Sitting as a Juror on a murder trial

[Freak Out]

Trial started this Monday....it involves an exotic dancer and her five boyfriends. One of them was gunned down 10 years ago....leading to her and one of the other boyfriends’ indictments last fall. Things are starting to get interesting now with all the crazy witness testimony. It is very doubtful that the "boyfriend" is going to take the stand though.
The things men will do for pussy…………

[hurleyfan]

FIVE guys after ONE POA??

Then one of the "boys" gets gunned down :!: :!: :!:

Sounds like a Rap song!!
Wonder if the "dancer" is our old Torrance Marshall girlfriend??

[hurleyfan]

BTW Freak..

My condolences to you.. I was on a murder jury about 5 years ago, fairly small town, local girl shot by "out of town gangsta girlfriend" claiming self defense.

Man, was it ugly... deliberations for 8 days!

[GrnBay007]

I have always wanted to be a Juror. :(

[hurleyfan]

I have always wanted to be a Juror. :(

Be careful for what you wish!!

[Bretsky]

I have always wanted to be a Juror. :(


I've always wanted five girlfriends

[Scott Campbell]

I've always wanted five girlfriends


Yeah, it always sounds like a great idea at first.

[GrnBay007]

I have always wanted to be a Juror. :(

Be careful for what you wish!!

Na, I'm sure I'll never get picked.

[Freak Out]

I've always wanted five girlfriends


Yeah, it always sounds like a great idea at first.

Ha ha ha ha....

I've had two at once and it ended badly.

[Freak Out]

I've always wanted five girlfriends


Yeah, it always sounds like a great idea at first.

Ha ha ha ha....

I've had two at once and it ended badly.

No gunplay though. Just wanted to make that clear.

[the_idle_threat]

When picking the jury, they didn't ask if anyone had ever had multiple significant others at the same time? :lol:

[GBRulz]

I was on jury duty once a couple of years ago. It was a guy accused of aggravated assault towards his gf. Found him not-guilty. Deep down, I think maybe he was, but the evidence was simply not there.

Speaking of murder trials though, I am sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of the Steven Avery trial. I'm sure others in this side of the state know exactly what I'm talking about. Might be wrapped up by Fri after 6 weeks of going on......

[oregonpackfan]

Should you be discussing any part of this trial? I thought jurors were supposed to keep absolute silence about any part of the trial while it was in progress.

[the_idle_threat]

Speaking of murder trials though, I am sooooooooooooooooooooo sick of the Steven Avery trial. I'm sure others in this side of the state know exactly what I'm talking about. Might be wrapped up by Fri after 6 weeks of going on......

QFT

[Freak Out]

Should you be discussing any part of this trial? I thought jurors were supposed to keep absolute silence about any part of the trial while it was in progress.

You are supposed to avoid all media about the case and if anyone starts to bring the subject up you are supposed to stop them or walk away....all the things I have stated about the case have been known to the public for years here.

But you are correct, you are not supposed to talk about it...with anybody. Not the other jurors, spouse....whoever.

I'll stop now..... :smack:

[esoxx]

Not only was I on a jury about 8 years ago, they vote me as the jury foreman. That was fun trying to keep the peace in deliberations and trying to get a concensus.

[oregonpackfan]

I have never been a juror despite voting in all elections. It is my understanding they take potential jurors from voters' lists.

I was called to jury duty once but was disqualified because I had moved to a different county the month before.

My wife is baffled by my "luck" because she has served on juries four times in two different states since we have been married.

[CaliforniaCheez]

Every other year I get called.

The best one was a child molest of a "mature" 15 year old who was the babysitter.

First asked to model a company T-shirt for a photo then asking for the shirt to be removed and taking a photo.

Yes, that constitutes child molest in California.
Spousal abuse can occur with no physical injury.
DUI is .08 but .02 can be reckless driving.

The laws are just crazy.

[Fosco33]

I had to spend 5 days trying to get out of a month long, 5 murder gang related trial in Compton 2 years ago. Did not want to convict some thugs or be stuck in Compton for obvious reasons.

[pacfan]

I was elected as Jury foreman, thankfully it wasn't a murder trial. Personal injury with alcohol involved.

Pretty tough crowd.

