Will they pick you to be on jury duty if you seem biased?

Question

When you get pick for Jury Duty and then they pick you go to up there, and the lawyers get a chance to question us, and if we sound bias, do they usually excuse you? Last time I went to jury duty, I was picked but I was excused by the judge because I seemed biased toward something, so does that happen all the time though? thanks!

Answer 1

Ah, just another American doing their civic duty....

Answer 2

I usually am excused, my opinions are not what they want on juries.

Answer 3

To the best of my knowledge it does seem to be the contributing factor that keeps us from being selected to be jurors.

I was once called in for Jury selection and upon being asked about what I think concerning the guy who was up for trial for burglarizing someones home I said that I already know he's guilty because he's Mexican and they love to break in and steal peoples TV's.

I went on to say that their parents give them TV's for Christmas when their toddlers to practice stealing so when they grow up they'll know what to do.

But before I could finish my sentence I was rudely interupted and told to leave the courtroom.

So yea, seeming biased works like a charm if you cannot afford to make only $5.00 a day instead of your regular days wages you earn on the job.

Answer 4

you can be picked if both lawyers like your biasness

Answer 5

Yes, it does. I have been called several times. The most recent, I was sure I was going to picked. It came down to 15 of us, and I was the last to be excused. They picked 12 plus 2 alternates. i have NO idea why I was excused. The defense attorney was the one who decided I was not suitable. Maybe it was because I was in the military. I simply do not know. I compared notes with several others who were excused while we were in line waiting for the exit paperwork to get done and none of the 5 or 6 others I spoke with knew why they were excused either. Of the 5 times I've been excused, I can only speculate about one, when I was pretty sure it was because I was divorced. It was obvious from the questioning the defense wanted a married mother or father with teenagers.

Answer 6

Yes...

They are looking for an IMPARTIAL jury

Answer 7

It can happen, yes, but sometimes one lawyer will be /looking/ for some sort of bias, and the other may not be aware it's detrimental to his case.  I'm talking pretty subtle things, here, of course.  

Also, it's not something you want to lie about as a way of getting out of jury duty.

Answer 8

Not likely.

Answer 9

I think so

Answer 10

Everyone has biases and prejudices.  The question is, can you put them aside and render a fair and impartial decision regarding this person on trial.