RANT: Jury Duty

[slide_into_first]

I had a friend who was a juror in a suit by a woman who claimed she fell off the merry go round at Disneyland, and refused to go along with the others who wanted to find for the plaintiff just to get it over with. I don't recall the details but if she was 1 against 11 the plaintiff would win a civil case, right?

[heyzeus]

I had a friend who was a juror in a suit by a woman who claimed she fell off the merry go round at Disneyland, and refused to go along with the others who wanted to find for the plaintiff just to get it over with. I don't recall the details but if she was 1 against 11 the plaintiff would win a civil case, right?

In federal cases, all juries must find unanimously - both federal and civil trials.
In state cases, it depends on the state law. I think most states only require a majority of jurors to find a certain way in a civil trial.

[Radbird]

I think it was 10 out of 12 for my custody case - does that sound right zeus?

[jim]

The only time I ever sat on a jury was a pretty lame case. It was a domestic abuse charge - except the victim never filed charges and denied from day 1 that anything happened. And there was no physical evidence, nothing on her body to suggest her b/f (at the time, they had since gotten married) touched her. The only evidence was a phone ripped out of the wall and in pieces on the floor, and neighboors hearing alot of yelling. They were a young couple with a new baby, and it sure sounded like it was one of those frazzled nerve things that can happen with any couple. I'm guessing the majority of couples have had fights where a neighbor could have heard screaming, and I'll bet throwing something and breaking it isn't all that uncommon either. So when we went to deliberate we all looked at each other with a wtf? look, and voted. Not Guilty - the questioning took about an hour and the deliberations took about 5 minutes, and we were done. No idea why the police insisted on filing charges.

[heyzeus]

I think it was 10 out of 12 for my custody case - does that sound right zeus?

Without knowing anything about Colorado law, it sure could be. I know certain types of civil cases here require 9 of 12 to constitute a verdict.

[Fat_Bulldog]

Just plead fif

[Radbird]

I think it was 10 out of 12 for my custody case - does that sound right zeus?

Without knowing anything about Colorado law, it sure could be. I know certain types of civil cases here require 9 of 12 to constitute a verdict.

This was back when I lived in Houston.

[Mary1966]

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/ ... on05m.html

Three thousand jury summonses have been mailed to King County residents for the upcoming trial of a man accused of killing six members of a Carnation family on Christmas Eve 2007.

The trial of Joseph McEnroe, 34, expected to begin in March, will be the county's first potential death-penalty case since Conner Schierman was convicted of killing four members of a Kirkland family and sentenced to death in May 2010.

Despite the large number of summonses sent out Friday for McEnroe's trial, Greg Wheeler, King County's jury manager, said he expects only about 500 people will show up for jury selection. The majority of the summonses will likely be sent to bad or old addresses, to someone who is not a registered voter, non-citizens or non-English speakers, or will be ignored.

Wheeler said that, on average, about 20 percent of those who receive a jury summons won't respond. Failing to respond to a jury summons is against the law, but Wheeler said the county does not have the resources to enforce it.

I've gotten summoned twice, not chosen the first time, got out of it with a doctor's note the second time. Saw this in the paper today and thought of this thread. I think it would be hard to serve on a jury in a death penalty case.

[jim]

People either 1) don't get paid for jury duty by their employer or 2) have jobs way more interesting than I do to hate jury duty so much.

[MrCrowesGarden]

I may get a summons at some point in my life, but working in the media, I doubt I'll ever actually serve on a jury.