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Your Experiences Of Jury Service
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Wot are your experiences of being on a jury? What pressures did you feel and were u happy with the outcome?
Ive never done it and wud hate it.
Ive never done it and wud hate it.
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Avatar Image agchristieQuestion AuthorNickorwan,blimey! Ive never heard of that situation.Is it a judge's place to say such a thing?
ag, after the case has been heard and before the jury retires to reach a verdict ( only the officials still in the court room ) the judge will give guidance to the jury.
ag, after the case has been heard and before the jury retires to reach a verdict ( only the officials still in the court room ) the judge will give guidance to the jury.
I've never done it but a close relation had to do it a few years ago at the Old Bailey. He was waiting to be assigned to a case and became increasingly worried by the PA system announcements about the Mafia trial. He was thinking "OMG, hope I'm not called up for that one" - having fears of living under a protected identity for the rest of his life.
It turned out that Mafia was the surname of some petty offender who'd done something fairly trivial but just serious enough to be tried in a Crown Court.
It turned out that Mafia was the surname of some petty offender who'd done something fairly trivial but just serious enough to be tried in a Crown Court.
Juror (Jury Service)
General
If you’ve had a criminal conviction it may mean that you are not allowed to serve on a jury. Not all convictions count, but periods of imprisonment, a suspended sentence of imprisonment or probation can exclude you.
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General
If you’ve had a criminal conviction it may mean that you are not allowed to serve on a jury. Not all convictions count, but periods of imprisonment, a suspended sentence of imprisonment or probation can exclude you.
https:/
I've done 2 stints, each lasted a fortnight but I only got into one case at each stint. At the first one I got "elected" as Foreman "because I was the only one wearing a suit". That was a ridiculous case because there were lots of occasions when the jury had to leave the court while legal matters were discussed - we spent most of our time trekking between the Court and the Jury Room. I actually enjoyed the experience of Foreman in that I got to talk directly to the judge because after I announced our verdict to the Clerk of the Court the Judge intervened and asked me if everyone understood the meaning of the verdict. We never found out what the complication was which led to the frequent exits but we speculated that the guy was stopped with stolen goods in his car to which he pleaded guilty but a further offence discovered at the time was what we were trying him for. We guessed that the court didn't want us to know of the theft as the defence barrister would use it to destroy the case, so each time a question to the guy or other witnesses was likely to reveal the theft the defence barrister leapt in to prevent an answer and we had to trek off while they discussed it. The rest of both fortnights was spent in the Jury Waiting Area twiddling our thumbs, reading years old magazines, or watching daytime TV.
Incidentally it is illegal to talk about the case outside the court/jury room so I've just broken the law.
Incidentally it is illegal to talk about the case outside the court/jury room so I've just broken the law.
/// During deliberating,can a juror(s) formally complain ///
Yes, an Usher escorts you to the Jury Room and all the time you are deliberating sits outside the door. Any complaint (or questions) from a juror has to be made to him/her and if he/she is unable to answer it, takes it to the judge. You can also pass a note to the usher in court to get the judge's attention. A friend of mine had an amusing experience because she passed a note to the usher (with whom obviously the jury build up a friendship) saying something like "I could do with a cup of tea" - what she didn't realise was that inside the court the Usher is legally obliged to pass it to the judge. He was sympathetic however and adjourned for a break accordingly, as she sank through the floor in embarrassment.
Yes, an Usher escorts you to the Jury Room and all the time you are deliberating sits outside the door. Any complaint (or questions) from a juror has to be made to him/her and if he/she is unable to answer it, takes it to the judge. You can also pass a note to the usher in court to get the judge's attention. A friend of mine had an amusing experience because she passed a note to the usher (with whom obviously the jury build up a friendship) saying something like "I could do with a cup of tea" - what she didn't realise was that inside the court the Usher is legally obliged to pass it to the judge. He was sympathetic however and adjourned for a break accordingly, as she sank through the floor in embarrassment.
One thing I forgot to mention AGC is that exhibits presented in evidence have to be shown to the jury (well they did in both cases I tried) which can get mighty tedious. In my second case the Foreman (not me this time) passed a note round the jury asking if we really wanted to see all the items, we all responded "no" so he passed it on to the judge (via the Usher) who seemed quite pleased with our attitude. In each case the items had to be actually passed round each of the jury, like pass the parcel at school parties, I'm unsure why they couldn't just be held up in front of the jury box.
Because I am a university lecturer, when I was called for jury service, my head of department was able to say that I was desperately needed in Uni and should be excused jury service. I have never been so relieved about anything in my life. Northern Ireland is not a good place to have to sit on a jury.
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