I was on a felony jury in July

[Algernon Moncrieff]

It was a tough case. Attempted sexual assault involving a couple in a domestic situation.

We asked to have the 911 call replayed and we read and discussed the jury instructions. There was a lot of back and forth, but ultimately we came to a verdict, albeit reluctantly, of guilty because of the facts that were presented and the law we were told to follow in the instructions.

I do not envy the jurors in the Rittenhouse case. High profile. High pressure. All any of us can do at this point is hope they can reach a just verdict.

[PoliticAverse]

1. While waiting for a verdict, everyone can watch "12 Angry Men" again... n/t

[Skittles]

4. sometimes, people really are guilty

imagine that

[Frasier Balzov]

10. Guilty of what though.

The menu is long from which to choose.

[Siwsan]

2. I was once the jury foreperson on a murder trial

The judge gave very easy to understand directions. When we went back to the room I asked everyone their first thoughts on a verdict and why they thought that. It all went well until a woman declared 2nd degree murder, and when I asked for her reason she declared. 'Because they said the second shot killed her.' I looked at her and asked 'So, if the first shot had killed her, you'd vote for first degree murder?' She responded in the affirmative.


Somehow we all still managed to reach a consensus.

[lpbk2713]

3. And if the shooter missed ...

it would have been a misdemeanor.

[Siwsan]

5. I actually asked her if it had been a third shot, would it have been manslaughter?

She just kind of blinked.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. March 2020 For Me

Also, domestic violence.
I was voted foreman, and after 20 minutes of discussion, I called the first vote.
12 Not Guilty votes.
The prosecution, in our case, barely proved anything occurred, let alone a felony assault. Given that, they were light years from proving the accused was guilty.
I was unimpressed with the lawyers for either side. I've often thought both sides knew it was a thin beef.

[left-of-center2012]

7. I was on a county grand jury in Maine

That's 23 people voting for or against an indictment.

[jimfields33]

8. I was on a jury

We made it all the way to final vote and we’re interrupted by the accused doing a last minute plea bargain. Weirdly, he took more time in jail then we were going to give. Whatever.

[marble falls]

9. My experiance on a jury was there were people on it who lied about things the Judge ...

... asked us to disqualify ourselves for: relatives in law enforcement: two jurors, no family members injured or killed by a drunk driver: one.

We argued for a long time, mainly to get the three liars in line with the facts and the law.

Found him not guilty of DUI - below .08 and above .05, found him not guilty of contributing to the delinquency of minors, guilty of open containers.

[TomSlick]

11. Years ago I was on a criminal jury. I think both sides assumed the other would strike me.

I can't imagine any lawyer letting a lawyer sit on a jury.

I allowed the others to elect me as foreman so that I could be careful to not sway the others.

We started around the table for an initial vote. The first juror said, "Why did they charge this boy." The next ten asked the same question. When it came around to me, the other eleven looked to me for an explanation. I said "Don't ask me, I don't know why they charged this boy."

We then spent a few minutes convincing one old guy that we should not speculate about whether evidence had been excluded on "some technicality" and returned a not guilty verdict in less than thirty minutes. The prosecutor has yet to forgive me.