Has anyone been on a jury of a very long trial?

[Zolf]

Off the back of the Lucy Letby trial which lasted 10 months, I was wondering how it works logistically to be on a jury for that long? What happens if you have holidays booked? What if your employer don't pay you? I know mine wouldn't (very small company) and the compensation from the court is pitiful. Can't imagine being on a jury for that long!

This happens In the LL case! The jury was reduced to 11 as someone was excused for personal reasons

The expenses system for Jury service really needs looking at. Full salary should be paid by the courts (for your contracted hours or if on a zero hours/self employed an average over the proceeding 6 months or something), full childcare bill should be paid by the courts and more legal protections for employed people so it cannot be held against them for attending jury service by their employer.

I was called up once, I arranged everything with work, was going to be a pain in the arse as I only worked 2 days a week then and so would only get paid for those 2 days but be in court 5 days etc.... but I arranged it all. At the 5pm on the Friday before I started they called me and said they had too many jurors and could I delay it by 2 weeks. I said no as it was too late for work etc....... so they deferred me and I have never been called since. That was about 15 years ago.

I've done it twice and really enjoyed it but I'm public sector so there was no issue about me being paid.

My H got called and didn't want to do it so I helped him write about his disabilities and they excused him for life! He was thrilled as was his boss.

I wonder if it is postcode related as a few weeks after I moved into my new home, there was a letter to the woman who I bought the house off, and the envelope said HM Courts and Tribunal Service. I returned to sender and then a week later I got one.

They have a rough idea of how long it will take and ask about any holidays. I was originally called upon for a child trafficking and sexual exploitation case but I have a MH condition and was excused as I was told we need to have a strong mind to handle some of the evidence and testimonies. I then got a letter later to say I've been permanently excused from jury duty, which I'm a but gutted about.

I'd love to do Jury service and never been asked. I'd love to be a magistrate as well and might apply when I retire.

Saying that, I would hate to be on trial with a jury and don't think it's a fair means of trial due to the conscious and unconscious bias.

I once employed someone who then got picked for jury service. It went on and on and he started work three months after the rest of the cohort! Large company so could cover pay etc. but messed up his induction no end, and meant he was always out of sync with the others. Not much to be done but inconvenient timing all round.

I sat on a 7 week murder trial. It was gruesome and boring in equal measures.
We were excused for 10 years.
After 10 years I got another Citation 🙄
I have been excused due to mental illness this time but only for 12 months.
I hope the jurors on that awful trial were offered counselling.

I've been called twice.

First time I was excused as I was away at uni.

Second time was just last year. I had to phone the night before to find out if I had been selected. On the third evening the recording said I was not needed and didn't need to keep phoning.

The funny thing was, 3 others from my workplace were called over the next couple of months.

Sorry if I’m repeating information.

Originally the trial was only meant to last 6 months but they had a lot of jury illness/absences which delayed the trial and stretched it out.

And then because it over ran it’s original estimation they kept getting dismissed for long weekends for bank holidays.

Then there always seemed to be an illness on a Monday morning (I remember people suspecting someone had probably had a boozy weekend and called hung over - pure speculation obviously).

Then they took a week off from hearing the evidence to sitting for deliberations.

Then there was another week off during deliberations because a jury member had personal problems. I think this was the same jury who was eventually discharged because they had personal problems that meant they couldn’t continue sitting regularly.

It also appeared that the jury disagreed with each other and the judge originally wanted a unanimous verdict. So when it became apparent they wouldn’t be unanimous verdicts (except in the case of Babies F, L & O). Once the judge stated that a majority of 10-1 would be acceptable they seem to agree on another 13 (2 not guilty & 11 guilty).

They obviously couldn’t agree on the other 6 cases so again this dragged it out.

The only person I know who has been called was my gran about 15 years ago. I can’t be called due to my job making me ineligible and no one else I know has done it. I don’t know how we’d cope if dh got called as we couldn’t afford it.

My husband is self employed. He earns several hundred pounds per day. The maximum the court pay per day is around £80 (basically minimum wage). We would not be able to pay our mortgage if the trial lasted any longer than a week or two. The impact on his business would also be catastrophic as he would seem unreliable to clients having to cancel work and not being able to give them an appointment for who knows how long. There's no way he could possibly sit on a jury for that length of time.

I did a trial that went on over 5 weeks once. We weren't in every day but didn't get much notice of the days we wouldn't be needed. Sometimes we'd go in for the day and spend all of it sitting in the jury room while the lawyers discussed some technical thing we weren't allowed to hear.