[swede]

Should you be discussing any part of this trial? I thought jurors were supposed to keep absolute silence about any part of the trial while it was in progress.

You are supposed to avoid all media about the case and if anyone starts to bring the subject up you are supposed to stop them or walk away....all the things I have stated about the case have been known to the public for years here.

But you are correct, you are not supposed to talk about it...with anybody. Not the other jurors, spouse....whoever.

I'll stop now..... :smack:

It is best not to discuss it at all I suppose, but it is not inappropriate to share the nature of the indictment with friends as long as you do not discuss the evidence or come to a conclusion about guilt or innocence until all the evidence has been presented and you complete deliberations.

You're okay so far.

[Freak Out]

Did I mention the weapon was a .44 Desert Eagle? Not a very well designed weapon.

[GrnBay007]

Did I mention the weapon was a .44 Desert Eagle? Not a very well designed weapon.

ok! ok! if you force me, I will sit in a day with you on jury duty!! :D ...some people are so lucky. lol

[the_idle_threat]

Did I mention the weapon was a .44 Desert Eagle? Not a very well designed weapon.

How do you mean? :?: Sounds like it got the job done. :twisted:

[MadtownPacker]

Did I mention the weapon was a .44 Desert Eagle? Not a very well designed weapon.

How do you mean? :?: Sounds like it got the job done. :twisted:Thats what I was gonna say. Shot one of these once, straight up testosterone booster.

[Zool]

Dont hold the deagle gansta style. You will end up punching yourself in the face or chest.

[the_idle_threat]

.44 Desert Eagle is a pansy gun compared to the .454 Casull.

[Merlin]

The closest I got was on jury call for a week for the County. Never got called in though. I would LOVE to be on a jury for one of these people who sue for stupidity and WIN. Like spilling coffee on yourself or suing McDonald's because you are fat. I am not a small guy and I will admit that I love McDonald's. But is their fault I pay to eat their food? Um no...lol. What is the old saying when one of those cases win? "The District Attorney was so stupid that he found 12 people that were too stupid to avoid jury duty."

Steven Avery is a good reason to bring back the death penalty. So was Ed Geene (sp?) and Jeffry Dahlmer and anyone who intentionally kills a police officer.

A few years back, armed robbery and murder carried the same sentence, 25 years. So if you robbed someone you might as well kill them because you wouldn't get anything more if you got caught. Now there was a law to protect the citizen's!!! I don't believe it's like that anymore but even so, why should we imprison someone for life and basically pay for a roof over their head, TV, meals, library, work outs, etc?

[the_idle_threat]

.44 Desert Eagle is a pansy gun compared to the .454 Casull.

And then there's this thing: http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/16789

[Badgepack]

I was a juror in a Federal trial in the early 80's in Madison.
It involved a Cuban cocaine dealer who was guilty as sin.
I was in my early 20's and like to do a line or two myself at times.
During deliberations, the evidence, which was a Kilo and a half of coke, was set right in the middle of our table. Damn, I wanted to dive headfirst into it.
Anyhow, it was really a cool experience and we put his ass away for a long time. The Cuban's brother, who was a mean looking dude, sat in and stared at the jury the whole time, kinda freaked me out a little.

[Freak Out]

.44 Desert Eagle is a pansy gun compared to the .454 Casull.

And then there's this thing: http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/16789

None of those schmucks even know how to shoot! Look at the stance of most of them. Can you say pain?

I used to guide for a bit and I had a 375 HH magnum brush gun that was about the same length. Just a kicking beast but good for close work in an alder thicket.

[falco]

The closest I got was on jury call for a week for the County. Never got called in though. I would LOVE to be on a jury for one of these people who sue for stupidity and WIN. Like spilling coffee on yourself or suing McDonald's because you are fat. I am not a small guy and I will admit that I love McDonald's. But is their fault I pay to eat their food? Um no...lol. What is the old saying when one of those cases win? "The District Attorney was so stupid that he found 12 people that were too stupid to avoid jury duty."

Steven Avery is a good reason to bring back the death penalty. So was Ed Geene (sp?) and Jeffry Dahlmer and anyone who intentionally kills a police officer.

