What to expect if you serve on a jury?

Question

I'm doing jury duty. I've been on grand jury before.

In grand jury they assigned us up to to 30 cases a day. It ended up that one guy volunteered to be foreman and from then on they just voted to indict in every case. If I asked questions, people would look disgusted as though they just wanted to get out of there.

I don't expect most jurors to understand criminal procedures. People assume guilt, hate cops, vote their ethnicity, etc. Am I being negative? Do "good" juries exist?

Answer 1

This is a problem with the jury system in that many people are forced to appear and just can't be bothered.

Perhaps one day they may have to face such a jury through no fault of their own and they would think differently then.

If you're on a jury it should be taken very seriously and you should ask questions if required.

If the person in charge isn't responsible change to someone that it is. You only vote on the facts and nothing else.

Answer 2

My experience on a Grand Jury wasn't like that at all.  It was taken very seriously and people seemed to make a genuine attempt at reaching the best verdict possible. There were two people who had a clear verdict in mind from the beginning, who got a little disgruntled when things lingered on and seemed anxious to get it over.  They finally compromised on the one count we were struggling with and I felt that when it was over we had reached the best possible outcome. I sincerely felt that the whole group tried very hard to be objective and unbiased.  

    Personally, I was very stressed and wanted badly to make sure we reached a fair and just verdict.  Someone's future depended on us.  The responsibility of giving them justice weighed heavily on me.  When it was over and I felt good about the decision, the relief to be done with it was wonderful.

   I have often wondered what happened with the accused and hoped things went as well as possible for them.  If I had gone with some verdict I didn't really feel was right, just to get it over, I personally would have felt so guilty and would have had terrible trouble living with myself.

  Sorry your experience wasn't better.  You were supposed to ask questions and shame on those who didn't take it seriously and try to do a good job like you were trying.