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[Help] Jury Summons - Jury Service



happypig

happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
8,172
Eastbourne
My Mrs got called up when our son was a month old. She rang to ask what to do and they just said "Oh we'll cancel it then". Never heard from them again.
As a magistrate I sat on dozens of trials but I still wouldn't mind doing a more serious one at Crown Court.
 






MJsGhost

MJsGhost

Oooh Matron, I'm an
NSC Patron
Jun 26, 2009
5,026
East
jonny.rainbow said:
I have just read that you are only 40% likely to be selected for jury duty once in your lifetime.

Have a feeling I’ll end up in the 60%.
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I've been called up twice, so I guess I must have been really good the first time? They were only about 3 years apart too.

Plenty of time left (hopefully) for another turn or 2 as I'm only (in NSC terms) 46.

I found it interesting to see how it all works and fortunately didn't have harrowing cases. Lots of sitting around though and it's also an eye opener to hear the views of fellow jurors at times...
 


Birdie Boy

Birdie Boy

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2011
4,391
I've never done it. Wfe has once, horrible case of a guy accused of killing a baby. Medical evidence that he suffered from epilepsy and unfortunately he was carrying the baby up the stairs when he had a fit. Baby fell down the stairs. She had to see horrific photos. I think they're was one person on the jury that said guilty from day one and wouldn't budge. Eventually he was found not guilty and the guy broke down. She said the CPS was so bad in giving evidence and she is really glad she didn't put an innocent person away. Btw, it was not his kid, it was a girlfriend's kid and he had only been with her a very short while and left her kid with him...
 
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kevo

kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,801
Been selected four times. The first time, I was chosen for a trial but got out of it as the judge said it would be a long trial and I just said I had unmoveable work commitments.

For the other three, all the cases were fairly minor.

One was a fight between two old drunk geezers in a pub toilet - one said the other had pulled a knife on him. No witnesses, so impossible to reach a verdict! Went to retrial. What a waste of time and money.

Second one was a road rage incident where a mild-mannered, church-going accountant, who was a carer for his disabled wife, punched a scaffolder. Classic case of a guy of impeccable character suddenly seeing the red mist. He was found guilty - and the judge was considering a custodial sentence, which I thought was harsh.

The last one was a drug case. The guy was guilty as, but for some reason most of the rest of the jury weren't convinced. The judge said they needed a clear majority, but I refused to change my view. One woman on the jury couldn't arrange her child care for the following day and was literally shouting at me to agree with the rest of them, as she didn't want the trial to go into a third day. In the end, the judge accepted a majority verdict. Found it very frustrating, as the guy was obviously guilty but he had a wife and family, so I'm not sure what good it would have done banging him up and maybe he learnt some kind of lesson from it.
 
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kevo

kevo

Well-known member
Mar 8, 2008
9,801
BN9 BHA said:
Wait, what? This definitely doesn’t sound right, I thought all scaffolders are double hard head cases. :smile:
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Ha - I know. It was TOTAL role reversal. The scaffolder was this massive guy, built like the proverbial brick sh*thouse, the accountant was this skinny, weedy, bloke about 5'6 tall. I think it was just the day he finally broke and went nuts. Even someone on the jury said "He's such a lovely man!". I don't think the scaffolder saw it coming..
 


BN9 BHA

BN9 BHA

DOCKERS
NSC Patron
Jul 14, 2013
22,686
Newhaven
kevo said:
Ha - I know. It was TOTAL role reversal. The scaffolder was this massive guy, built like the proverbial brick sh*thouse, the accountant was this skinny, weedy, bloke about 5'6 tall. I think it was just the day he finally broke and went nuts. Even someone on the jury said "He's such a lovely man!". I don't think the scaffolder saw it coming..
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Did he injure the scaffolder?
 








Doonhamer7

Doonhamer7

Well-known member
Jun 17, 2016
1,454
I was exempt from Jury duty back in the 80s whilst a student (as was my Mum and brother) as my dad was a Justice of the Peace (Scottish equivalent of a magistrate). Not sure if this rule still applies.

Didn't those on the Guinness fraud trial have to do something like 2years on a case that was so complex beyond the knowledge of a normal person
 






Leosayer

Leosayer

Active member
Aug 25, 2011
332
Kent
I got called up for the third time last year and deferred it until November. At the time we hadn’t qualified for Europe. I got called into a jury for a case that was expect to last 12 weeks - a horrible case of parents accused of murdering their baby. As luck would have it I’d just bought tickets and flights for the away game in Athens - the judge excused me from the long case as I had a holiday booked!
 


S

Shropshire Seagull

Well-known member
Nov 5, 2004
8,790
Telford
jcdenton08 said:
Convicts can serve on a jury, in some situations (if not sentenced to life or more than five years in prison), as long as more than 7 or 10 years depending on the crime have passed. Some crimes make you exempt, however.
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So, someone with a criminal record can (depending on the crime, you say) sit on a jury?

Wow!!
 














Leosayer

Leosayer

Active member
Aug 25, 2011
332
Kent
I got called up for the third time last year and deferred it until November. At the time we hadn’t qualified for Europe. I got called into a jury for a case that was expected to last
 


L

Littlemo

Well-known member
Aug 25, 2022
1,697
I sat on a jury about 20 years ago. It was actually really interesting and I’d happily do it again, I mean if we want to have a decent legal/courts service, then people have to.

To answer theIP though, I did have to get out of it earlier this year because of a work event and I just emailed a letter from my boss that explained it was an event I couldn’t miss and they excused me from it.
 


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