to serve on the jury?

If dismissed, does this person know why?

If he or she was chosen, did the case go to trial?

If so, how long did he or she sit on the jury?

What type of court was it - county court or state court?

Was it a Grand Jury or Petit Jury?

Was it a criminal or civil trial?

What did this person learn about the court process?

Did this person feel he or she was fulfilling an important civic duty by serving?

Answer 1

1. screening process

2. Dismissed

3. case didn't go to trial, after 4-5 hours of sitting in a chair in a hot room (no air conditioning) we were all let go.

4. County

5. criminal or civil? don't remember...I do remember the really hot room we had to sit in though....

6. The court process was a waste of my time. I wasted 1/2 the day and travel time just SITTING in a chair (in a really hot room)

7. I first felt like i was fufilling my civic duty but by the 3rd hour i was very disgusted w/ the system, not only did a roomfull of people waste their day (some travelled farther than me) but the people who were "in charge" GOT PAID doing NOTHING!!!

Hope I helped.

Answer 2

(1)The vore dire can be funny or interesting ,as some of the questions can be off the wall.as far as I know all prospective jurers go through it some more rigurise than others ,as both attornies and judge watches everyones reactions to each question and answer.

(2-3) I have set on a few juries and dismissed on way more. As far as knowing why being picked or dismissed , that could be for anything your looks , beard ,long hair or an answer gived when questioned . I was even picked one time and was never even questioned .

(4) some the definse decided to change a plea or take a deal, while others went all the way. Others were tort actions (damage) and one was settled before the actual trial .

(5)The trials I have been on have been one day (actually 2-5 hours) except for one that took a day and a half (lots of waiting on the court or attornies trying to make a deal.

(6) I have sat on city,county,district and Justice of the Piece courts (the last common law court of the people), (all state courts to verious degrees)

(7-8) Grand Jury is use as a trial to see if a case could be tried (I don't believe this was the original intent). Ciminal is use to prosicute a crime . Civil is where a party is harmed and is seeking restitution for damages.

I have sat on crimminal and civil cases

(9) Sometime the "judge" will overrule what the jurors decide. even though his job is to be a referee.

(10) Often I research the "laws" that are sopposedy presented to the jury , many are not as told to the jurors, and when the "judge" changes the jurors rulling I felt belittled ,cheated and defrauded. As I understand it the Jurors are the true Judges by the Constitution.

Answer 3

Jury duty is major BORING!!  I was not part of the screening process.  I was dismissed as was the entire group because the person pleaded guilty of the crime.  It was in a district court and not a Grand Jury I had to sit and wait 6 hours in a small room with about 40 other people until we were told we could go home.  This was a criminal case.  I learned that the jury room was small and very confining.  We were tuck with no food or drinks for several hours and unless we brought reading material just sat and waited.  It is no wonder people hate being on jury duty.  I felt like I was in prison myself.  I felt like I was not fulfilling anything but an annoyance and inconvenienced beyond belief.  To make it worse this was only 4 years ago and I just received another call for Jury Duty in September.  I can't wait!!!

Answer 4

I served on a personal injury case against Wal-Mart. It was a very interesting experience and I will try to answer your questions! Here you go:

Was this person part of the voir dire, or screening process? Yes

Was he or she dismissed or chosen to serve on the jury? Served

If dismissed, does this person know why? N/A

If he or she was chosen, did the case go to trial? Yes

If so, how long did he or she sit on the jury? 2 Days

What type of court was it - county court or state court? County

Was it a Grand Jury or Petit Jury? Petit

Was it a criminal or civil trial? Civil

What did this person learn about the court process? The court system is very well organized and designed to efficiently resolve trials in as little time as possible. The Jury system worked very well.

Did this person feel he or she was fulfilling an important civic duty by serving? Yes, it is citizen's duty to serve if called.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

I have been called 4 times, once for a Federal Jury. The first few times for Chicago Cook County. The last for the Illinois Northern District. Never went to voir dire for Chicago, but did for the Federal. I come from a Law Enforcement family and feel very strongly about law & order. I remember going into the court room and seeing the defendant sitting there. He was a young Hispanic male charged with numerous serious drug trafficking charges. Hate to say it but, seeing him there I thought "guilty". Then the questioning began and the more I sat there the more I began to think, "wait a minute" maybe there's more to this case then what the prosecutors allege, perhaps the defense has some valid points too. By the time I was going to be called, all the jurors had been selected. I really wanted to learn more about this case, and to hear the facts/evidence laid out. It was without a doubt one of the most fascinating and awe inspiring moments of my life. If anyone is called for jury duty I really do urge you to go. I'm looking forward in being called again and hopefully serving the public. Hope this helps

Answer 6

you probably wont even get called in after wasting 2 days sitting in a large room with large sweaty smelly people.

and if you do, it'll probably be dismissed.

At least you get paid? (probably)

Answer 7

sister

Answer 8

They always call a larger number of potential jury members than what will be used.  Lawyers get to pick which ones they will select for each trial.  Out of 200 names, probably fewer than 80 will be selected for interviewing by lawyers.

Of these, maybe 36 or so will be selected, so overall your chances of actually serving on jury duty are about 1 in 4.

Once you are called for jury duty you won't be called for at least two years, normally.

All your other questions are Yes, or no, depending on having been selected.

The last two questions are most important.

What did this person learn about the court process:  It is slow, and deliberate, and depends on what the lawyers want to do, to defend or prosecute the accused.

Did this person feel he or she was fulfilling an important civic duty by serving?  Definitely, because if people did not serve on juries, or show up for the selection process, we'd not have a system of "fair trials" where people may be judged by their peers, after a "fair" trial..

Pay is pretty bad, but luckily, some employers will give you "Jury Leave" a full day's pay, if you return to them, what the court pays, normally only a few dollars a day, plus mileage or parking fees.