A few years back, armed robbery and murder carried the same sentence, 25 years. So if you robbed someone you might as well kill them because you wouldn't get anything more if you got caught. Now there was a law to protect the citizen's!!! I don't believe it's like that anymore but even so, why should we imprison someone for life and basically pay for a roof over their head, TV, meals, library, work outs, etc?

everyone rips on the lady who sues mcdonalds. but nobody knows the facts of the case.

1: Stella Liebeck was a 79-year-old grandmother who was the passenger in her grandson's car.

2: McDonalds served the coffee at roughly 190 degrees. 190 Degree liquid will cause third-degree burns within 2-7 seconds of contact with the skin.

3: Stella was wearing cotton jogging pants, and the 190 degree liquid soaked into the pants. She received third-degree burns to her thighs and genitals. This is what a third-degree burn looks like:

http://corpreform.typepad.com/corpreform/3rdburn-thumb.jpg

4: McDonalds admitted that the coffee was not fit for human consumption at the temperature they served it.

5: Over 700 men, women, and children had been burned prior to Stella's lawsuit.

6: Stella offered to settle with McDonalds just for her medical bills. They refused.

[falco]

Further reading for those who actually care about facts:


The poster-child of tort reformers is the famed “McDonald’s Coffee Case” - the case where a woman obtained a multimillion-dollar jury verdict for spilling hot coffee on herself. Most people think that a careless woman spilled some hot coffee on herself while driving, received minor burns, and then filed a lawsuit. That’s not what happened. Here's what did happen:

Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old grandmother, was the passenger in her grandson’s vehicle and ordered a cup of McDonald’s coffee. McDonald’s served the coffee at approximately 190 degrees. McDonald’s admitted coffee at that temperature is “unfit for human consumption”; 190 degree liquid causes third-degree burns within 2 to 7 seconds of contact with skin.

Stella spilled the coffee on the crotch of her cotton jogging pants, and the coffee immediately soaked through her pants and caused third-degree burns to her legs, thighs, and genitals. The burns were so severe she needed skin grafts to heal the damage. It took many months for her to recover from the severe burns.

Stella offered to settle the case with McDonald’s if they would just pay her medical bills, which were into the many thousands of dollars. McDonalds refused, and Stella filed a lawsuit. During the trial, it was discovered that in the ten years prior to Stella’s accident, over 700 men, women, and children had been burned by the unsafe McDonald’s coffee.

For years, McDonald’s sold coffee that was “unfit for human consumption”, and made $1.3 million dollars a day in profit doing so. Information such as this wasn’t really reported by the media. What was reported was the $2.6 million dollar jury verdict.

The jury arrived at that figure by calculating the profit of two-days worth of coffee sales, and “fining” McDonald’s that amount to get their attention and make them fix the problem.

It worked. The day after the verdict, McDonald’s lowered the coffee temperature to a safe-but-hot 158 degrees. This is still hot enough to cause third-degree burns, but it takes closer to sixty seconds worth of exposure to do so.

Many believe that $2.6 million dollars was too much money. The judge in the case did, and he reduced the verdict to less than $500,000. Stella actually settled with McDonald’s for even less money. It took a multimillion dollar jury verdict to get McDonald’s to fix a dangerous problem they knew about for ten years; doesn’t that prove the system works?

[Freak Out]

They should have doubled the reward.

[esoxx]

I've always maintained the McDonald's coffee claim wasn't frivilous. There are plenty that are but that wasn't one of them.

I once investigated a claim for a McDonald's drive-thru worker who claimed she tore her rotator cuff simply handing change to a customer.

Now THAT is frivilous.

[Freak Out]

I've always maintained the McDonald's coffee claim wasn't frivilous. There are plenty that are but that wasn't one of them.

I once investigated a claim for a McDonald's drive-thru worker who claimed she tore her rotator cuff simply handing change to a customer.

Now THAT is frivilous.

Ha ha!

[Partial]

I have dipped my hand into boiling water before. It didn't even come out burned, just really freaking hot. That seems a bit bizzare that in 2 seconds you can get a third degree burn at that temperature.

That must be one nasty looking poonany.

[the_idle_threat]

The closest I got was on jury call for a week for the County. Never got called in though. I would LOVE to be on a jury for one of these people who sue for stupidity and WIN. Like spilling coffee on yourself or suing McDonald's because you are fat. I am not a small guy and I will admit that I love McDonald's. But is their fault I pay to eat their food? Um no...lol. What is the old saying when one of those cases win? "The District Attorney was so stupid that he found 12 people that were too stupid to avoid jury duty."

