to doodle whilst on jury service?

[stainesmassif]

today was my first day on a very boring case, first time juror.
for the first half of the day i had great difficulty sitting still.

after lunch i discovered that my pencil and paper - provided by the court! could be put to great use by doodling - which helped stop the fidgeting, and also aided my concentration.

so after about an hour of what was becoming fairly intricate doodling the man next to me tapped me on the knee and nodded at the pencil as if to say 'turn it in'.

AIBU to doodle? i appreciate, it is a very quiet environment, and possibly the noise of the pencil is a distraction? or am i within my rights? the pencil and paper are an open invitation to doodlers?

Message withdrawn

for goodness sake, i'm not saying that i don't take my responsibilities seriously, i am saying that doodling helps me concentrate.
serves me right for posting in aibu though!

no i think you are right SM
unless oyu have been VERY bored in court its hard to know how best to keep awake

thanks bradley

I'm with the doodling keeps you focused camp
Sure it's something about engaging both left and right sides of brain
Much worse to fall asleep

Make a straight face, and tell them you are kinesthetic listener.

I doodle as well in meetings, but it helps me concentrate as well.

I have no doubt that the victim, the defendant, prosecution & defence counsels and the judge would be enchanted to know that you are taking the case so seriously.

Good to know that one of the people responsible for deciding a person's guilt is really giving it their full attention.

And if you are finding it hard to concentrate I suggest you make notes, not doodles.

On the phones at CL I doodle more on the serious/indepth calls than on the shorter/silent ones. Its like it helps to use up the part of my brain that makes me want to go OH MY GOD! And so the rest of my brain can concentrate properly. Very random explanation but thats how it feels.

fibilou, i refer you to my previous post 'for goodness sake, i'm not saying that i don't take my responsibilities seriously, i am saying that doodling helps me concentrate.'

thanks for you useful suggestion though

am pretty sure this could get you thrown off the jury.

or worse - a high profile case ws abandoned last year when a juror was found to be wearing headphones - think this would be classed up there with that.

have linked to that article, she was thrown off for wearing headphones, not for doodling.

not to worry, i will carry on doodling, it helps me concentrate, as i have stated a few times. however, i will keep it discrete, and make sure that it all pertains to the case. so thanks very much for your useful feedback everyone.

having re read my posts, i sound a bit ratty today! thanks for the feedback is meant to be sincere!

Just read the OP, im i want to do jury service - well, only if i can get some exciting case and be my own Ms Marple!

Were you wrong to doodle - not if it helped you to concentrate.

What would have been wrong would have been to mumsnet on your iphone!!

I think that one of the potential with juries - i for one would probably glaze over during all the legal speak if it was some corporate case or something. I might as well doodle all the way through it and then toss a coin for the verdict.

If they pick you up on it, tell them to be more entertaining!

BradSplit Mon 25-Jan-10 20:26:31
I doodle in court.
helps me conc when very bored about calibration of LTI 20 20s

There see - and she is the JUDGE

Staines - I am sure that doodling does help you concentrate, and that you are paying attention and taking the whole thing seriously - but you could get into trouble with the judge for doodling - and they probably wouldn't let you mumsnet from in the Clink.

YANBU if it helps you concentrate and isn't causing a distraction for anyone else.

I used to be a barrister and started off doodling. The QC I was working with at the time severely told me off gently encouraged me to take notes to be as detailed and accurate as possible including evasions/hesitations etc.

Found that helped me stay awake and still does in long meetings. Might be worth a go.

But Mishy - it would probably look to the judge and others as if she weren't paying attention, and the judge might ask the usher to have a word with her, or even stop proceedings to have a word him/herself - either of which would be embarrassing and disruptive to the proceedings.

I suppose it is a case of justice not only being done, but having to be seen to be done, if you see what I mean.

yabu your ment to be there to listen to all the facts etc

ilovesprouts, Doddlers do listen!

In terms of divided attention, I doubt that you can pay the same amount of attention to the case if you are also doodling.

Mrsrisotto - did you read the link above. Doodlers actually are paying more attention and take in more information.

Good god, sod doodling and listening at the same time. Some people just can't read, can they?