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        General >> Off Topic Subjects >> Jury Service
        
(Message started by: jonnycab on Jul 26^th, 2007, 1:32am)

Title: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Jul 26^th, 2007, 1:32am

Guess what I got through the letter box this morning ?

Yep...a Jury Summons ::)...what are the chances ?...probably about the same as winning a substantial amount of cash on the lottery. I'd rather have the latter ;)

Does anyone know a good way to get out of it that doesn't involve bare faced lies or breaking the law ? ::)

Nice innit....I've never been convicted of a criminal offence in my life & then all of a sudden I get a menacing jury summons informing me that if I don't attend or have good reason not to attend, then it's going to be me up in front of the judge & getting a £1000 fine ???

It's bloody inconvenient to expect someone to re-arrange their work & family life to fit around a two week "important public duty" >:(

Personally for me, it means I'm not going to be able to take my little boy (with my wife) to his first day at nursery school & that is something I really was looking forward to :(

>:(
>:(
>:(

Why do we still have this draconian & out dated method of jury selection ?

Surely in this day & age, then a more appropriate & convenient system of selection can be thought up, rather than randomly picking joe public out of a hat as it were ???

I'm sure there are thousands of people who would gladly volunteer their time to want to sit on a jury, but are never selected.

Instead we have people like me, forced to do something that we don't want to do & have no interest whatsoever in getting involved in the legal system of this country.

But I suppose, being an obviously upstanding & decent member of society ::), then I'm obliged to take part in this modern day version of national conscription whether I like it or not >:(

So all you hoodies, joy riders, burglars, muggers, junkies, dole cheats, vandals & any other low life that might be out there....Jonnycab is on the jury soon & compassion is a word that is not in my vocabulary >:(...... ;D

P.S....They don't pay alot & I've got to get a proof of earnings from my accountant just so I can claim loss of earnings up to £59 per day ???.....looks like I'm gonna be moonlighting in the evenings ;)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 26^th, 2007, 6:12am

If it's any consolation buddy.....I've been called twice.

First was a guy who'd been glassed in a pub in Leeds, and lost an eye as a result.

Sent the guy who'd done it down for 8 years.

Second was an Arson job. 6 Years.

Like you say, the pay for it is lousy, and YES there is a way round it.

You can have it deferred ( thought that's what they did to kettles) ;D and serve it at a later time....but you WILL be called again. Best thing is to talk to them, as they aren't totally inflexible these days.

At least it would let you see your lad off to school. :)

When you DO get there...........and you will................I agree with your sentiments!!! ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Baz on Jul 26^th, 2007, 9:57am

Just go and sit there in a Bhurka moaning that you don't want to be there....put your ipod on and listen to music.... get thrown off the jury and then don't get charged with contempt of court!! Its true I tell you, just check out the papers... quick and easy way to get off jury service with no charges because the powers that be don't think that the lady in question committed contempt

Try making that one up!

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jul 26^th, 2007, 12:48pm

it is a very important public service, one which you should carry out giving your full attention.
we all want fair trials and trial by jury is probably the best way, how else would you want the judicial system to work? peoples fate decided behind closed doors?

we all moan about the 'youth of today', the crime rate etc etc, then you get the chance to be a contributor in our judicial system and you still moan, tut tut, shame on you.

anyway, i never found a way out of it so i cant see why you should get off...... ::)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by fordnut on Jul 26^th, 2007, 4:39pm

I had to do mine a few years ago it was a three week rape case.On one hand i knew i had to do my duty but on the other hand it made me sick seeing and hearing all the evidence with both parties watching you is something i dont want to go through again EVER.But i did get a genrous compensation package ie work,petrol,lunch.My wife got out of dury service due to the fact she worked in the prison service but other than that im pretty sure you cant get out of it..

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by john.n on Jul 26^th, 2007, 6:19pm

You could try saying that you dont feel you can give a impartial opinon as you are not happy with the current judicial system-i am not. However on the bright side at least you will be sitting in a dry (hopefully) courtroom and getting paid (very poorly) for it. john.n :-/

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Jul 26^th, 2007, 7:50pm

I suppose that there realy is no way of getting out of it, short of leaving the country for good...hmmm ::)

I'm not going to try & defer it as I'd probably get another date that is just as inconvenient....probably on my 40th birthday later this year ???

