Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: DREDger on January 11, 2010, 01:58:58 PM
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I was wondering if any of you have an interesting jury duty story to tell?
Just before Christmas I served as a jury foreman for a capital murder and aggravated robbery trial. What happened is two guys went to buy drugs from a drug dealer in a 'crack' house if you will. The defendant knew the drug dealer, and took his pal to the drug house.
Defendant crosses door threshold, then his pal walks in right behind him and shoots the drug dealer right in the head (crime scene photo's were gruesome). A big melee ensues in the house, one guy dives headfirst out a closed window and escapes barefoot after losing his shoes, another scoots out the back. Some dudes in the front who had just bought drugs at the house get shot at as they try to leave (their car stalls out, scaring them half to death).
The murderer takes the pistol from the dead drug dealers hand, now has two guns, scoops up drugs and runs for the car. Nearly shoots his own friends in the car by accidentally firing one of the guns through the car when fumbling with three boxes of drugs and money.
Anyway in Texas the jury does the sentencing. We found the guy guilty of aggravated robbery but not capital murder and sentenced him to 25 years in jail. The murderer who actually shot the drug dealer had already been tried and convicted to life w/o parole. All of it over about $5,000 in illegal pot and cash.
It was interesting being in a room with 11 other strangers, trying to work out the details and testimony. (All eyewitness testimony were from people you would NOT want to meet in person I can assure you).
One juror was of the not guilty on both counts for a long time. However, when she came around to guilty on one count, she's the one that recommended the harshest punishment (she wanted him sentenced to 50 years, more than everyone else).
One guy kept threatening to walk out on the jury because I refused to send a hung jury notice to judge on the second day of deliberations. Eventually we did send one hung jury notice, to which the judge called us into the courtroom, thanked us for our service, then promptly send us back in to deliberate more.
Another lady, bless her heart, was as dumb as a post and her primary contribution was telling us all we have to decide based on the 'evidence' (That's pronounced Ayy-veh-dints ya'll.....after about the 10th time she said that, I was biting my lip)
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all this over weed!? sheesh!! this is why it needs to be legalized and cigarrettes illegalized. seen too many people family and friends die from cigarretes. i quit cigarretes sept 11,09. back to jury duty, i got called once but due to some bad circumstances i got relieved of jury duty in 05'. thank god :salute
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Got a summons to an address I haven't lived at for 3-4 years, returned it making sure to mark I didn't live in the county anymore, got relieved.
Not nearly as exciting.
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all this over weed!? sheesh!!
Yeah, all over weed, and not that much either.
The guy who pulled the trigger though, was a sociopathic nut. He was actually arrested about 9 months later for robbing/shooting two Mexican guys as they left an apartment (they survived). He was picked up a short time later, then this case started to break (it had gone cold). Thank god he is locked up for life, he would have shot you for $1 in your pocket an not thought twice about it.
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Been called to jury duty twice so far.
First time the lawyers came to some kind of agreement just before the jury was to be picked. It counted as duty served and was exempt for seven years.
Second time I missed being called for selection screening by the skin of my teeth. I was bummed at first but then when it was over I found out it still counts as serving. I'm exempt for another eight years now.
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I usually tell them that I have a brother who is a cop and if they were arrested they're probably guilty as charged. Get excused every time. :banana:
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I've been called twice for jury duty but never chosen. I wonder why........
Frankly I wouldn't mind it at all as it is just a duty of a citizen of the country. If you enjoy the benefits you should be able to "man up" and do your part to support the system you enjoy.
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Jury duty in this county is absolute bovine excrement. It's for a 3 MONTH stint and you can still get called up 2 years later for guess what---a 3 MONTH stint. Every business day you cave to call a record-a-phone number to see of your group is needed the next day. It's the only county I know of that asks for so much.
To take the cake---I had a physician's letter of exemption because I have severe spinal injuries (one spinal surgery so far and need two more) and the judge refused to accept it. Sitting for any length of time on wood benches is torture, I can tell you.
Of the three cases I was chosen for I ended up being booted by the lawers on 2 because I was a former cop and one other because I am licenced by the state in both life and health insurance.
Go flippin' figure.
