Jury duty AGAIN

[Lookingglassman]

You are sooo lucky! I love jury duty because it is a paid vacation.

 

[Skellington]

^ Not if you're a juror at a murder trial, it ain't! I was in 2006 and it wasn't the most pleasant experience ever. Jurors can get a little hot under the collar at times, and in my opinion courts can be a little too arbitrary on certain matters. I'll be eligible again in 2013 and am partly curious about having another crack at it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Haha, no such thing in Sweden. Nice, actually.

And safer, I'd guess. We let lawyers do that job instead.

Don't you have juries in Sweden? How's that work?

If you DO have them, how do you choose jurors?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I believe they have a panel of judges. It's got advantages and disadvantages. It removes a good deal of the conscience aspect that jurors bring, so things are seen far more black and white. It also reduces the number of people involved, so there could be a higher margin of error. But it does make sure that those judging trials are experienced and know what to look for, so there's less chance they misapply the law.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I see. And Swedes don't mind this, do they? Is this 'panel of judges' still seen as a sufficient protection for the rights of the accused?

 

[Alpha Romeo]

Okay, I'm 30 years old, I live in a (fairly) major metropolitan area, and I've been called THREE TIMES. I know very few people who have been called even once. What gives? Why me? Fortunately, my job will pay me while I'm out, so it'll be like a paid vacation.

It could be worse. I live in a high density population, but I've been called for jury duty every year since I turned 18 (I'm just shy of 28). My jobs through the years have never once paid for jury duty. One year, I almost lost my apartment when I was living paycheck to paycheck and lost 2 weeks of work when I was selected for a trial.

I have no explanation for why I'm chosen every year :-/.

Did you not tell the judge you had a financial hardship?

 

[Sam_I_Am]

Using a panel of judges and not having a jury at all is actually the most common system in the world, it's not just a weird Scandinavian thing. :P

Juries are the exception rather than the rule in civil law systems, which include most of the world's nations.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Okay, I'm 30 years old, I live in a (fairly) major metropolitan area, and I've been called THREE TIMES. I know very few people who have been called even once. What gives? Why me? Fortunately, my job will pay me while I'm out, so it'll be like a paid vacation.

It could be worse. I live in a high density population, but I've been called for jury duty every year since I turned 18 (I'm just shy of 28). My jobs through the years have never once paid for jury duty. One year, I almost lost my apartment when I was living paycheck to paycheck and lost 2 weeks of work when I was selected for a trial.

I have no explanation for why I'm chosen every year :-/.

Did you not tell the judge you had a financial hardship?

LA County will only hear pleas for financial hardship if you're supporting dependents.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

It could be worse. I live in a high density population, but I've been called for jury duty every year since I turned 18 (I'm just shy of 28). My jobs through the years have never once paid for jury duty. One year, I almost lost my apartment when I was living paycheck to paycheck and lost 2 weeks of work when I was selected for a trial.

I have no explanation for why I'm chosen every year :-/.

Did you not tell the judge you had a financial hardship?

LA County will only hear pleas for financial hardship if you're supporting dependents.

Just confirms my suspicions that LA county is stupid.

 

[JiNX-01]

Wow. I was called for jury duty once. Didn't have to serve. There was a rumor going around that a plea deal was in the works.

 

[bigdaddy]

One year, I almost lost my apartment when I was living paycheck to paycheck and lost 2 weeks of work when I was selected for a trial.

I hate guilty people.
I hate jews.
I hate blacks.
I hate whites.

All of these should have gotten you out of the trail. :-p

I had it once. In Massachusetts I think you can only get called once every 3 years. I was there 8am to noon, and all the cases were solved without a need for any juries.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

One year, I almost lost my apartment when I was living paycheck to paycheck and lost 2 weeks of work when I was selected for a trial.

I hate guilty people.
I hate jews.
I hate blacks.
I hate whites.

All of these should have gotten you out of the trail. :-p

All of those will get you contempt of court under LA's system.

 

[mari]

Using a panel of judges and not having a jury at all is actually the most common system in the world, it's not just a weird Scandinavian thing. :P

Juries are the exception rather than the rule in civil law systems, which include most of the world's nations.

And even in the US you can choose a panel of judges over a jury. In my area, a man was recently acquitted by a panel of 3 judges, where, if he had gone to jury trial, he definitely would have been convicted (of murdering his wife). Everyone in the county figured he was guilty, no way would a jury find reasonable doubt.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Where do you live? While you can generally get a bench trial (i.e., just the judge rules), I don't know of any place that lets you have a panel of judges. Also, you can always move the trial somewhere else if you think you won't get a fair trial where you are.