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Anyone done jury service?
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[Deleted User]
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How do people cope with this? Finding someone guilty and potentially ruing there life. Especially for something not serious.
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[Deleted User]
Posts: 870
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I know being selected is random, but I also like to think that my posts on here have been read and someone has spotted how balanced and objective I can be
Well if they are guilty, it's their fault not the juries.
I know but say for something like benefit fraud etc. they are going through hard times . You then give them a criminal record make their life worse etc
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
One pathetically trivial case and one more interesting. I was foreman of the jury, and we found him innocent on a majority verdict. That was then. Now I think I would have interpreted the case differently.
There is a massive amount of messing about and time wasting. It gives an insight as to how laborious and inefficient the justice system is.
Thank God I got out of mine .Pubic duty and all that - but heck , no way was I going to daily commutes to some distant Essex suburb.
You don't sound like a fit person to do jury service.
You must not find someone not guilty simply because you feel sorry for them.
I wouldn't mind doing it actually - as long as it wasn't one of those six month fraud trials.
Not for any desire not to serve, but because the court didn't make it possible.
We had a young baby, and the court said we had to employ professional child minding to look after her - pay for it, then claim it back. If you've ever tried to find a decent child minder, particularly short term and for extended hours, you know how impossible that is.
Second, getting there - my wife doesn't drive, and they wouldn't pay for a taxi - insisting she used the bus. This would have meant four buses each way, and 2-3 hours travelling time each way (hence the need for extended hours child care).
In order to solve all the problems I offered to take the time off as a holiday, transport her there and back, and do the child care myself. We were told this wasn't possible, and they wouldn't pay a parent for providing childcare, although I could claim petrol expenses.
In the end we just told them "provide acceptable child care, sensible transport arrangements, or get stuffed" and left it with them.
Yes I can if I like
Ofcourse you can't.
So if all evidence points towards guilt and you think they did it (although perhaps with good reason), you would still say "innocent" because you felt sorry for them?
Yep I can. Is up to me how I come to my decision
Yes if it was for something trivial
If I ever get hauled up before judge and jury .... can I request you are one of the jurors. I am really good at acting pitiful.
You know you really, really, really shouldn't be doing jury service.
This isn't a game show where you save someone because you like them.
The judge will explain this to all jury members before hand, and remind you of your responsibilities, Emotion must not come in to it.
On one of the cases i sat on, one of the accused was really softly spoken and polite for the first two days and a few of the jurors really felt sorry for him. However, on the third day his mask slipped during questioning and he became really aggressive. It was like a totally different person was on trial.
Afterwards we were informed us of all the previous crimes he had committed. The list was quite long.
You are completely unsuitable for jury service.
No if it was a serious crime then I would base on the evidence but for something trivial like a student stealing a traffic cone I would find not guilty. What is the point of them having a criminal record for something so silly?
Never said it was a game show.
If you were on a Jury, you would be at Crown Court, and trivial matters such as that are not heard there.