Jury Duty

[Chickenkeev]

Has anyone ever done it? I've never been called (thank fk!) but i'm curious as to what it's like. In one way it could be really interesting, and in another way it could be really traumatising. And, in the traumatising cases, is there any aftercare?

I would love to do it, I think it something that we should do as citizens if asked, though I wouldn’t want a case that threatened the secure of my family - as with the one my mum did- or anything to do with child abuse.

Seems it varies wildly depending on your court. Mine was reasonably modern, free bottled water and hot drinks on tap, snack machines were full, great court staff, expenses took 2 days to be paid into my bank, and cases were run really well it seemed.
If I was to give negatives, be prepared for the posibility of leaving the courthouse or using public transport allongside the defendants.

I've been called up twice. As soon as I turned 18 and then again about five years ago. I was petrified of doing it the first time but luckily it was quite a straight forward case and I found it all very interesting. Thankfully neither of the cases were traumatising in anyway. I'm really not sure how I'd have coped if they had been especially as a very naive 18 year old.

That hadn't even occurred to me tbh 😬

My friend did it a few years back. Horrific case. She never really got over it tbh.

I've never done it myself, but I'd like to. If they could wait until I retire though, it would be good - it would cause chaos with work!

I know two people that have done it that have shared some stories.

One was a basic trial about a man that had conned a little old lady out of her savings for roof work that she didn't need. As part of his evidence he was asked "you were seen getting in to a blue Ford Mondeo - do you deny this?" and he replied "I do deny it - I don't have a blue Ford Mondeo".

At the lunch break, my friend went out to have a smoke and saw the defendant walking over to the car park and getting in a blue Mondeo! He spoke to one of the court personnel when he went back in who told him that of course it was totally inadmissible and he should disregard what he'd seen and not tell anyone else on the jury. The rest of the evidence was overwhelming though apparently and they found him guilty.

I also know someone that served on the jury for the Dennis Nilsen trial. When they released the David Tennant drama about him, my friend watched it and said he could see the person in his position in the jury box and could see that they'd tried to recreate his clothing from the court drawings of the time.

‘You get paid a nominal amount
It is often less than your employer would pay’

depends on your employer - ours pays as usual and claims whatever the allowance is from the system, which isn’t anywhere near my normal salary but they see it as civic duty and cover it regardless of length of the service.

I've done it twice. Once in Crown Court for a murder case, when I was just 22. The second was more recently and was for an inquest.
The murder was of a local woman I had frequently seen around the city centre, but did not know (she was quite eccentric so easy to recognise)
The inquest was for the death of a young soldier who was run over by his own lorry. Very very sad.
You will get reimbursed for lost wages and your employer has to release you, plus you will get an allowance for lunch. There is a lot of waiting around and of course you can't contact anyone outside during the day, or speak to anyone at all about it until after it is all over, if at all.
People in certain categories or in certain circumstances do not have to do just duty, but you would need to look up what those are as I can't remember.

Ive never been called but a close friend of mine has, said had to be at court for a certain time each morning, said it was boring just sitting about, case was cancelled once so wasted day. He got travelling expenses and lunch money.

‘I would love to do it, I think it something that we should do as citizens if asked, though I wouldn’t want a case that threatened the secure of my family - as with the one my mum did- or anything to do with child abuse.
That hadn't even occurred to me tbh 😬’

terrorism or gangster stuff can mean people threatening jurors or their families…

Selected to start 2 weeks after baby was due so was excused. Id love to do it. Know someone who did it but got counselling after (arranged by the courthouse for all jury members).

Most people think they'd love to do it, until their time comes!

How does that work practically though? I can't imagine in all honesty coming home to H and saying absolutely nothing. I really don't think i'd be able to do that.

I did it earlier this year. Stabbing.

the case lasted exactly two weeks.
week one was all evidence/defence and week two we deliberated.
got the right result thought, it was unanimous.

you claim expenses.
they pay fixed amount for wages, you are at a loss
they pay travel, provide tickets or mileage
you get a fixed amount for lunch, doesn’t even cover at the court canteen.

however, I’m glad I did it!

Also in Scotland. I've been called a dozen times and selected to serve on the jury three times. The first was a murder. The second was historic child sexual assaults, including rape, within an extended family and the third was a rape case. All were traumatic for different reasons, though I think we came to the right verdict each time. The legal side of it is interesting, but there's a lot of sitting around, the food was poor and you can't avoid the knowledge that this is impacting on so many people's lives. Ultimately I can't remember the names involved in any of the three cases, but I can absolutely remember the faces and the details of the evidence.

