Serving time on jury duty

[Adam H. Kerman]

I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.

Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts. For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.

Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

[shawn]

On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.
Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts. For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.

Hey, at least you have something to watch. Last time I had to go in
for jury duty we just got to sit in a room with nothing to watch or
listen to.

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

Freedom!

There's this whole world outside of those four walls that you can
explore. Though it sounds like you may not get out until that big ball
of light in the sky has gone away for the day.

[suzeeq]

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I've been called for jury duty, they give us a number to call after
5 pm to see if we should come in or not.

Post by shawn

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.
Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts. For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.

Hey, at least you have something to watch. Last time I had to go in
for jury duty we just got to sit in a room with nothing to watch or
listen to.

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

Freedom!
There's this whole world outside of those four walls that you can
explore. Though it sounds like you may not get out until that big ball
of light in the sky has gone away for the day.

[Your Name]

Post by suzeeq

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I've been called for jury duty, they give us a number to call after
5 pm to see if we should come in or not.

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

The jury system is an idiotic and archaic nonsense that needs to be
gotten rid of. Few, if any, jurors actually want to be there, so they
just sit there bored to death and simply go along with the crowd
decision so they can all get out of the place as quickly as possible
(or in some cases they prolong the process so they get more free food
and possibly even a hotel stay). The judges should be doing the actual
job that they are hugely over-paid to be doing ... judging!!

I had to do jury service once years ago, and it was just a complete
waste of time and tax-payer money (pitifully small though the payments
are). I've been called up a few times since then, but always applied
and received an exemption, so didn't have to bother going.

[The Horny Goat]

On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:53:50 -0500, super70s

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.

I was excused on a defence challenge.

[shawn]

Post by The Horny Goat
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:53:50 -0500, super70s

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.

Was it a small room? In our case the room we waited in before being
called in for a potential jury held about a 100 people. Never did
make it unto a jury as I either got disqualified (first time was an
insurance case) or the case got pled out or in the last time the guy
had some medical issue that ended the trial before we had a final jury
pool.

Post by The Horny Goat
I was excused on a defence challenge.

Yeah, that seems to be the most common outcome.

[The Horny Goat]

On Sat, 14 Sep 2024 17:52:04 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn

Post by The Horny Goat
Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.

Was it a small room? In our case the room we waited in before being
called in for a potential jury held about a 100 people. Never did
make it unto a jury as I either got disqualified (first time was an
insurance case) or the case got pled out or in the last time the guy
had some medical issue that ended the trial before we had a final jury
pool.

I'd guess there were about 100 prospective jurors in the room apart
from court staff, judge and lawyers.

This particular case involved a store owner (a Vietnamese fellow who
barely spoke English) who was accused of groping female staff. Given
the maximum sentence for those charges I'm amazed they called such a
large jury pool (there were a large number of people waiting to be
brought in when I left).

[suzeeq]

Post by The Horny Goat
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:53:50 -0500, super70s

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

See if you cam get a death penalty case in which the president of a
homeowners' association is the defendant.

[suzeeq]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

See if you cam get a death penalty case in which the president of a
homeowners' association is the defendant.

We're a small county, maybe 50K population. We don't get too many cases
that warrant a death penalty. Two/three counties south of here there's
the case of the guy accused of murdering 4 students from UI. His
attorney is trying to get it moved to Boise, but everyone in the state
has heard of the case.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by suzeeq

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

See if you cam get a death penalty case in which the president of a
homeowners' association is the defendant.

We're a small county, maybe 50K population. We don't get too many cases
that warrant a death penalty. Two/three counties south of here there's
the case of the guy accused of murdering 4 students from UI. His
attorney is trying to get it moved to Boise, but everyone in the state
has heard of the case.

It made natioal news.

[danny burstein]

In <vc5ot5$1vubv$***@dont-email.me> "Adam H. Kerman" <***@chinet.com> writes:

[snip]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq
We're a small county, maybe 50K population. We don't get too many cases
that warrant a death penalty. Two/three counties south of here there's
the case of the guy accused of murdering 4 students from UI. His
attorney is trying to get it moved to Boise, but everyone in the state
has heard of the case.

