I served on the jury of a murder trial many years ago. It came down to us deciding if he was guilty of first degree murder, second degree murder or manslaughter. Since both guys went to the "meeting" with weapons, we had some fun deciding what was what. It was pretty interesting. It took about a week, if I remember correctly.
I've been in the jury box so many times, I can't count. I remember a couple of standouts: 1st was during college finals. The judge was a teacher too, so he let me off.
Another was a guy was propositioned in an Adult Book Store in a private room where you watch movies. The "guy" was an undercover cop, so defense claimed entrapment. They started throwing bible verses around and since I was at the time married to a Seventh Day Adventist I was kinda up to date on my bible. I was discharged promptly when I complained and brought in the 13th juror.
I barely remember the rest of them, but one time I was so sleepy during the week in the box, I barely remembered each day what was said.
Sadly, I skipped the last summons. We were in another state with the Grands. Big G on my forehead.
In CAlif, they use both registered voters and driver's licenses.
Drivers license rolls? I thought it was voter rolls. Anyway, I was juror #1 for the month of March, one year. Kind of a gut-wrenching honor and almost made me sorry that I'd voted ..! But, I also felt like it fit with the kind of aid I'd been given my entire life and I'd better just pay the heck attention and do my best.
Major', I got a little pay for it and was actually able to work some days when I was allowed to leave early. My boss was okay with it ...
I've served on 2 juries and sent the defendants to jail, or back to jail, in both cases. One, the lesser sentence was agreed on. It wasn't what the prosecutor wanted but he had to do better than just allow us to use our imaginations. The second, it was the defense attorney who wanted us to excuse anything he might have missed ... The only thing I could figure that the crook had going for him was that he lived in a nicer home and neighborhood. By now, all the niceness of his life has probably been lost.
The last 2 times I've been called - I knew they didn't want me. I had the medico's write me an excuse and never heard back from the courthouse. "Never heard" is the operant condition ... justice is supposed to be blind, not deaf ..!
Steve
tampering with the evidence: of not knowing definition of rolls vs roles
I was told DL rolls. That person was in a position to know, but maybe was thinking one thing and said another. ??
I do that with my kids all the time, and the worst part is I don't listen to myself so I don't always catch the mistake. Usually they aren't listening either, so at least it's unanimous....
At one time it was always and only voter registrations that were used to select jurors. It's been quite a few years since most states added driver's license registrations. First, a jury of your peers isn't possible if you've never shown civic responsibility and voted; second, there is a much bigger pool to choose from in driver registrations.
I've been called up many times but never chosen. They had us fill out a card, then they pick the jurors they think they want, then call us back in the room. Out of 50-75 prospective jurors, I was always so far down the food chain, I knew they didn't want me.