Jury service

Rtj123

I’m having to travel 25 miles there and back and then pay for parking 

mr_stripey

Rtj123 said:

I’m having to travel 25 miles there and back and then pay for parking 

you should be able to claim that money back though, yes?

Rtj123

mr_stripey said:

Rtj123 said:

I’m having to travel 25 miles there and back and then pay for parking 

you should be able to claim that money back though, yes?

Yes I’m told I can claim it back once I’m off jury 

mr_stripey

Rtj123 said:

mr_stripey said:

Rtj123 said:

I’m having to travel 25 miles there and back and then pay for parking 

you should be able to claim that money back though, yes?

Yes I’m told I can claim it back once I’m off jury 

check with the court clerk. I think when I did it you could claim expenses by the day (for those who may have cashflow problems) - although this was 10 years ago at Leicester, so it may vary from court to court and may not be applicable now.

Gavin83

Plasticman said:

Gavin83 said:

goater78 said:

TimSynths said:

goater78 said:

Someone I know went to jury service and ended up being on a trial for 12 months. I wouldn’t mind doing a two week stint but couldn’t handle a whole year. 

The judge will make sure you are available if it is to be a long trial, no one randomly ends up on one.

My trial lasted 7 days in Brighton, the following day we went to Lewes crown court, I had a look around the castle next door, didn't get picked for the next trial but a court official gave me a tour of the court including the onsite mini museum and a walk along the corridor the condemn would take- fascinating to be in a building so old life and death decisions were made.

Overall it was a great experience, went to the pub after trial a few days, always went out for lunch, used to see the barrister in the train station, ive bumped into jurors years alter in Tesco and restaurants.

We debated all the facts given to us, made no rush decisions in the jury room, I cant think of a fairer way to conduct a trial than have 12 random people from all walks of life thrown together to hear the evidence and burden of proof. 

I also manage the work diary's of approx. 2000 colleagues and I would say at any one time we have 1-2 off doing Jury service.

What rules do they use to decide if you are available for a 12 month trial? My friends work weren’t happy with them taking a year off work so it is interesting if you say people volunteer for long trials. 

I'm not sure many peoples work would be happy with that in all honesty! I really have no idea why anyone would volunteer for such a trial whatever your personal circumstances.

A question for those who have done jury service. I'm gathering they assign you a court to do it in. Is this always the local court to you? I'm assuming you wouldn't be expected to serve on the other side of the country for example.

Everybody I know has had theirs in the local area. Not necessarily the closest though. I have a court within walking distance but had to go to one 8 miles away.

I used to live a 2 min walk from Snaresbrook Crown Court and always hoped I'd get called up at that point. Never happened though. No idea where my local court is now, probably Cambridge which is about half hour away.

mr_stripey

we were in deliberations on a case and one of the quieter jurors hadn't really expressed an opinion (I found the group dynamics were there were a couple of "leaders" who ended up dominating the deliberations) so I asked her for her view - her response was "I wasn't really paying attention, so I'll just go along with what you think". She then added "I did notice the Judge looks like Harry Enfield though"   

strawb_shortcake

I've done a form of "jury service" and it was really interesting. I was really excited about doing it, but the opening day was quite harrowing and bought us back down to earth. 
Due to the seating arrangements on the final day I got to announce the verdict, having that amount of control and impact on someone's future was huge and nerve-wracking. 
The judge did say to us afterwards that we'd made the right decision on the verdict too which we all appreciated.

The other jurors and I all agreed that we'd volunteer again but haven't yet been called again. 

I'd happily do proper jury service again.

mr_stripey

annabanana82 said:

I've done a form of "jury service" and it was really interesting. I was really excited about doing it, but the opening day was quite harrowing and bought us back down to earth. 
Due to the seating arrangements on the final day I got to announce the verdict, having that amount of control and impact on someone's future was huge and nerve-wracking. 
The judge did say to us afterwards that we'd made the right decision on the verdict too which we all appreciated.

The other jurors and I all agreed that we'd volunteer again but haven't yet been called again. 

I'd happily do proper jury service again.

In the Crown Court trial I served on, we never got this from the Judge, and I'm not sure if they do tell you if you as a jury got it right. We deliberated on a sex crime for a long time. We listened to evidence from the alleged victim, the defendant and the key witness and to be honest there were so many inconsistencies it was hard to know who was telling the truth (maybe none of them).

We settled on a guilty verdict, but to this day I don't know if we got it right or not.

strawb_shortcake

mr_stripey said:

annabanana82 said:

I've done a form of "jury service" and it was really interesting. I was really excited about doing it, but the opening day was quite harrowing and bought us back down to earth. 
Due to the seating arrangements on the final day I got to announce the verdict, having that amount of control and impact on someone's future was huge and nerve-wracking. 
The judge did say to us afterwards that we'd made the right decision on the verdict too which we all appreciated.

The other jurors and I all agreed that we'd volunteer again but haven't yet been called again. 

I'd happily do proper jury service again.

In the Crown Court trial I served on, we never got this from the Judge, and I'm not sure if they do tell you if you as a jury got it right. We deliberated on a sex crime for a long time. We listened to evidence from the alleged victim, the defendant and the key witness and to be honest there were so many inconsistencies it was hard to know who was telling the truth (maybe none of them).

We settled on a guilty verdict, but to this day I don't know if we got it right or not.

What I sat on was very different I guess to a crown court, though it was a similar case to yourself. We found not guilty for a number of reasons I've never doubted that choice.

sheramber

Members of the jury must remember they are not there to decide if the  accused committed the crime. 

They are there to decide if the prosecution proved, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the accused committed the crime.