So I'll get it over & done with now, do my best to be impartial & hopefully that will be the end of it :)

Spanners, my brother in law has also been called twice, in the space of two & a half years :o....he's currently doing his second term :)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Highlander on Jul 26^th, 2007, 9:00pm

Just rewards for being such an outstanding citizen ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Scorpio_Mike on Jul 27^th, 2007, 8:06am

I did jury service about 25 years ago.
The case was a bit of a punch-up in a pub which dragged on for about a week.
It was an interesting experience.

Got called again in 1998 but got it deferred as on the date I was due to start I would have been out of the country on a work secondment in Germany.
Haven't been called again since.

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jul 27^th, 2007, 1:00pm

jonny, if there's anything in your life that you might've had a chance to do but havent because its illegal, then you're already a contributor to the judicial system in this country.

i spose really i should apologise for my earlier post as (after re reading it) it was rather personal in its direction at one person. it was in fact just a point i was making in general about how people moan about crime etc then when they get a chance to be part of it and see how it works they try and avoid it.

i actually found jury service facinating and absolutely frightening at how some jurors could easily be swayed.
it was also a short working day, normally finished by 3.30...... ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Jul 27^th, 2007, 1:03pm

It's okay mate...I've deleted my last two posts anyway, as I've decided that I'm not going to whinge about this subject any more ;)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Jul 27^th, 2007, 1:06pm

nah put em back up, then when we've finished we can move on to religion... ::)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Jul 27^th, 2007, 1:24pm

on 07/27/07 at 13:06:46, taliban aka Cheekyboy2 wrote:

nah put em back up, then when we've finished we can move on to religion... ::)

Relgion ?....haven't we already covered that one ? ;)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by mr._floppy on Jul 27^th, 2007, 5:46pm

post removed by forum admin.

please read your pm's.

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 27^th, 2007, 8:53pm

Quote:

The case was a bit of a punch-up in a pub which dragged on for about a week.

WOW...................That's some punch up Mike !! }{ }{ }{ }{ }{ }{

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Scorpio_Mike on Jul 27^th, 2007, 9:02pm

D'oh!
I meant the case dragged on for a week, not the punch-up...but I'm sure you realised that !

Nice gag though ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Spannerdemon on Jul 27^th, 2007, 9:11pm

}{ ;D }{ ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by TRACEYS_LIMO on Jul 29^th, 2007, 10:02pm

mike are you sure it was 25 years ago you dont look old enough ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Sep 9^th, 2007, 4:26am

"Very important public duty completed m'lud"........ "nice to meet you your honour, but must dash"... ;D

Honestly though, I'll have to admit, I quite enjoyed it :).....

......It wasn't at all what I expected & it was a nice break from the monotonous daily grind of taxi driving.....

.....Instead of picking the scum up, I found myself locking the scum up :D

And it wasn't two weeks of sitting around doing crosswords & waiting to be called.....got picked the first day for a case that went on all week & then on the following Monday was picked for another trial which lasted for that whole week....so I've been quite busy condemning scumbags for a fortnight ;D

First week was a handbag snatch...simple enough case, but the defence kept asking for the jury to be dismissed for the day so he could argue 'points of law' ???....don't know why, we still found him guilty in the end ;)

Second week was something slightly more serious & to be honest, was the vilest thing I've ever had to listen to in my entire life & for as long as I live, would never want to sit through again :(

A step-father that molested his step-daughter at least twice a week for 6 years, from the age of 9 to 15 :'(.....the evidence against him was overwhelming, the prosecution ripped him to shreads & even his own defence lawyer didn't seem to want to try & defend his lies....

....but the guilty on all counts verdict was not unanimous....11-1 ???

