Jury Duty

[Cave Dweller]

I just got dismissed/eliminated from a jury panel this afternoon.  (Attorneys do not like my profession for juries, so I did not expect to serve on the actual jury.)

In the courtroom, I counted four Sly heads on the panel of thirty (that's one out of every three men), one defense attorney, two bailiffs, and one observer.

In all, just about a third of all the men had smooth heads.  And no one seemed to find that unusual.

[TheSlyBear]

Heh, I know what you mean. I seem to get called for jury duty a lot, but rarely get picked. Most recent experience:

Defense lawyer: "My client will not be taking the stand. Do you feel that that is an admission of guilt on his part?"

Me: "I tend to make decisions upon data, not lack of data."

Defense lawyer: (Looks at me for a very long 3 seconds) "You're an engineer, aren't you?"

Guess who got to go home early?

[Sir Harry]

Back in 2004, I got out of jury duty because I was getting ready to go overseas....Haven't been asked since, but I know it's bound to happen again....Cave, what is your occupation if you don't mind us asking?

[schro]

I seem to get called as frequently as allowed by law.
One time I was on the final list of potential jurors but was dismissed by the prosecuting attorney. To me, I thought I would have been an ally to his client, as it was a property rights case, and my background would have served his client well.

After I shared this with an attorney friend of mine, he said "a lot of attorneys view guys that shave their heads as free thinkers".

So I guess I (ok, we) have that going for me (us)....which is nice. 

[JBite]

I've always been exempt from jury duty (been a full-time student since I've been 18) but I can relay a humorous story from one of my colleagues about jury selection oddities.

This guy is in his 50's, with waist-length blonde hair, and he's relatively soft spoken (he also wears a lot of tie-dye t-shirts, and has Grateful Dead memorabilia all over his office, but that's besides the point). He goes through jury selection (I forget the latin term) where they interview potential jurors.

He tells them he's a Social Psychologist, who studies decision-making in juries, and so he's probably not a good candidate. He was not dismissed immediately as they didn't consider this a problem (but eventually he was dismissed), and later learns that there was considerable debate about having him serve as a juror. As it turns out, the defense attorney assumed he was liberal (based on his physical appearance) and thus unlikely to convict the accused.

Turns out there's a lot of these questionable evaluations.

[g_bald]

With my luck I'd get onto a case with a smooth defendant and they'd assume they'd have to keep me as a "peer"... even if it's my grandmother... LOL

Nice tales from the courtroom.
-gary-

[baldOUfan]

I had my Doctor write me a medical excuse. I'm a deaf wheelchair user it would be hard.

[buddha]

As a retired LEO I came to be of the understanding that cops would get released by the defense as soon as they learned the potential juror's background. An attorney friend of mine explained to me that the lawyers do not want people on juries who actually understand the law and they'll eliminate them as soon as they find out. The reason is that they don't want jurors thinking with their heads.....they want them thinking with their hearts. So they will respond more to the emotional content of the lawyers' presentation rather than the facts and the evidence.
I have been called to jury duty once since we've been in northern Wisconsin and was set free almost immediately.

[Sooner Steve]

Every courtroom I have been in for the last five years the judge was completely sly! Because the judge was mean! I agree with your assessment that sly people are independent free thinkers.

[-Doug-]

Long time no see Sooner! 

I have never been called for jury duty. I wonder why??

[tomcj2]

Two favourite quotations that I would like to share:

When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Norm Crosby

and

A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)

[bigstosh]

It's nice being classified as a free thinker.  I was called for jury duty in June for the first time in my life.  Sat in the bullpen for 3 days and was never called.

[Mikekoz13]

For a period of years I got called as often as the law would allow but I never got picked for a jury. The last time I went I had shaved my head a few months prior and had also gotten a half sleeve tattoo.

I was dismissed immediately and haven't been summoned since!!

[xnewyawka]

I've never been called for jury duty myself, guess it's a good thing. With a bald head and tats, I think I would be dismissed, similarly to Mikekoz, lol.

[bennett11]

I have been summoned but never served. Also a professional.