ROX
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i had to serve once, in Crook(ed) County Oregon your time on the jury list is 3 months also, call in every sunday to see if your name comes up, mine did so i went down there, there was this older gentleman on trial for riding a bike while drunk, the prosecutor wanted to convict him under a DUI charge, which i felt would make this guy loose his drivers license for 90 days up to a year, plus he would have to pay higher auto insurance, etc etc, when called in for the questions from the prosecutor i basically said that there was no way i would say guilty on a DUI charge, that it sounded more like a drunk in public charge to me, i couldn't see this man losing his drivers license paying higher insurance the mandatory drug testing and all the other things you have to do under the DUI laws for riding a bike drunk, needless to say they cut me loose. The defendants attorney wanted me on the jury lol
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I would love to serve on a jury but I must be on a black list :noid Closest I got to it was the OJ trial. Watched most of it on TV :D
Was a witness once. Helped the tosser that burgled my house get 18 months :aok Not only was he a career criminal he was a career thick twit. :rolleyes:
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I am in the same boat as Lynx. I have never been called for jury duty. I have a theory about it and maybe you guys can weigh in on it and we can see if it holds true. My theory is I am a Navy Veteran and I was thinking veterans have been taken off the list as they have already served their country. My father-in-law is Marine Vet and served during the Vietnam war and he also has never been called for jury duty. I know it is probably a stupid theory, but mine none the less. :salute
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Was jury foreman on a GBH case, victim was a two-year-old. Whole thing was just sordid.
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I am in the same boat as Lynx. I have never been called for jury duty. I have a theory about it and maybe you guys can weigh in on it and we can see if it holds true. My theory is I am a Navy Veteran and I was thinking veterans have been taken off the list as they have already served their country. My father-in-law is Marine Vet and served during the Vietnam war and he also has never been called for jury duty. I know it is probably a stupid theory, but mine none the less. :salute
No i don't think that's it, Ive known a couple people that served in the forces and were called for jury duty, it all goes off voter registration in your county randomly picked by a computer, at least that's how it works in Oregon.
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wooden benches? in florida we had big padded swivel chairs.
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I am in the same boat as Lynx. I have never been called for jury duty. I have a theory about it and maybe you guys can weigh in on it and we can see if it holds true. My theory is I am a Navy Veteran and I was thinking veterans have been taken off the list as they have already served their country. My father-in-law is Marine Vet and served during the Vietnam war and he also has never been called for jury duty. I know it is probably a stupid theory, but mine none the less. :salute
I wish it worked that way. I have been called 2x since I got out of the army. I have never actually had to sit on jury, but I have been eliminated twice. The first, I had known the person being tried for a couple of years. The second, was a child molestation case and I was number 17, and they chose all 14 within the first 16 jurors. I am glad too, cause I don't think I could have handled that trial.
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Houston runs their jury selection by "lottery". I must be lucky as hell since I "won" 3 times in 1 year. Never made it past voir dire. What absolutely stunned me though was the complete disdain from prospective jurors of the 5th amendment. Most of the people sitting there flat out said if you don't verbally defend yourself, you're guilty.
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Houston runs their jury selection by "lottery". I must be lucky as hell since I "won" 3 times in 1 year. Never made it past voir dire. What absolutely stunned me though was the complete disdain from prospective jurors of the 5th amendment. Most of the people sitting there flat out said if you don't verbally defend yourself, you're guilty.
Mine was in Dallas, I'm sure fairly similar to Houston.
I was surprised during the voir dire as well. People were bending over backwards to get out of serving, just looking for an excuse.
One question they asked, "This is a capital murder trial, if you find the defendant guilty, you will not participate in the punishment phase. De fendent will automatically get life w/o parole. Can you give life w/o parole as a sentence."
So they asked a few people and most sortof shrugged and said yes. Then one lady says "No, I can't give a sentence like that"
After that, about 10 people recognised it was a great excuse, so the hands began to shoot up...'nope, I can't either'
I wanted to serve on the jury, glad I was picked too.
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I was on a murder trial for 2-3 months. Thank God my work paid for that time... some people are not that lucky. Was a robbery gone bad. Very weird to have the knowledge of all of it in my head since it was very near where I live... all the locations details etc... I learned a lot about meth and what it does to people.
I was a little upset that during the jury selection the defendant learned intimate details about me... name... where I live... hobbies... where I typically run... where i work etc... Not sure I like that.
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I am lucky in a way. Due to my job I am not allowed to be on a jury, but I still have to deal with the nuts on the streets.
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I am lucky in a way. Due to my job I am not allowed to be on a jury, but I still have to deal with the nuts on the streets.
Are you a police officer?
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Yes sir
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I was on a murder trial for 2-3 months. Thank God my work paid for that time... some people are not that lucky.
Over here in the UK the courts pay your wages and certain expenses. Must provide wage slips and receipts. Firms are not allowed to fire you because of jury service.
I was a little upset that during the jury selection the defendant learned intimate details about me... name... where I live... hobbies... where I typically run... where i work etc... Not sure I like that.
The same over here for jurors and witnesses.
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Did a one week stint. Two trials.
