I don’t know why people go to such lengths to avoid jury duty. I was on one once and it was an amazing eye opener for me. I learned that the general population is full of morons.
I would be on one every year if I had the chance.
I would serve if I could even though my age excuses me. You know, you get to a certain age you can’t see, can’t hear and worst of all, you can’t hold your water.
I was called in for Jury Duty recently. They had a long line of people that had an 'excuse' (and from the way they talked, it must have been about 'mental instability') and had to talk to the Jury Commissioner to be excused.
NOW. Most of the people in there received the Summons for Jury Duty based on the fact they had recently VOTED.
They cannot perform JURY DUTY, hut they can VOTE.
This was the first time I made it to voir dire (never got out of the jury holding room before - not because I looked funny or anything, the panels that go to the courtroom are selected randomly by juror number). I thought I would get struck on voir dire because I'm a lawyer . . . who wants another judge in the jury room? But they took me, much to my complete astonishment. What it did mean is that the jury got a written copy of the important charges, even though the judge didn't send them out in writing. I knew which ones would be key, and I can take notes fast in my own nutty shorthand (a mix of abbreviations, Gregg symbols, and German or Latin depending on which words are shorter).
I disagree that the population is full of morons. We had a good jury - from all walks of life from student to retired and working people both professional and trades - some were obviously sharper than others, some better educated, but everybody gave it a good honest try, discussed the issues thoroughly, and came to a decision. I think it was the right one. I would have been happy to have that jury try any case I was presenting. Maybe Cobb County just has a higher class of juror? I don't know.
In the 'debriefing' that lawyers try to have afterwards, I did ask the lawyers what in the world they were thinking to take me on a jury. They said (1) they thought from my answers to their questions that I would be fair and follow the law; and (2) they had other folks they needed to get rid of worse than me!
I've been on two juries, both capital murder cases.
In both cases the perp was double, triple guilty and the defense lawyers were looking for bleeding hearts to not give the death penalty.
I got booted from one jury for telling the truth about my belief in the death penalty.
I learned my lesson about how to answer the defense lawyers and was accepted for the second one.
On the day the trial was going to begin, the perp cut a deal and took life, because I guess his lawyer figured he would get the needle {and he probably would have but it would have been after 20-30 years of appeals}.