Then after 5 weeks we were told we were all discharged and we could go home. The court official just walked into the room and said something like "for legal reasons the trial has been called off. You can all go home now. You can collect forms to claim expenses on the way out. Remember to collect all your belongings from your locker." No-one ever explained to us why the trial was cancelled. It was really strange and I still wonder about it now. After all that time we were just sent home with no resolution. Weird.

It was the summer I finished uni but hadn't started my new job so didn't miss out financially. But I did miss out on my last long summer break before a proper job.

What a waste of time. I'm still resentful about it now when I think about it.

DH did jury service for a week when I first knew him so we were friends at work and not dating. It was a fraud case that did involve one incidence of violence. If he was called now he would lose money as he earns almost 70k PA but he has zero excuse to ask to be excused unless doing it once before means you can be excused, anyone know? If it was for a couple of weeks it would be fine.

My sister was called but had a sweet young breastfed baby so she was excused.

I did jury service years ago (it was cheque book fraud so that's how long ago it was!). I remember them asking if anyone worked in the legal profession. I was a legal secretary for a big City firm and had to go before the judge and answer loads of questions about the area I worked in, whether I would have access to any litigation papers, whether I had contact with barristers etc. I was allowed to do it in the end but for a time I thought I'd be dismissed.

DH was called a few years ago. By that time he was working as a self employed fees clerk in barristers chambers - he'd always been a barristers clerk - so he contacted the court, explained the situation and they said it would be deferred. He's not been called since.

It used to be that members of the legal profession were barred from being jurors but this has been overturned now and they can serve

I was on a jury for around 15 weeks. We were advised that it could be a long trial before the start. The judge was very strict and said she would only accept written proof of holidays or medical appointments etc that had been booked before the start of this trial. She said she would personally deal with employers who tried to refuse leave to jurors or make it difficult for them.
My understanding is that it's important to get a wide cross section of people and not end up with juries full of the same demographic eg. retired, middle class, 60 plus.
Fortunately, my employer paid my wages in full but other jurors were financially impacted. I ended up doing longer hours as a juror than I did at work so I was impacted in terms of time. It was also a long commute into the court.
We were excused from jury service for 10 years due to the nature of the case - two defendants charged with murder/ allowing the death of a child, neglect and cruelty.
One of the things that struck me was that the three prosecution and defence barristers would often be in the cafe bar next to the court and were clearly big chums but in the court room they were completely different characters. If they hadn't been barristers I reckon they could have made it on the stage.

She has done two trials in our home county and this one was in a neighbouring county. Both an hour’s drive each way.

That prompts another question - what happens if you don't have access to a car and public transport can't get you to the court for the start of the day? Are you expected to get a taxi every day? Or what if it would involve a very long journey and a really early start and finish? Do you just have to accept that?

They would pay for taxis to get you to court. There are few places where it would take more than 2 hours or so to get to the court so you would have to suck it up and get up early etc......

It was overturned in 2004. I’m a solicitor and that was the first thing I checked when I was called.

For those who have talked about the reasons that people give not to sit on a long trial, do they have to do this orally, in front of the other potential jurors and/or lawyers representing the parties? I had imagined it would be a private discussion with the court officials and judge, but from the amount of detail that people are giving about others’ reasons it sounds like it’s in front of the other potential jurors? Or did they just tell you afterwards?

That is weird as the reasons could be very personal.

Thank you. I knew the basics of jury service but am realising there is so much I don't know.

Each court has a catchment area @VerityRoss . There is some information here. Some of them overlap, for example I am doing my service at the Old Bailey but I am also in catchment for our local crown court. The OB will be very interesting but it’s 45 mins away by public transport, whereas I could have walked to the local one and gone home for lunch!

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/crown_court_juror_catchment_area

I'm 62 and my husband is 68 and neither of us has ever been called for jury service. As we are both out of the labour market now and (currently) in good health and without caring responsibilities, we could do it no problem at all, so it's a bit frustrating that we've never been summoned. Upper age limit is 75 now, so there's still time.

Are you joking? I’ve been called 3 times and I’m only 36! One of the trials was a long one, and I was excused due to working for a small business. There were about 50 of us that were there to be selected from. One poor woman had no one to care for her elderly parents but she was still made to do jury service and find an alternative carer. The courts don’t care!

Yes, from the date you are expected to start, they ask you not to make any commitments at all between Monday-Friday for the foreseeable future, you cannot book any events or holidays or doctor’s appointments etc

It’s extremely limiting and a massive headache (for someone who has been called 3 times)

They also seem to call the same people to serve over and over again, I know lots of people who have been called 3+ times, it’s a joke.