First one was a forgery case - an Asian couple selling dodgy education qualifications to immigrants. The jury foreman jokingly said "I'm a racist so I think they're guilty" and another juror who didn't want to be there informed the judge - trial aborted, jury dismissed.
The second trial - volunteer firefighter charged with arson - the jury pool for the trial got the see witnesses - I recognised the main witness but couldn't remember if I new him from my volunteer fire fighting service or from my employment (turns out it was from both!). I was the first person called out of the pool - told them I was a fire fighter - adios!
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I am in the same boat as Lynx. I have never been called for jury duty. I have a theory about it and maybe you guys can weigh in on it and we can see if it holds true. My theory is I am a Navy Veteran and I was thinking veterans have been taken off the list as they have already served their country. My father-in-law is Marine Vet and served during the Vietnam war and he also has never been called for jury duty. I know it is probably a stupid theory, but mine none the less. :salute
Are you over 65? I don't think you have to serve on the jury if you're that old.
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Jury pools are drawn from a list of names, in the case of AZ. it's done by drivers license records and or voters records. I seriously doubt there is any reference to whether a person is a veteran or not.
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Another lady, bless her heart, was as dumb as a post and her primary contribution was telling us all we have to decide based on the 'evidence' (That's pronounced Ayy-veh-dints ya'll.....after about the 10th time she said that, I was biting my lip)
Well, were you between Austin and Dallas (hickest place on the planet, no lie, I 'seen' things man), and plus, it ain't all that bad with the accent, if you've lived here long enough, ya get used to it.
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I just received a juror summons! the only big case that i know of is a college student was murder. the man is charge of capital murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the 2007 death of 18-year-old who happen to be a porn model by the name Zoey Zane.
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I have had jury duty twice. We are on for 30 days and are then exempt for 2 years. First case was felony failure to pay child support. These two people had no business breeding in the first place. The guy had been in jail for malicious wounding, lost an ear in a bar fight, and could barely form complete sentences. The girl had never worked. When asked why she gave the infamous "I'm bi-polar" excuse. She too, could barely speak in an understandable manner. In my opinion the case was cut and dry. WV law states any lapse in support payment for 12 consecutive months is a felony. We had to exclude a 3 month prison term and a 6 month hospital/rehab stint. That still left 14 straight and consecutive months of no payment. The guy had made a total of 2 payments in almost 4 years. We still took almost 10 hours to convict him because one jury didn't want to convict him because if he went to jail he couldn't pay.
Second stint I was an alternate. I had to sit through the trial but got to leave when jury went in to deliberate.
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I have been called twice, both times I was in Iraq. When my wife sent the letter back, with it written on the back" My Husband is in IRAQ". They called back and said, I kid you not,"We will reimburse his Travel expenses" IT was not till she explained in 3rd grade English that my plane tickets alone were over 3000 dollars, that I got excused.
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I done it once over 15 years ago. before being selected (it was a rape case) everyone could clearly hear the judge and prosecution/defence advocates arguing over the details, and I clearly heard the defence guy tell the judge the guy was pleading guilty to 3 counts' but Not Guilty to the rape charge. The defence attorney then made a big deal during the trial about his client having no previous convictions. It wasn't that in particular which made us convict on flimsy evidence, but it certainly never helped him......
We were informed after finding him guilty that he had pled guilty to molesting 2 kids (sisters aged 4 & 5) while he was on bail awaiting trial for the rape charge. It sickened me to think we were so close to finding the scumbag not guilty too.
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Never been on a jury myself, knock on wood, but my wife has this past year on a few occasions. They get picked her for a few months then excused for a few years. What I thought was interesting is the other day a nice deputy came to the house and handed her a court summons to appear on the behalf of the defense in an upcoming case. It's some case against one of the defendants from one of the cases she served on. She called the courthouse and found out all of the jurors received the same summons so who knows what's up, she has to wait until April to see.
I wouldn't mind being on a jury but the wonderful company I work for definitely won't pay for any of my days off of work.
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Back to the OP. Who buys pot in a crack house?
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Back to the OP. Who buys pot in a crack house?
I just used 'crack' house as a generic term.
The house was actually called a 'trap' house, a term I learned at the trial. Anyway what they do is get a house in a crapy neighborhood and just use it as a place to sell drugs, a front. There is nothing in the house that would remind you of a real home, just a ratty couch, scales/bags, tv on a box, a few stolen tires with pimpdaddy rims, stuff like that.
Would really give you the creeps to see it.
In this case the murdered drug dealer was selling pot in baggies about the size of a golf ball. He had his 'guard' their with them, and a friend was there as well.