Jury Service

Offset

I was on an Old Bailey jury about 40 years ago.  Attempted murder, GBH, assualt etc etc etc commited on a Traveller site.  I say 'traveller' - the guys in the dock were proper Romany gypsies.

It was a fascinating case and was all about honour and respect. We found the accused 'not guilty' for a variety of reasons, not least because the prosecution case was awful and full of holes (oh, and the guys who were on the receiving end were horrible little shits and frankly got what they deserved.)

Highlight of the trial was a defence witness who was a presented as a successful and respectable businessman.  He was asked to give his assessment of the defendants and he described them as senior figures within the gypsy community who were law-abiding and hard-working.  He was then asked how he viewed the defendants.  "How do I view them?  I'D FUCKING STRING 'EM UP!!!"  Cue widespread laughter and gavel-banging.

Ultimately we felt the case wasn't proven.  When the trial was over we were all having a drink in the pub just around the corner from the OB.  All of a sudden one of the defendants walked in, came over to me and handed me a £50 note.  "We'd just like you good people to have a drink on us for coming to a just verdict.  Thank you."  And off he went.

As I said, it was fascinating.

DuploLicks

Yes. Sexual assault. I’ll say that the CPS evidence was really poor & I think it only got as far as it did because of the nature of the charge. Basically let the jury take the weight of the decision instead of dismissing it sooner. The judge’s instruction definitely painted a direction

CHRISB50

The case I had was similar in that I’m not sure how it got to court. There was no real evidence. 

We deliberated for around 30 mins. We probably could have been quicker. 

We even asked the judge if we were ok coming to a decision that quickly. She said it was fine. I don’t think she was surprised to he honest. 

CavemanGrogg

DesVegas said:

Have you guys done any jury service?

Yes, and no matter what I did, who I tried to bribe or how much I offered, I couldn't get out of it.  Wasn't in the UK, nor was it for a violent crime - it was to do with bankruptcy and fraud, and in the UK, I would not have been allowed to be part of the jury for the matter due to me knowing the defendant - it was somebody I knew by name and face not a a friend.  

fretmeister

EricTheWeary said:

VimFuego said:

a good tip given to me is if it's a case you fear may be harrowing or disturbing, there's a really good way of getting dismissed. As the defendant is brought in, just catch his eye and say "it's all good mate, the chq cleared". The rest sorts itself.

thank me later. 

I sat through jury swearing in once, I had to work for a week in crown court and had nothing better to do. One of the jurors said something like "that's my cousin in the dock" and they excused her. Wasn't obviously any need to provide evidence of it. 

They usually get excused from that trial - and then go back in the waiting room to do another one instead.

Schnozz

I read a Bernard Cornwell book for half a day, ate a pork pie and then they sent me home. I got a text saying that I didn't need to return and that they'll reimburse me for the pork pie.

I occasionally get haunted by the experience, because I end up wanting to eat another pork pie.

TTony

CavemanGrogg said:

DesVegas said:

Have you guys done any jury service?

Yes, and no matter what I did, who I tried to bribe or how much I offered, I couldn't get out of it.  Wasn't in the UK, nor was it for a violent crime - it was to do with bankruptcy and fraud, and in the UK, I would not have been allowed to be part of the jury for the matter due to me knowing the defendant - it was somebody I knew by name and face not a a friend.  

The restrictions about who can/can't sit on a jury are different on Mars though.

Emp_Fab

I've done it three times!  Once was a lot of hanging around then being sent home several days on the trot and never sat on a case.  The other two times was kidnapping and GBH of a young woman (guilty) and another lad charged with "GBH" that was clearly an accident (not guilty) and the judge tore the CPS a new one via the prosecution for wasting everyone's time and money and putting the lad through that. 

I'd love to do it again but I think I was lucky to get called thrice.

Offset

TTony said:

CavemanGrogg said:

DesVegas said:

Have you guys done any jury service?

Yes, and no matter what I did, who I tried to bribe or how much I offered, I couldn't get out of it.  Wasn't in the UK, nor was it for a violent crime - it was to do with bankruptcy and fraud, and in the UK, I would not have been allowed to be part of the jury for the matter due to me knowing the defendant - it was somebody I knew by name and face not a a friend.  

The restrictions about who can/can't sit on a jury are different on Mars though.

You meant Zog, obviously.  But...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Fish

Stavros

Done it once - first case I was picked for was an alleged rape, and after hearing the evidence there was an 11 to 1 majority believed he was guilty. The 1 was a lady who said she wasn’t sure and couldn’t live with herself if he was innocent but was sent down. 