It made natioal news.

To give the handful, make that thimblefull, of real journalists
at Nextar's News Nation, they had lots of very solid coverage.

Did I say something positive about them? I think I better
take my meds...

[suzeeq]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

See if you cam get a death penalty case in which the president of a
homeowners' association is the defendant.

We're a small county, maybe 50K population. We don't get too many cases
that warrant a death penalty. Two/three counties south of here there's
the case of the guy accused of murdering 4 students from UI. His
attorney is trying to get it moved to Boise, but everyone in the state
has heard of the case.

It made natioal news.

That too.

[anim8rfsk]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

See if you cam get a death penalty case in which the president of a
homeowners' association is the defendant.

Or a Telemarketer. Any Telemarketer.

[Your Name]

Post by suzeeq

Post by The Horny Goat
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 14:53:50 -0500, super70s

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

Last time I was called they called enough people to snake down the
stairs between the 1st and 2nd floors.
I was excused on a defence challenge.

I just got a summons for jury duty. I can opt out because I'm over 70.

In New Zealand, people 65 years old or older can choose to be excused
from having to do jury duty.

[The Horny Goat]

Post by Your Name
In New Zealand, people 65 years old or older can choose to be excused
from having to do jury duty.

I was once deferred from jury duty on a summons which came two weeks
after my mother's death (which was particularly a bad time since with
her passing I was now running the family business solo until my
brother brought my father home (which took about 10 days given it was
a buying trip - they parked the motorhome with all the baggage on the
US side of the border until I had successfully filed the customs
brokerage papers.)

That was a VERY tough week.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by suzeeq

. . .

When I've been called for jury duty, they give us a number to call after
5 pm to see if we should come in or not.

Yes. I was a standby juror. I called the number the night before and was
instructed to come in.

[super70s]

Post by suzeeq

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I've been called for jury duty, they give us a number to call after
5 pm to see if we should come in or not.

Yeah that's the way it's done around here, but calling their answering
machine every weekday is still a PITB. They think the world revolves
around them.

[Adam H. Kerman]

. . .

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and an
easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to sit and
watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any evidentiary or
procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved and critique the
performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to leave
for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random people
who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30 of us in the
room and the judge for that court came out and explained that they had a case
that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately and the official jury
pools downstairs had already been released for the weekend, so he was
exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble a pickup-jury. The law
allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out into the community and 'arrest'
people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard forms
to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic questions--
and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates ready to go, of which
I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to use
the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be a late
night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take the phone and
talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the defendant
had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury sitting in judgment
of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

Intersting. What was the aggravating factor, underage victim? Use of a
weapon?

[BTR1701]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

. . .

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and
an easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to
sit and watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any
evidentiary or procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved
and critique the performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to
leave for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random
people who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30
of us in the room and the judge for that court came out and explained
that they had a case that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately
and the official jury pools downstairs had already been released for the
weekend, so he was exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble
a pickup-jury. The law allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out
into the community and 'arrest' people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard
forms to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic
questions-- and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates
ready to go, of which I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to
use the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be
a late night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take
the phone and talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the
defendant had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury
sitting in judgment of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

Intersting. What was the aggravating factor, underage victim? Use of a
weapon?

He had a knife.

[trotsky]

Post by BTR1701

Post by Adam H. Kerman

. . .

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and
an easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to
sit and watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any
evidentiary or procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved
and critique the performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to
leave for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random
people who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30
of us in the room and the judge for that court came out and explained
that they had a case that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately
and the official jury pools downstairs had already been released for the
weekend, so he was exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble
a pickup-jury. The law allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out
into the community and 'arrest' people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard
forms to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic
questions-- and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates
ready to go, of which I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to
use the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be
a late night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take
the phone and talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the
defendant had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury
sitting in judgment of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

Intersting. What was the aggravating factor, underage victim? Use of a
weapon?

