Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Jury Duty


Have you ever served on a jury? I had to go for jury duty yesterday. While I've gone a few times, I've never had to be a juror. Usually the case gets settled out of court and we are sent home. This time it was a malpractice case and was expected to last 4 to 5 weeks. I would find it so interesting to be part of a jury but I'm leaving for Vegas next week and would be very upset if I couldn't go. Because it was to be a lengthy trial the judge asked if we had any vacations planned or if it would be a hardship to serve. I told about my vacation plans and was relieved when I was dismissed! I am a little disappointed that I couldn't be a juror because it would be fasinating yet a huge responsibility, especially in this case where it involves multiple doctors and malpractice.

Have you ever served on a jury? Did you like it? Was it anything serious or life changing?

P.S. The only person in my family to serve as a juror was my daughter, three years ago. That's is where she met her husband! It was one of those things where they noticed each other across the room, went on to be selected as part of the jury, and have been together ever since. Just goes to show you never know where you'll meet "the one."

9 comments:

Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas said...

I have been called for jury duty several times and once for Federal jury duty, but I always get struck off because since I work in the legal field I always know attorneys on one side or the other. Bummer!

Lou Cinda

Cynthia said...

I love the story about your daughter! That's a fun and unusual 'how we met' story.

I have only been called in once but didn't have to serve. It IS fascinating to watch court preceedings though. When we went through the prosecution for the guy who stole money from our non-profit it was both riveting and sad to see all the other cases besides ours.

When my kids are old enough, I plan to take them to watch a session of REAL court so they can see REAL people going through REAL stuff and REAL consequences being levied. I have good kids but I want them well-prepared for the teen years when they come.

3LittleByrds said...

I have been called twice but both times I was pregnant so I was dismissed. I think it would be interesting yet scary to have someone's fate in your hands. I guess I speak from personal experience. My cousin was murdered in 2006 by 2 guys who chose to rob him and now they're both in jail. One has decided not to plead but go for a full trial so come Oct. we'll be going through this and I pray to God the jury has mercy on our family and see's the heartache we've went through.

Sue said...

I have been sent notifications 3-4 times since I moved to Ohio. You are instructed to call to see if the case is proceeding or not. Everytime I called, the case had been dismissed. So, no, I have never served. And now that my son is a police officer, that may prevent me for selection for several different categories. Who knows if I will ever do my civic duty...
:-) Sue

bj said...

Hello...I just mentioned you to another blogger not 30 minutes ago..
I did jury duty several times and was chosen about 4 or 5 times during the years. Not anything ever very bad, tho...no murder trials or anything like that.

Val over at glimpseofmyworld.blogspot.com (i THINK that is her address) just put some of the NEATEST words all over her kitchen and i want to do it, too. She said she used some vinyl company and I happened to think of you. Could you go over, take a look at hers and let me know if you can get them??
Thanks so much...
hugs, bj

bj said...

No...wait a minute..I got her address wrong..I'll be right back...:(

bj said...

http://wwwglimpseofmyworld.blogspot.com/
is right...THANKS!!

Darlene said...

I have been on a jury twice. The first one was kind of petty....just ended up giving them a fine.

The second time was almost two years ago and it was a murder trial with the possibility of a death sentence!!! Now, that was quite interesting. Kind of like on TV, you actually see the pictures of the dead person, read all the reports, see the murder weapon, etc. He ended up with life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was somewhat nerve racking because any time we were dismissed the police were there to escort us out to our cars. Also the media was there. The guy ruined two families. That of the person he killed and his own.

Made In The South said...

I have been called, but never served on a jury. What a cool story about your daughter. Have a great weekend!