Steven Avery is a good reason to bring back the death penalty. So was Ed Geene (sp?) and Jeffry Dahlmer and anyone who intentionally kills a police officer.

A few years back, armed robbery and murder carried the same sentence, 25 years. So if you robbed someone you might as well kill them because you wouldn't get anything more if you got caught. Now there was a law to protect the citizen's!!! I don't believe it's like that anymore but even so, why should we imprison someone for life and basically pay for a roof over their head, TV, meals, library, work outs, etc?

everyone rips on the lady who sues mcdonalds. but nobody knows the facts of the case.

1: Stella Liebeck was a 79-year-old grandmother who was the passenger in her grandson's car.

2: McDonalds served the coffee at roughly 190 degrees. 190 Degree liquid will cause third-degree burns within 2-7 seconds of contact with the skin.

3: Stella was wearing cotton jogging pants, and the 190 degree liquid soaked into the pants. She received third-degree burns to her thighs and genitals. This is what a third-degree burn looks like:

http://corpreform.typepad.com/corpreform/3rdburn-thumb.jpg

4: McDonalds admitted that the coffee was not fit for human consumption at the temperature they served it.

5: Over 700 men, women, and children had been burned prior to Stella's lawsuit.

6: Stella offered to settle with McDonalds just for her medical bills. They refused.

Well done, falco. Just like a plaintiff's attorney. Focus on the plaintiff and the injury in order to raise sympathy, complete with gory picture no less.

There are other facts which justify the reduction of the award.

1. The plaintiff knew the coffee was very hot.

2. In the unlikely case the plaintiff didn't know the coffee was very hot, there was a caution warning on the cup. The jury, in its ridiculous verdict, found that the warning was not big enough or conscpicuous enough. Outside of a waiver that a person has to sign before taking possession of the coffee from the drive-through employee, how can one be assured that any warning is big enough or conspicuous enough?

3. McDonald's didn't spill the coffee on the plaintiff. She spilled it on herself when she was adding cream and/or sugar.

4. How she spilled it on herself was key: Despite knowing that the coffee was very hot, she placed the styrofoam cop between her knees and pulled the cover toward her, tipping the cup into her own lap.

5. That was really stupid.

6. People who cite the case as litigation gone wrong don't necessarily believe McDonald's should have paid nothing ... McDonald's paying some medical expenses might be reasonable, given that they did serve unusually hot coffee (even though they had a business reason for doing so and the vast majority of the other millions of customers had no problem with the coffee's temperature). Of course, McDonald's did offer to settle for some unknown amount, but Stella wanted them to pay all her medical bills even though her own stupidity was clearly a huge contributing factor.

7. People who cite this case as litigation gone wrong are more likely to believe that an act this stupid should not result in a lottery verdict.

If she had only been awarded the compensatory damages to pay for the harm she suffered (found to be $160,000 in this case after reduction for her share of fault) people would not have blinked. The punitive portion of the damages, which can only be given in cases where the defendant acted recklessly or willfully, was the sticking point. The jury had to find that McDonald's serving very hot coffee was not simply negligent, but reckless in order to award punitive damages, and they did in this case. Who was really reckless here ... the company selling hot coffee, or the defendant who put a styrofoam cup of hot liquid between her knees and tipped in into her own lap?

The punitive portion of the award was originally $2.7 million, and was reduced to $480,000. The total damage award was still $640,000 after all was said and done. The case was appealed, and then settled for "less than $600,000".

At the end of the day, she banked several hundred thousand dollars net of medical expenses. That's a lot of $$$ for spilling hot coffee on yourself. Yeah, I know she was in a lot of pain and all, but I would be in pain too if I slammed my balls in my car door. Would that entitle me to sue Ford Motor Co?

I have provided the other side of the story. There's a wiki page which provides a more balanced view than yours or mine here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's_coffee_case

[Zool]

I agree with Idle. People use the courts far too much to make other people pay for their own stupidity.

Has anyone sued Ginsu because their knives are too sharp? People know damned well coffee is going to be hot when they buy it, and would bitch up a storm if it wasn't. Society complains too much about too many things. There's a general sense of entitlement out of the general populace that annoys the shit out of me. No one owes anyone anything.