And I've been told by people working in the court service here that they need to call 100 people in order to be sure of getting one jury of 15.

@Iheartpizza they randomly pull names off the electoral register using a metaphorical hat. It's completely random.
They called 40 for my last trial, and then excused anyone over 70, 7+ months pregnant,anyone who was in the military, police or crt system and then anyone who knew about the case independently from the trial or knew anyone in the trial.
After that the 23 of us who were left literally had our names put in a hat 1st 15 out were jurors next 5 substitutes, the rest got to leave. Then we were told the full charge list and anyone who couldn't do it due to trauma etc were let go the substitutes took there places and were swarn in then the remaining substitutes were released and the trial started with the 15 jurors. Not sure what would have happened if we needed more than 5 substitutes.

Did it first time about 4 years ago, more than enough turn up, you sit in a room and wait to be selected for a jury. Everything will be explained by the court ushers as a lot of people are new to the process. It does not mean you will actually be needed so maybe a lot of waiting around. Just have to sit there and listen to the evidence then go to a room and decide between you. you will be surprised how your thoughts/opinion varies as the evidence is presented.
You may feel be a bit wary walking to and from the courthouse ( I was a bit) but dont be. Tampering with a jury is consider a very serious offence and is dealt with according.

I did it a few years ago and found it really dull!

I was only called on 2 short cases. The first took half a day, there was no doubt that he was guilty.

The second was on my very last day. Sounded a lot more interesting but the defendant did a runner so we all got sent home.

I got a lot of reading done over the 2 weeks I was there 😂

My neighbour was there at the same time as me and he got a very distressing case. He did about 6 weeks and was then given a special exemption notice for the next 10 years.

You get a nominal amount of money. We were encouraged to claim travel/food expenses even if we didn't actually need them. It was definitely less than my daily rate at work, but thankfully work still paid me for those weeks too.

I’ve been called up but I wasn’t used. Kind of sat around all day doing nothing but I met some nice people who I’m still friends with.

Nobody in my social circle or family has been called up.

Yes I've done it. It was a shooting and quite traumatic, it gave me anxiety. No after care!

It was an interesting experience but I didn't enjoy it. I can remember the 11 other jurors really well. It's a weird, intense relationship you develop very quickly.

I've been called again but DC was newborn so got out of it.

Thank you .- I was wondering about whether you would have the opportunity to serve on JD but opt out of cases if you were unable to handle them. Eg I could sit many cases of criminality but mental health complications would mean a difficult emotional case would not be appropriate.

I would hate to opt out of civic duty by saying I was incapable of any trials but some of them could make me quite unwell.

I did it two years ago and enjoyed it. The case was interesting and unusual and our defendant was a fascinating/mad/arrogant character. Sometimes it was unintentionally hilarious and the most difficult part was trying to keep a straight face! It was a serious crime, but thankfully nothing gruesome.

My fellow jurors were a great bunch - all nice, intelligent and reasonable people. And one of them was a person in the public eye, who also had a famous relative (politics)… so we had a few interesting chats!
After speaking to others who’ve done it, I know I got really lucky with my case and fellow jurors.

We got an allowance for lunch - people either brought their own or went out to Pret etc. Financially it wasn’t ideal - I was freelance so I ended up working in the evenings/weekends.

All the questions you are asking are answered in the initial pack you get sent out or in the induction talk on your arrival
Randomly selected
You cannot discuss the case at home until after you have given the verdict in court. This is not too bad as you have 11 others to discuss it with as it is ongoing.
Yes you can make notes, they leave them in the jury box for you so you need to sit in the same place throughout.
You buy or bring your own lunch
There can be a lot of hanging around if you don't get selected
The barristers make it easy for the jury - they spell things out very clearly as if you are all a bit dim. (And surprisingly a lot of people are)
You are escorted from jury waiting room to jury box through backstage corridors so you are kept away from the public.

I've been lucky enough to do it twice and was happy to serve my civic duty and find a man guilty of abusing his adult daughter when she was a child (we believed you). Other cases too.

I was called 4 yeas ago but at the time my adult son was suffering from kidney cancer so I was let off. I would be interested to do jury service but as I am now 71 I only have five years left to be called as you are not eligible after 76.

Dh has done jury service twice but he is now no longer eligible.