Graz

Starting jury service next week, seems like two weeks of it is normal.

Quite looking forward to it and obviously beats being at actual work, especially as they are going to carry on paying me whilst I'm doing it

Any hints, tips, interesting stories, experiences etc. from other SNetters?

I hear there's a lot of sitting around to be done so to take a book or two to read.

Fat Boy

Lots of sitting around - pretty boring tbh

Butkus

I did it when I was 18 - they got me young! It was 20 years ago but I doubt much has changed. There was lots of waiting around, yes, but we did get called eventually for a GBH/ABH case that went on for a few days. The guy had pushed a woman through a glass door! Whole thing lasted less than two weeks in the end because after we found him guilty, they ushered us out, said thanks very much, then told us to leave by the back exit as the man's family had started shouting threats at us from the public gallery!

Quite interesting really, and as I worked at Sainsbury's at the time, more interesting than work as you so rightly pointed out!

warrenm2

take a book!

ChrisB

Luck of the draw - I did it in 2012. Got short-listed straight away on the first morning and was the first name drawn in court, so did something like 12 days on a single case and we were all released.

Take a book and your lunch, then you can pocket the money they give you to spend on food. Might not be too bad at this time of the year, but we were in a big, old court room and it was chuffing freezing. All the electric heaters tripped the mains at one point.

If picked, be prepared to march in and out of court several times a day whilst the solicitors / barristers discuss things with the judge. Also read your information - they would pay mileage + park & ride expenses, which is far as P&R is much cheaper than the city centre car parks.

An0n0m0us

I had 3 cases and was lucky as literally had no waiting around, burglary, car ringing gang and armed robbery so quite an interesting 2 weeks. It was made all the more interesting by the fact there was an IRA suspect being tried in the court next to ours with armed police everywhere and watching them close the roads to bring him under armed convoy from the prison to the court house and leave every day was quite an event. This was back when the IRA was active and so transporting such prisoners was a big deal etc.

Tidgy

one of the guys at work has just had it, spent a week of mornings loafing around the court house before being sent home at lunch lol

coupe_20vt

iTrader: (2)

Take 2 books!

I did 10 days and only spent 3 days in the actual court room.

Dr Hu

I did a week (out of 2 - was dismissed for the second) and found it extremely interesting, I had a death by dangerous driving (which was a bit harrowing with the victims family staring at you for a few days!) then a GBH charge on a whirlwind romance that all went pete tong.... I loved it TBH, but yes there is a fair bit of waiting around, shuffling in & out, long lunches etc, but the time in court was great.

We too had to leave by the back exit once as it was getting a bit tense, esp. as we let the guy off the Dangerous Drive charge, the family were NOT happy.... TBH the judge (in my eyes) led us to the verdict he wanted.... which I didn't expect, but it hits you when you are dealing with a dead motorcyclist and a poor bloke who had no idea even of wtf happened, it just happened.... you have their future lives in your hands, some people found this quite hard to deal with..... I was the Jury spokesman as no-one else wanted to do it.

But yes, take a book! there was a pretty much fully stocked library in our jury room, from books that other jurors had left in the past!
Some people had been on cases for 8 weeks +

I was a bit disappointed there was not another week, we only got dismissed as the Judge was on holiday the next week! lol

I would definitely do it again if asked.

Graz

Sounds good then, you either get to laze around for a few days then get sent home but as far as my employer is concerned I was needed for the whole two weeks or you get some interesting cases to sit in on.

Will definitely take something to read

David Lock

My daughter did it and had a horrible abuse case (father/child). She was very upset for quite a while afterwards.

dl

PaulC72

Does your employer have to claim the money back from the courts (or whoever it is) and they will only cover up to a certain amount?

just thinking about the would mean some of the SN high flyers wouldn't' necessarily get their earnings cover if they did it.

David Lock

But they're often the ones in the dock

dl

Graz

No they don't. However if you were relying on what the court offers in terms of compensation for loss of earnings then I think you be out of pocket in most jobs let alone the "high flyers".

Graz

Well that was good, released after just three days and didn't sit on a single trial.

Arrived Monday 09:15 as instructed. Got talked through the process, other details and watched a DVD about what happens in court. There were 32 of us so split into two groups (16 jurors per trial but four are rejected when the trial gets underway), told our group was needed at 12:00 so released to wander into town and get a coffee.

Back at 12:00, waiting around for a bit then told not needed until 15:00, back into town for lunch (had a cheeky pint ). Back at 15:00, more waiting around, 16:00 told not needed for today or tomorrow, ring in to see if needed for Wednesday.

Spent Tuesday "working from home". After ringing in found I was needed for 10:00 the next day.

Back in for 10:00, more waiting around until lunchtime, get sent out for lunch, back again, 15:00 and get told were going to see the judge. Finally!....

....only to be given a chat by him that we were no longer needed but thanks for our time and sorry there were no cases. Seemed like all the stuff we'd been assigned to either had last minute plea changes to guilty or they'd decided that based on the evidence there wasn't a case to proceed with. Nice of the judge to take the time to address us directly rather than just being sent home though, seemed like a nice chap.

Oh well now back at work Was quite looking forward to my first court room experience, guess I'll have to wit until the next time I get called up (if ever).

RobJenks

I was in a jury a few years ago , surprisingly , as I had been found guilty of ABH a few years before-But a not guilty was recorded. A contradiction I know , but this is in Oz.
For the record , I did batter this Aussie ***** , but he had threatened me with a glass . So in I went -caused more damage than I expected.
Anyway , the case I attended involved 3 bouncers in a club. These animals were hard cases , used to battering people . They had chucked a young bloke out of the club for being drunk and unruly . The young guy gave them some verbal before running away. The bouncers chased him down and took him down an alley alongside the club and gave him a real pasting.
The bouncers were no neck , tattooed trash .
For me it was an open and shut case - Guilty as charged.
But the jury found them not guilty because nobody actually witnessed the assault as the alley was cordoned off - by more bouncers from the club.
The poor lad was hurt real bad-sure he made a nuisance of himself , but he didn't deserve the beating he was given.
Courts don't provide justice all the time.

paulr

Did it twice in a 6 year period. Never got a single case. Lots of being sent home early.

Apparently, what happens is they plead not guilty, hope a witness doesnt turn up or withdraws, then at the last minute, they plead guilty. Hence all the going home early, defendant pleads guilty last minute, trial dropped.

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

i did it back in 2000,it was a case against a bloke from leicester who was caught with over 100 cannabis plants in his loft...................claimed they were for his own use.........................yeah fukcing right-o mate

Cpt Jack Sparrow

iTrader: (14)

Did Jury servive 4 years ago.

Ended up on 2 cases, a total of just over 3 week inalll. Both Rape cases.

1 Guilty,

1 not guilty, it was total fabrication and should never hve got to court

Best bit was being Foreman for the guilty verdict. 8 year sentence for that one