[MJZiggy]

I agree with you idle, the only thing thing is that they didn't put the warning on the cup until after this case came up. Other than that, if you buy coffee, I say, expect HOT coffee.

[the_idle_threat]

I agree with you idle, the only thing thing is that they didn't put the warning on the cup until after this case came up. Other than that, if you buy coffee, I say, expect HOT coffee.

I'm sorry, Zig, but you are mistaken about the warning. There was a warning on the cup that she tipped into her lap. They made the warning bigger after this case.

The jury specifically acknowledged the "Hot Coffee" warning, and claimed it was insufficient. That's why they should go to signed waivers. :idea:

[esoxx]

Other than that, if you buy coffee, I say, expect HOT coffee.

You're missing the point. Who doesn't want or expect the coffee to be hot? We all know coffee is supposed to be hot. Fine it even came with a warning but again, we all expect the coffee to be hot. So it's a bit redundant to put a warning label on it like people don't understand coffee is actually hot in the first place. Of course it is.

It's the temp you serve it at that's the problem. You don't need it to melt steel or in this case when you make a dumb mistake end up with permanent disfigurement.

Raise your hand if you haven't done something stupid before. We've all spilled things in different ways and all of them were unplanned. The point is when you spill it you shouldn't be subjected to severe injury and scarring.

Actually, we had a case with Fazoli's that involved a burn case to an employee. It was found, at this particular location, that they cooked their pasta at a level that was above prescribed standards. If they had cooked it according to standards, the woman wouldn't be subjected to the permanent scars she suffered.

Believe me, I'm on the other side of the fence from plantiff attorney's. But again, the coffee case actually had some merit to it. I could cite numerous claim examples that were much more ridiculous and frivilous than this one could ever be.

[Merlin]

The closest I got was on jury call for a week for the County. Never got called in though. I would LOVE to be on a jury for one of these people who sue for stupidity and WIN. Like spilling coffee on yourself or suing McDonald's because you are fat. I am not a small guy and I will admit that I love McDonald's. But is their fault I pay to eat their food? Um no...lol. What is the old saying when one of those cases win? "The District Attorney was so stupid that he found 12 people that were too stupid to avoid jury duty."

Steven Avery is a good reason to bring back the death penalty. So was Ed Geene (sp?) and Jeffry Dahlmer and anyone who intentionally kills a police officer.

A few years back, armed robbery and murder carried the same sentence, 25 years. So if you robbed someone you might as well kill them because you wouldn't get anything more if you got caught. Now there was a law to protect the citizen's!!! I don't believe it's like that anymore but even so, why should we imprison someone for life and basically pay for a roof over their head, TV, meals, library, work outs, etc?

everyone rips on the lady who sues mcdonalds. but nobody knows the facts of the case.

1: Stella Liebeck was a 79-year-old grandmother who was the passenger in her grandson's car.

2: McDonalds served the coffee at roughly 190 degrees. 190 Degree liquid will cause third-degree burns within 2-7 seconds of contact with the skin.

3: Stella was wearing cotton jogging pants, and the 190 degree liquid soaked into the pants. She received third-degree burns to her thighs and genitals. This is what a third-degree burn looks like:

http://corpreform.typepad.com/corpreform/3rdburn-thumb.jpg

4: McDonalds admitted that the coffee was not fit for human consumption at the temperature they served it.

5: Over 700 men, women, and children had been burned prior to Stella's lawsuit.

6: Stella offered to settle with McDonalds just for her medical bills. They refused.

That wasn't the case I was refering to. I do know a lot about that one, it was the copy cats way after the fact that I am talking about. I should have been more clear, my bad. Someone went after Hardees, Wendys and Burger King. None of them were burned severly, their skin was "irritated" less then a mild sun burn in each of the 5 cases I saw. 3 of them were successful and 2 were thrown out if I remember right.

[Merlin]

I might also add that the picture with 3rd degree burns is actually one taken after treatment has been applied. From what I can see they used the Phillips Petrolium screens and this looks bad but isn't painful at the point it is in. I had 3rd degree burns on my leg and went through the treatment. When they pull the screens off, it pulls the scab off and your wound bleeds. This promotes skin growth (so they sad but hurt like hell). This photo, there is no blood, just some normal healing. Mine healed fine, the hair even grew back after they said it wouldn't. It's scared but the hair kind of covers that.

