[MeekOneGOP]

10-15 minutes!! LOL, what TOOK YOU SO LONG!!! I bet those attorneys were nervous.

Well, I've seen a lot. But I've never seen both sides agree in advance like that.

LOL ! Yeah, the assistant DA said that it was one of those rare occasions that they agreed regarding a client.

In the deliberation, there was one juror that remarked something to the effect 'well what if they put him in there and and he doesn't get better? How long will they keep him?' I was tempted to ask her 'Why didn't you ask the attorney that when they asked if any of us would have a problem putting someone in a mental institution?' Nobody raised their hand when asked that as a group. Instead, I just told her that it was the opinion of the expert (and the attorneys both agreed) that he would get better with proper psychiatric care. She said she didn't have a problem with it though. (Every time I get on a jury though, there seems to be one 'dense' juror. In this case, it wasn't a big deal, though. There was one knucklehead on the criminal case I served on, sheesh!).

Another little tidbit was that the court only requested/got 16 prospective jurors on a 12 juror panel. I think they felt comfortable that this was a straightforward case with little to object to by reasonable folks. They took the first 11 in the line, skipped one and took #13. Only one skip. And it was straightforward. Nobody had any objection to the verdict. We were all agreed right away.

[dutchess]

Meekie...enjoyed your summary of your jury duty (and also thanks for the link about your governor...he is MY KIND OF MAN)

Re: Jury duty all...Most of you know Mr. D. is a prosecutor. In "common pleas" court prospective jurors have to fill out a questionaire which both sides get ahead of time. A regular trial starts with approximately 40 perspective jurors. He has me review each questionnaire ahead of time (as well as his staff) make notes and comments etc. Alot depends on the type of case...ie if it is a druggie...you put a warning on young, single etc. It really is quite fascinating. And....what we have noticed is that...as a prosecutor he looks for the more educated informed person. When he was a defense attorney and defending "perverts and creeps..."(that's a whole other chapter of our life LOL)he would try to eliminate the well informed and involved folks and tried to keep the "village idiots".

For all of you who have served on juries...THANKYOU....Mr. D. has always been amazed at how seriously they have taken their jobs...especially "the brighter ones". He actually says he feels a bond with them and sometimes feels "withdrawal" particularly after a long trial.