He had a knife.

Damn, I thought for sure you were going to say "heard Trump speak."
They're eating the dogs you know.

[Rhino]

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and an
easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to sit and
watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any evidentiary or
procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved and critique the
performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to leave
for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random people
who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30 of us in the
room and the judge for that court came out and explained that they had a case
that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately and the official jury
pools downstairs had already been released for the weekend, so he was
exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble a pickup-jury. The law
allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out into the community and 'arrest'
people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard forms
to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic questions--
and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates ready to go, of which
I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to use
the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be a late
night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take the phone and
talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the defendant
had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury sitting in judgment
of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

What's the difference between rape and aggravated rape?

[BTR1701]

Post by Rhino

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California,
Chicago. This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they
called us in, made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors
were being empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and
an easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to
sit and watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any
evidentiary or procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved
and critique the performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to
leave for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random
people who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30
of us in the room and the judge for that court came out and explained that
they had a case that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately and
the official jury pools downstairs had already been released for the
weekend, so he was exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble
a pickup-jury. The law allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out
into the community and 'arrest' people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard
forms to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic
questions-- and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates ready
to go, of which I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to
use the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be
a late night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take
the phone and talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the
defendant had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury
sitting in judgment of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

What's the difference between rape and aggravated rape?

Use of a weapon or torture.

[Rhino]

Post by BTR1701

Post by Rhino

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California,
Chicago. This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they
called us in, made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors
were being empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and
an easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to
sit and watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any
evidentiary or procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved
and critique the performances of the attorneys.
Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to
leave for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random
people who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30
of us in the room and the judge for that court came out and explained that
they had a case that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately and
the official jury pools downstairs had already been released for the
weekend, so he was exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble
a pickup-jury. The law allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out
into the community and 'arrest' people to serve on a jury.
The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard
forms to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic
questions-- and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates ready
to go, of which I was one.
The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to
use the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be
a late night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take
the phone and talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.
The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the
defendant had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury
sitting in judgment of him that were pissed off from the get-go.
It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

What's the difference between rape and aggravated rape?

Use of a weapon or torture.

Yikes! I hope he got a REALLY long prison sentence....

[The Horny Goat]

On Fri, 13 Sep 2024 16:20:46 -0400, Rhino

Post by Rhino

Post by BTR1701

Post by Rhino
What's the difference between rape and aggravated rape?

Use of a weapon or torture.

Yikes! I hope he got a REALLY long prison sentence....
--

The case I was empaneled for (but excused) was a rape case involving
an immigrant restaranteur doing a bit more than harassing his
staff.....sounded like it was going to be an 'interesting' trial but
defence council challenged me so that was that.

[shawn]

Post by The Horny Goat
On Fri, 13 Sep 2024 16:20:46 -0400, Rhino

Post by Rhino

Post by BTR1701

Post by Rhino
What's the difference between rape and aggravated rape?

Use of a weapon or torture.

Yikes! I hope he got a REALLY long prison sentence....
--

The case I was empaneled for (but excused) was a rape case involving
an immigrant restaranteur doing a bit more than harassing his
staff.....sounded like it was going to be an 'interesting' trial but
defence council challenged me so that was that.

My last case was for a guy who had child porn (pictures) in his cache.
Which raised questions for me that I would have liked to see addressed
if the case went to trial as I know that stuff can end up in your
cache if someone posts a mislabeled link.

[The Horny Goat]

On Sat, 14 Sep 2024 17:54:31 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn
My last case was for a guy who had child porn (pictures) in his cache.
Which raised questions for me that I would have liked to see addressed
if the case went to trial as I know that stuff can end up in your
cache if someone posts a mislabeled link.

That's scary - I once received some files in an e-mail that turned out
to be mis-titled naked 11 + 12 (I'd guess) kids. I immediately deleted
them and blacklisted the spammer. What's REALLY scary was about 10
years ago I had been involved in a political fight where the other
side was hellbent on getting their way and I wondered at the time
whether that crap was sent by them.

