Have any of you done jury service in the past?
I have been summoned and I use the word summoned because that is what it said in bold letters at the top.
It seems there is absolutely no way of not doing it - only one deferral allowed and that's if they accept a deferral date.
If any of you are appearing at Leeds Crown Court in the near future you might have me to deal with 
About 20 years ago and was welcome at the time as I was in a shit job. Yes, it seems you have to be on your death bed before they will accept any excuses for not turning up. 
Interesting though to see a "TV drama" unfold for real - mine was a stabbing. Brilliant though as I turned up each day, paid and expenses, but the case kept being put back. In the end I was only in the court for one day so it was a wonderful skive.
And as I was apparently the most outspoken of the jurors when we had our conflab it was a unanimous vote that I would be foreman of the jury, so it was me that had to stand up and "Guilty or Not Guilty". Bit daunting to see the accused look at me from across the court and I hoped he wouldn't remember my face.
I did one Jury stint a long time ago.
I was sumoned for jury service more recently, but they dropped it when they found I was over 70 {?} years old; it seems they expect us oldies are too doddery to be on a jury, whereas of course we are actually the wisest people around and usually retired and so have the free time to be on Jury service. 
Quote: billwill @ 18th May 2015, 12:18 PM BSTI did one Jury stint a long time ago.
I was sumoned for jury service more recently, but they dropped it when they found I was over 70 {?} years old; it seems they expect us oldies are too doddery to be on a jury, whereas of course we are actually the wisest people around and usually retired and so have the free time to be on Jury service.
Well, that's interesting, so I looked it up:-
"The Juries Act 1974 states that only those between the ages of 18 and 70 may be summoned to carry out jury service in England and Wales. This age range was last amended by the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which raised the upper limit from 65 to 70. 20 Aug 2013"
That's fine with me as I have now just gone past 70 and wouldn't want to do it again anyway. Worthwhile experience though for anyone who hasn't been through it.
But you see these seriously old fart judges handing out nonsensical sentences and it makes a mockery of the age limit for jurors.
Bloody hell! Jump at the chance. Who knows what inspiration you'll get from some really mundane cases.
I've been summoned several times, with the most recent being a few months ago. It wasn't a bad day: free wireless Internet and I ran into an old Army buddy. They even paid me a whopping $6. (It cost $8 to park for the day and I spent another $8 on gas to drive all the way to the courthouse.)
I've never been chosen to sit on a jury, but I came close in 2009: a woman was being tried for the death of her infant granddaughter. She was drunk and high on meth when she decided to replicate a TV show's segment about teaching babies to swim. The child drowned and the grandmother just put her back in the crib as if nothing had happened. Worst of all, she'd apparently tried the same thing months earlier and the child's parents had forbidden her to put the child in the pool. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Why did they trust her with the granddaughter again?
I sometimes understand why the hanging tree at Tyburn could take whole families.
Quote: DaButt @ 18th May 2015, 6:03 PM BSTI've been summoned several times, with the most recent being a few months ago. It wasn't a bad day: free wireless Internet and I ran into an old Army buddy. They even paid me a whopping $6. (It cost $8 to park for the day and I spent another $8 on gas to drive all the way to the courthouse.)
You need to get onto a UK jury 
- it is (or was) fully paid on what your lost wages would be and expenses.
Yup I made money when I did Jury service, never called, out within 2 hours every day.
Quote: sootyj @ 18th May 2015, 6:51 PM BSTYup I made money when I did Jury service, never called, out within 2 hours every day.
I was on call for two weeks and only spent one day in court. Result! Especially as I hated my job at the time.
I gotta be honest I'm a bit of a smart ass and I was certain if I wound up in cout; I'd have made some dumb remark or mumbled "bull shit" under a cough and ended up in clink for contempt.
Actually that's not a bad idea for a sitcom....
Quote: sootyj @ 18th May 2015, 6:06 PM BSTWhy did they trust her with the granddaughter again?
I think several months had elapsed, the grandmother promised not to put the baby in the pool, and they were in need of a babysitter. Tragic that it ended the way that it did.
Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 18th May 2015, 6:50 PM BSTYou need to get onto a UK jury
Most reasonable employers don't dock a worker's pay during jury service, so it's not a big deal. I was unemployed the last time, so all I got was $6. I think it increases to $40/day if you serve more than one day. I assume the $6 figure was set back in the days that it was a reasonable amount of money and it hasn't been updated in decades. It's kind of a joke, so most people just fill out a convenient form at the courthouse and donate the money to some sort of children's charity.
I did the one where one jury member says to another member "I've seen you somewhere before". That other person says "I really don't think so" and she says "no, I'm sure, it was in Yorkshire". And then she says "weren't you a social democrat or something many years ago" at which point it gets scary. Finally she says "oddly enough I'm standing to be a Lib Dem councillor soon here in Sutton".
So then the guys who had the shorn off golf clubs arrive and they have allegedly broken in to the home of an old person. They speak all cockney geezer like and deny everything. They go and the respectable middle aged lady starts talking. She explains how she saw what happened and was so mad about it that she drove at 100mph to catch up with them. There was a traffic jam but she found them drinking lager in a park. She is asked to describe them and she goes into loads of convincing detail - haircuts, height, leg measurement - and she especially mentions a mustard coloured shirt.
"Like this one found in the apartment of one of the accused?" she is asked as a mustard shirt is produced. "Exactly" she replies. The Lib Dem says to someone - me I think - "oh this case is very clear cut, they are guilty as sin". Then the blokes come back and the one who had worn the mustard shirt is asked whether it is his shirt. "Yes", he says. So then he is asked to roll up his sleeves as he is wearing an ordinary white shirt and the entire court room gasps. His arms are covered in tattoos. The nice lady never mentioned tattoos at all. Consequently we are advised to find them both not guilty.
So anyhow we leave and the Lib Dem woman and I are the only two going to get a train. We get on the platform and she says "oh my God, look it's them with a big bunch of their mates". I say it hardly matters as we didn't find them guilty and anyhow they won't be in our carriage. The train arrives, we start talking about the election, and all of a sudden the entire bunch pile in. They have found us. They are there to sit on the adjoining seats where they chant in sing songy fashion "We did it and you let us off, we did it and you let us off, hah, hah, hah". That in a nutshell was my experience of jury service. Those who admitted guilt were free if never seen by us again. And she didn't get elected.
Quote: DaButt @ 18th May 2015, 6:03 PM BSTI've been summoned several times, with the most recent being a few months ago. It wasn't a bad day: free wireless Internet and I ran into an old Army buddy. They even paid me a whopping $6. (It cost $8 to park for the day and I spent another $8 on gas to drive all the way to the courthouse.)
I've never been chosen to sit on a jury, but I came close in 2009: a woman was being tried for the death of her infant granddaughter. She was drunk and high on meth when she decided to replicate a TV show's segment about teaching babies to swim. The child drowned and the grandmother just put her back in the crib as if nothing had happened. Worst of all, she'd apparently tried the same thing months earlier and the child's parents had forbidden her to put the child in the pool. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
In England she'd get a 6 month suspended sentence.
Quote: Chappers @ 18th May 2015, 9:16 PM BSTIn England she'd get a 6 month suspended sentence.
She's eligible for parole after half of her sentence is served, so I assume she'll be released after 9 years.