[digitaldean]

I have always wanted to be a Juror. :(

I sat on 2 jury trials, both personal injury cases. One justifiable (we found the plaintiff) and one where a good Samaritan was sued (tow truck driver sued by someone who ran into his truck even though he followed all correct procedures).

It's interesting, but heart breaking what some people have to go through.

It also showed me the more seamy side of people who were out for a buck.

[the_idle_threat]

It's the temp you serve it at that's the problem. You don't need it to melt steel or in this case when you make a dumb mistake end up with permanent disfigurement.

Melt steel? Good thing nobody is resorting to hyperbole ... :P

You say or imply that people should be protected from their own dumb mistakes. But if a person knocks a pot of boiling water off the stove, is there a case against General Electric because the stove allowed the temperature to get that high? The "protection from one's own mistakes" rationale is about as weak as can be. When a person has reason to know something is a burn hazard, and yet acts in a way that causes a spill, the person should take responsibility for screwing up. The temperature is immaterial unless it is way outside the bounds of reasonableness, because the victim surely knew there was a burn hazard.

Who gets to decide what temperature is reasonable? Lawyers with a financial stake in the case? :?:

According to the National Coffee Association of the U.S.A., coffee should be brewed at 195 to 205 degrees F, and should be maintained and consumed at 180 to 185 degrees F. McDonald's was following the industry standard that was set for optimally-brewed coffee, a standard that the majority of its customers seemed to be okay with, and many other restaurants meet. I wonder if anyone asked how many customers would prefer that coffee be served at a "safe" 110 or 120 degrees.

(Source: http://www.ncausa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=71)

To put the 700 burn incidents over ten years (most of which were admitted to be very minor incidents) in context, consider how many cups of coffee were sold. It was 49 cents per cup, with an estimated $1.35 million in coffee revenue per day. That's approximately 2.75 million cups per day, multiplied by 365 days and then by ten years equals more than ten billion cups sold in ten years.

Over ten billion cups sold, over ten billion satisfied customers, and 700 burn complaints, most of them minor. Doesn't sound to me like an issue where Mcdonald's was even negligent, much less reckless. Everyone knows shit happens, and it really didn't happen all that much in the scheme of things here.

Sure, there are even more blatant examples of bad lawsuits, like for example where the "victim" was never even truly injured, but that doesn't redeem this suit where there may have been actual injury, but the cause was the victim's own conduct. Just because McDonald's can afford to pay doesn't mean it should have to. :idea:

[Merlin]

I totally agree with that! I guess it's like anything else, there are always a few bad apples that make the system seem flawed. I disagreed with the Tort Reform they were mulling over. I do however think there needs to be some common sense in our judicial system. Just because someone has the money to pay doesn't mean they should have to for someone else's lack of common sense. It goes right in step with those that think life is a free ride and they aren't responsible for themselves.

About 10 years ago I was standing on an office chair with wheels at work to replace a light bulb. Needless to say I fell off the chair and dislocated my shoulder. I felt like such a dork because I knew better. The employer had a strict policy that all injuries on the job get reported. I pleaded with the employer to let my insurance cover it but they were adamant that I use Workman's Compensation. It was my fault, I was the moron who didn't use common sense, yet they had to pay for it.

[the_idle_threat]

.44 Desert Eagle is a pansy gun compared to the .454 Casull.

And then there's this thing: http://emuse.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/16789

None of those schmucks even know how to shoot! Look at the stance of most of them. Can you say pain?

I used to guide for a bit and I had a 375 HH magnum brush gun that was about the same length. Just a kicking beast but good for close work in an alder thicket.

:D Yeah, I was watching this vid with a friend, and we remarked on their stances as well. Especially the ones who were actually leaning backwards. :lol:

Of course, they're a bunch of shrimpy little guys too, and that doesn't help them either.

[LEWCWA]

Ed Gein is his name and well he didn't even go to prison as he was insane!

[LEWCWA]

He was incarcerated, but in the mental health ward....From what I understand he liked it.

[LEWCWA]

he was just a curious chap!