Accordingly after I deleted the files I did a complete disk compaction
- and it was a drive big enough it took more than an hour to compact.

[shawn]

Post by The Horny Goat
On Sat, 14 Sep 2024 17:54:31 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn
My last case was for a guy who had child porn (pictures) in his cache.
Which raised questions for me that I would have liked to see addressed
if the case went to trial as I know that stuff can end up in your
cache if someone posts a mislabeled link.

That's scary - I once received some files in an e-mail that turned out
to be mis-titled naked 11 + 12 (I'd guess) kids. I immediately deleted
them and blacklisted the spammer. What's REALLY scary was about 10
years ago I had been involved in a political fight where the other
side was hellbent on getting their way and I wondered at the time
whether that crap was sent by them.
Accordingly after I deleted the files I did a complete disk compaction
- and it was a drive big enough it took more than an hour to compact.

Yeah, that was my concern as they did tell us that the person that
reported him and got the authorities involved was his wife. Who it
just so happened was also divorcing him. So it was possible he didn't
download the pictures to look at or not. There was no way to know on
the little bit the attorneys told us while interviewing us to see
which would end up on the jury and which would be excused.

[BTR1701]

Post by shawn

Post by The Horny Goat
On Sat, 14 Sep 2024 17:54:31 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn
My last case was for a guy who had child porn (pictures) in his cache.
Which raised questions for me that I would have liked to see addressed
if the case went to trial as I know that stuff can end up in your
cache if someone posts a mislabeled link.

That's scary - I once received some files in an e-mail that turned out
to be mis-titled naked 11 + 12 (I'd guess) kids. I immediately deleted
them and blacklisted the spammer. What's REALLY scary was about 10
years ago I had been involved in a political fight where the other
side was hellbent on getting their way and I wondered at the time
whether that crap was sent by them.
Accordingly after I deleted the files I did a complete disk compaction
- and it was a drive big enough it took more than an hour to compact.

Yeah, that was my concern as they did tell us that the person that
reported him and got the authorities involved was his wife. Who it
just so happened was also divorcing him. So it was possible he didn't
download the pictures to look at or not.

Or she downloaded them on his computer to get him in trouble.

You'd be surprised how many wives and girlfriends call the Secret Service to
report their husbands and boyfriends making threats to kill the president only
for us to find out rather quickly there were no such threats and they were
just trying to get revenge on their man.

I can't recall ever having a case go the other way: no man to my knowledge
ever called us out to stick it to his woman with a false claim of threatening
the president.

Post by shawn
There was no way to know on
the little bit the attorneys told us while interviewing us to see
which would end up on the jury and which would be excused.

[trotsky]

Post by BTR1701

Post by shawn

Post by The Horny Goat
On Sat, 14 Sep 2024 17:54:31 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn
My last case was for a guy who had child porn (pictures) in his cache.
Which raised questions for me that I would have liked to see addressed
if the case went to trial as I know that stuff can end up in your
cache if someone posts a mislabeled link.

That's scary - I once received some files in an e-mail that turned out
to be mis-titled naked 11 + 12 (I'd guess) kids. I immediately deleted
them and blacklisted the spammer. What's REALLY scary was about 10
years ago I had been involved in a political fight where the other
side was hellbent on getting their way and I wondered at the time
whether that crap was sent by them.
Accordingly after I deleted the files I did a complete disk compaction
- and it was a drive big enough it took more than an hour to compact.

Yeah, that was my concern as they did tell us that the person that
reported him and got the authorities involved was his wife. Who it
just so happened was also divorcing him. So it was possible he didn't
download the pictures to look at or not.

Or she downloaded them on his computer to get him in trouble.
You'd be surprised how many wives and girlfriends call the Secret Service to
report their husbands and boyfriends making threats to kill the president only
for us to find out rather quickly there were no such threats and they were
just trying to get revenge on their man.
I can't recall ever having a case go the other way: no man to my knowledge
ever called us out to stick it to his woman with a false claim of threatening
the president.