One juror refused to find him guilty because he said, 'in his mind' there was no evidence ???....I think he must have had brain damage or summat....he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box :P

Anyway, the judge accepted the majority verdict & sentenced the guy the same afternoon.........15 years......of beatings from other inmates ;).....probably be out in 7 though ???

I know I moaned & groaned about being summoned for jury service when I started this post, but I'm now a changed man :D......I am now convinced, that the random selection of jurors from all walks of life is the best way to get an impartial & un-biased view of both the prosecution & defence's arguements in a court of law :)

I look forward to being randomly selected again, so I can have a hand in purging society of scum ;)....& I reckon it's a possibilty. From talking to other jurors who've done it more than once (one guy was on his forth jury service), I reckon you are more likely to be randomly selected if you've done it before than if you've never done it ::)

P.S.....Taliban...you were right mate....I was given the opportunity to lock up a couple of low lifes & it felt good to know that I was doing my bit in helping to keep society decent...... ;)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by Highlander on Sep 9^th, 2007, 9:19am

You going professional then Jonny?? ;)

Scotland use the majority vote for a conviction, either we have more common sense or more nutters ;D

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by wayne on Sep 9^th, 2007, 10:02am

Well done Jonnycab.., It’s good that you came away feeling good that you’d “done your bit“.

Quote:

One juror refused to find him guilty because he said, 'in his mind' there was no evidence ....I think he must have had brain damage or summat....he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box

That’s the only problem with random selection -- You get random levels of IQ!

My wife is a legal secretary to a firm of Defence lawyers,, or should I say solicitors.
Unfortunately she does come into contact with the scum of society such as the man (I use the term loosely!) in your second case., and those that put the drugs on the streets etc.
It used to cause her much anguish to be polite and professional, welcome them into the office, make them a coffee blah blah… when inside she wanted to stab them!

She has dealings with witness statements, scene of crime photos, sometimes even autopsy reports and photographs. She initially found it to be very harrowing but after a while, surprisingly, you become de sensitised and even blasé towards it all. Hard to imagine!

I personally find it difficult sometimes to rationalise the job that they do,,defending somebody that they KNOW to be guilty, but they declare it as ‘just a job and that everyone is entitled to a legal defence’., which is true enough I suppose.
Even in the face of overwhelming evidence it becomes a damage limitation exercise and so you get delays for ‘social reports’ and such nonsense., all designed to obtain the minimal sentence possible.. And that does guile me.

Accepting that they are just doing their job, it would be nice if the judges did theirs equally as well… and gave sentences befitting the crime!

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Sep 10^th, 2007, 1:24am

Highlander wrote..."You going professional then Jonny?? ;) "..........hmmm ;D

If they ever decide to change the current random jury selection system & have full time jurors & pay a decent wage, then yea, I'd have some of that ;).....10.30am start & out no later than 4.30 pm, with an hour lunch & all expenses paid.....dream job :D

Wayne...I can understand what your wife has to go through & it must be a terrible play on the conscience, but everyone has to earn a living at the end of the day, so the the scum have to be represented.....they are still innocent until proven guilty ;)

Don't worry, I didn't think any less of the defence guy or his young female assistant for representing this monster. But I got the impression, as did most of the jurors, that it wasn't a case he really wanted to win....he was just doing it because it's his job do to so :)

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by taliban aka Cheekyboy2 on Sep 15^th, 2007, 6:47pm

nice one jonny, when i did it my first case was a fiddler with his step kids, he'd already pleaded guilty to 9 counts but not guilty to 22 more. one of our jurors started on his side as he thought the 'poor man' had been hen pecked as he lived in a house with 3 females, the fact that one was 14 another 11 didnt compute with him!
he got 2 x 7 years to run concurrently which to me defeats the object somewhat.
a tear was brought to my eye though when the poor mother whose life and family had been wrecked by this vile man looked across and whispered 'thank you'.

Title: Re: Jury Service
Post by jonnycab on Sep 15^th, 2007, 11:45pm

I never got a thankyou Taliban, but the case was very similar....the guy & his defence tried to make out he was also hen pecked & believe it or not mate....by three females.....weird similarities eh !! ::)

Must be a standard defence plea ;)