[Rastak]

BTW Freak..

My condolences to you.. I was on a murder jury about 5 years ago, fairly small town, local girl shot by "out of town gangsta girlfriend" claiming self defense.

Man, was it ugly... deliberations for 8 days!


I was on a murder trial.....that was sure stressful.....I felt like shit even though the guy was an asshole and we sent him up the river. They hide alot of evidence from you as a juror so it's REALLY a tough decision. I guess that's the point. I felt TERRIBLE...until I found out some facts after he was sentenced....then I felt damn good.

[Freak Out]

We should get the case this Friday.....I have a feeling it is going to be a long hard deliberation. There is so much evidence to go through...and no smoking gun. Big fun.

[Rastak]

We should get the case this Friday.....I have a feeling it is going to be a long hard deliberation. There is so much evidence to go through...and no smoking gun. Big fun.


Yea, and it's a guys life so there ain't no joking around. I ended up in the hotel for one night and we delivered a verdict the next day. It was very hard but a very interesting experience.

[Merlin]

I think the hardest part would be to remain objective to all of the evidence. Say they pile up 100 things that says the person did it but the defense has 1 thing that says "maybe he didn't". According to the law, you have that shred of doubt thrown in there, you have to let em go.

I don't really know what I would do being I have never served.

[Little Whiskey]

desert eagle .44 cal. check out the smith and wesson 50 cal. talk about a handgun with a kick. better not have weak wrists to shoot that thing, or even think of shooting that thing "gangsta style". i've even seen a pistol that shot a 300 ultra mag. (rifle ammo). looked like a sawed off rifle. even i thought that was a little over kill.

[Little Whiskey]

I've never been on a jury or been called for jury duty. but at least where i live when you get called for jury duty all you have to do is call a number the night befor and they let you know if you have to show up the next morning.

I was called as a witness to testify once. that was an experience. damn jury didn't convict the guy even though i thought all the evidence pointed to him. howvever all they had was circumstantial evidence.

[Freak Out]

Closing arguments went all day......some heavy shit. The defense went off for almost 2 and a half freaking hours strait. Talk about a bladder buster. When all was said and done we got instructions from the Judge...went back and elected a foreman who promptly said were done for the weekend.

[MJZiggy]

Nothing like making the defendant sweat all weekend...

[Freak Out]

Guilty of Murder in the 1st.....I had no idea how I would feel when we entered the courtroom.......It was intense. I can say my heart was racing when I sat down in the jurors box for that last time. I had to almost meditate to calm myself down, but I looked him in the eye when the verdict was read.
This guy was stone. Tense stuff. Of course the defense made the judge poll us so we had to answer one at a time when the judge called our name to confirm we had voted guilty. All of the victims family were crying and the defense was pissed. There was no doubt for me.
After it was over the judge came into the jury room and talked to us for some time and also informed us that NBC Dateline and CBS 48 hours had been following the entire case and had letters for us asking to please contact them. I'll have to think about that one.....
I have to give the local media here some credit....most of the jurors bailed out the back door but myself and a fews other went out the front of the courthouse and all the the reporters were very respectful. None of them were hounding you for a comment.
If called I would do it again but I hope I never have to.

[GrnBay007]

Probably a once in a life time experience Freak out. Glad to hear you had no doubts. I'm sure that made the experience less painful. What does murder 1 carry where you live?

[Little Whiskey]

Im hoping he lives in Texas.

[MJZiggy]

Well he's be safe there for now...George went to Washington.

[packinpatland]

I have dipped my hand into boiling water before. It didn't even come out burned, just really freaking hot. That seems a bit bizzare that in 2 seconds you can get a third degree burn at that temperature.

That must be one nasty looking poonany.

The question begs to be asked.
WHY did you dip your hand in the boiling water????

[Freak Out]

Probably a once in a life time experience Freak out. Glad to hear you had no doubts. I'm sure that made the experience less painful. What does murder 1 carry where you live?

20-99. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for the first week of November, after the trial of his accomplice. I would have to believe unless he starts talking now he will get a long sentence. This was a premeditated killing, some might say execution.

[Little Whiskey]

I would have to believe unless he starts talking now he will get a long sentence. This was a premeditated killing, some might say execution.

not long enough. execute the executioner!