Post by shawn
There was no way to know on
the little bit the attorneys told us while interviewing us to see
which would end up on the jury and which would be excused.

"shawn," "Horny Goat" and Oath Keeper Twat--the new Three Stooges.

[The Horny Goat]

On Sun, 15 Sep 2024 05:44:26 -0400, shawn

Post by shawn
Yeah, that was my concern as they did tell us that the person that
reported him and got the authorities involved was his wife. Who it
just so happened was also divorcing him. So it was possible he didn't
download the pictures to look at or not. There was no way to know on
the little bit the attorneys told us while interviewing us to see
which would end up on the jury and which would be excused.

At the very least what you describe could go a long way to a plea of
"reasonable doubt"

[BTR1701]

Post by shawn
On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:34:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.

Hmm, I've never seen that. Every time I had to go in they always
pulled in some people for juries. Though last time I had to go in a
couple of days and did get picked for a jury. Though it never went to
trial because the guy charged ending up having a medical issue that
prevented him from going on trial.

When I was in law school in Houston, I had one summer when I wasn't working
for a firm or anything, so I decided to at least get some free credits and an
easy A to bolster my GPA by taking "Courtroom Observation". You had to sit and
watch a significant trial from start to finish and describe any evidentiary or
procedural issues that came up and how they were resolved and critique the
performances of the attorneys.

Well, it was a Friday and I was packing up my notes and getting ready to leave
for the weekend when a deputy sheriff walked into the otherwise empty
courtroom, pointed at me, and ordered me to come with him. He took me into
another courtroom and told me to sit down and wait. I had no clue what was
going on. Little by little, other deputies walked in with other random people
who looked as confused as I was. Eventually there were about 30 of us in the
room and the judge for that court came out and explained that they had a case
that for legal reasons had to go to trial immediately and the official jury
pools downstairs had already been released for the weekend, so he was
exercising his authority under Texas law to assemble a pickup-jury. The law
allows a judge to direct the sheriff to go out into the community and 'arrest'
people to serve on a jury.

The lawyers for both sides did a quick void dire-- none of the standard forms
to fill out or deep dives into our backgrounds, just a few basic questions--
and within a half hour had 12 jurors and two alternates ready to go, of which
I was one.

The judge apologized to us for ruining our Friday night and allowed us to use
the courtroom phones to notify whoever we needed to that it would be a late
night for us. One guy even had to have the judge personally take the phone and
talk to his angry wife who wouldn't believe his story.

The trial lasted about six hours and I have no idea what reason the defendant
had for agreeing to the process considering he had a jury sitting in judgment
of him that were pissed off from the get-go.

It was an aggravated rape case and we found the guy guilty.

[Rhino]

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.
Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.
Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts.

You might be wise to get that looked at by either a doctor or
chiropractor....

Also, maybe you could have a word with the court clerk or building
maintenance to see about getting some kind of sticker on that
plexiglass. Tell them you hurt your neck, you're in pain, and you're
thinking of suing them for contributing to your pain, plus you want to
keep someone else from having a similar run-in. (I'll bet you're far
from the first to have that encounter.)

Post by Adam H. Kerman
For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

What do they let you do while you're waiting? Can you read? Talk to
other prospective jurors? Are their comfortable chairs to sit on? (A lot
of chairs for the public are agonizing after the first half hour or so,
some even sooner.)

[shawn]

On Thu, 12 Sep 2024 12:06:13 -0400, Rhino

Post by Rhino

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.
Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.
Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts.

You might be wise to get that looked at by either a doctor or
chiropractor....
Also, maybe you could have a word with the court clerk or building
maintenance to see about getting some kind of sticker on that
plexiglass. Tell them you hurt your neck, you're in pain, and you're
thinking of suing them for contributing to your pain, plus you want to
keep someone else from having a similar run-in. (I'll bet you're far
from the first to have that encounter.)

Post by Adam H. Kerman
For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

What do they let you do while you're waiting? Can you read? Talk to
other prospective jurors? Are their comfortable chairs to sit on? (A lot
of chairs for the public are agonizing after the first half hour or so,
some even sooner.)