After some hours of deliberation and asking clarification on one or two points, but getting nowhere, the judge said he would accept a majority verdict of 11 to 1. When we went back into court and the foreman announced the verdict, we were then told the accused was already in prison for various including gbh, gun charges and….rape. The lady on the jury who couldn’t agree with the majority was devastated of course.

It’s not easy but I found it interesting, you will probably be hanging around for quite a lot of the time.

EricTheWeary

fretmeister said:

EricTheWeary said:

VimFuego said:

a good tip given to me is if it's a case you fear may be harrowing or disturbing, there's a really good way of getting dismissed. As the defendant is brought in, just catch his eye and say "it's all good mate, the chq cleared". The rest sorts itself.

thank me later. 

I sat through jury swearing in once, I had to work for a week in crown court and had nothing better to do. One of the jurors said something like "that's my cousin in the dock" and they excused her. Wasn't obviously any need to provide evidence of it. 

They usually get excused from that trial - and then go back in the waiting room to do another one instead.

Probably. I just remember it as an exceedingly dull week, crown court was where they sent old probation officers to die. 

thermionic

I did two weeks ago a few years ago. They called 15 of us in to one case, read out the charges, then picked 12 names out of a hat. It was a grim child sex abuse case going back many years, so was glad that my name remained in the hat for that. A woman stood up to say that she knew one one of the prosecution witnesses so they had to pick another - luckily not me again.

I found it fascinating to experience a court case first hand, and see the clever questioning of the prosecution and defence, and the steering and summarising of the judge… but you have to be prepared to deal with the stupidity of the general public - one jury member said the defendant “looked guilty”, and I put a lot of effort into getting my fellow jury members to only consider the facts. A woman was accused of stealing some petty cash in a charity shop but the evidence was flimsy, the shop’s manager couldn’t say who else was in that day, and he kept the key to the safe… on top of the safe. There were far too many other possibilities and we couldn’t find her guilty.

boogieman

I’ve done it four times. The last time was a terrorism trial at the Old Bailey that lasted 7 months. The judge gave us all a letter excusing us from more jury service for 99 years because the case was so long. I could still do it again if I chose to but I think I’m jury’d out now. 

My ex moaned that I’d been called up so many times whereas she’d never been called at all. Not long after we split up she finally got a jury summons and ended up on a really vile sexual abuse trial that gave her nightmares for months afterwards. Be careful what you wish for. 

Longtallronnie

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westford

I didn’t get picked for a robbery trial 20 years ago. Got selected for a murder trial in 2021. 18 year old boy got a life sentence (or 13 yrs due to his age at the time). Fucked with my head for quite a while, but I don’t think about it much anymore.

digitalscream

DuploLicks said:

Yes. Sexual assault. I’ll say that the CPS evidence was really poor & I think it only got as far as it did because of the nature of the charge. Basically let the jury take the weight of the decision instead of dismissing it sooner. The judge’s instruction definitely painted a direction

You know, that's exactly what happened in ours. The prosecution actually showed a photo of the victim, verified to have been taken on the night in question, wearing jeans...when the assault in question absolutely required that she be wearing a skirt or dress in line with the testimony from her and her friends, and would've been impossible otherwise.

The judge was absolutely livid.

RobDavies

Done it four times…. As documented on a similar thread a few months ago.  

When I lived in London I got called every two years from around the date of my 25th birthday.   Then I moved to Hants and haven’t had a sniff for seventeen years. 

BillDL

I don't know if it is the same in England and Wales as it is in Scotland, but here agents for both the prosecution and defence have the opportunity for "precognition", i.e. the chance to obtain statements from or of witnesses that each side intend to call.  In some cases the defence may determine that the evidence is likely to be overwhelming and suggest a guilty plea, often to a reduced charge, but in other instances the defence might see significant areas of weakness and formulate the defence case around those weak areas with a view to thrashing the prosecution case.  As a result of all these goings on between the accused person's first appearance (pleading diet) and the trial there can be other appearances in court and often the defence will have contested whether certain evidence should be admissable at the trial.  In some cases where it seems as though the prosecution were foolish to proceed on very flimsy evidence you may find that they actually started out with what they believed to be a lot of rock solid evidence, but it has gradually been whittled away and they can no longer make any mention of it at trial.  Having reached a late stage where the prosecution have expended a lot of time and money in a case they are highly unlikely to win, they are probably loath to just throw in the towel and would rather have a judge or jury make that decision for them.

boogieman

Longtallronnie said:

Served on a SA case a few months ago. Found it quite interesting until deliberation then…….

@Longtallronnie. ;You’re not supposed to reveal what went on in deliberations, you could find yourself in breach of Contempt of Court laws. I’d edit your post mate. 

Longtallronnie

Ah yes, forgot!