Yes, you can read and do what ever you want while waiting. Talking to
the other people waiting is fine. I ended up having lunch with a
couple of the other people waiting since we ended up being there all
day. After all, there's no case in front of those prospective jurors
at that point so there's no reason not to allow them to mingle.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by Rhino

Post by Adam H. Kerman
. . .
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

What do they let you do while you're waiting? Can you read? Talk to
other prospective jurors? Are their comfortable chairs to sit on? (A lot
of chairs for the public are agonizing after the first half hour or so,
some even sooner.)

I brought the computer and a book. The chief judge ordered no electronic
devices in courtrooms but they make an exception for jurors and lawyers.

We sat there all morning. No juries were empanelled. Then they wouldn't
allow us to go to lunch as a trial was just about to start. Some time
later, they told us the guy took a plea and there were no other trials
that afternoon. They released us.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by Rhino

Post by Adam H. Kerman
. . .
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

What do they let you do while you're waiting? Can you read? Talk to
other prospective jurors? Are their comfortable chairs to sit on? (A lot
of chairs for the public are agonizing after the first half hour or so,
some even sooner.)

I brought the computer and a book. The chief judge ordered no electronic
devices in courtrooms but they make an exception for jurors and lawyers.

[BTR1701]

Post by Adam H. Kerman
I'm sitting here at Cook County Criminal Court, 26th and California, Chicago.
This is my second summons for jury duty. Last time, they called us in,
made us sit all day long even though they knew no jurors were being
empanelled that day.
Takes quite a while to get here from where I live; I had to set the
alarm for 5:30 am.
Thus far it's been a lovely experience. I managed to walk smack into a
full-length plexiglass window that they couldn't be bothered to put a
sticker on; my neck hurts. For tv, we get a video of the chief judge
thanking us for jury service. Dude, it ain't optional and the daily rate
of pay was set in the 1930s in violation of the 13th Amendment.
Six more hours till I'm sprung if I'm not seated for trial.

If it wasn't for having to go through the hell of all that preliminary crap,
I'd welcome some jury duty now that I'm retired. Would be a fun way to spend a
week or so.

But yeah, serving on the jury is the easy part. Getting through days of
waiting for nothing in Beetlejuice-inspired waiting rooms is what makes it an
appalling experience.

(I also don't have a cop car anymore which made parking a breeze last time I
was called, so I guess that would be an issue, too.)

[Adam H. Kerman]

. . .

I've served. I regard it as one of the few duties of citizenship.
And I'm not alone: <https://www.law.com/almID/900005541782/>

Tell us about your trial.

[David Lesher]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

I've served. I regard it as one of the few duties of citizenship.
And I'm not alone: <https://www.law.com/almID/900005541782/>

Tell us about your trial.

Two of them.

First was snatch and grab petty robbery.
We found him guilty.

Second was civil real estate case where the escrow agent
absconded with the earnest money. It became very obvious that he
was an alcoholic; we could smell his breath from the jury box.

We found for the plaintiff. Turned out that was required for
the bonding agency to pay up.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by David Lesher

Post by Adam H. Kerman

I've served. I regard it as one of the few duties of citizenship.
And I'm not alone: <https://www.law.com/almID/900005541782/>

Tell us about your trial.

Two of them.
First was snatch and grab petty robbery.
We found him guilty.
Second was civil real estate case where the escrow agent
absconded with the earnest money. It became very obvious that he
was an alcoholic; we could smell his breath from the jury box.
We found for the plaintiff. Turned out that was required for
the bonding agency to pay up.

Thank you.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Assembled security video clips show two jurors helping police catch a
man convicted of assault of a child who then fled the courthouse.

https://apnews.com/video/maine-juries-assault-law-enforcement-national-2d20cc85b7f6466fa018388f28bae987

[Adam H. Kerman]

David Letterman goes through voir dire at a federal trial. We don't know
yet if he'll be seated.

https://apnews.com/article/david-letterman-jury-duty-3101f7cb05cabe7b452586fe8962d8e6