Jury duty

cliffy300

Hi all,
Recently I got a jury summons for the first time. Can anyone tell me what I can expect on the day and how long am I likely to be involved

Drummerboy2

I got called a couple of years ago. Basically about 150 people were called on the first day. We were squashed into a room and told they were going to select 3 juries for 3 murder trials. Everyone name was put in hat.

From what I remember charges are read out against defendant. Then the names are called. When name is called you are brought up to the stand and swear in. Then what usuallly happens is one of the solicitors for the defendant or the prosecution objects to you. One never knows why but the vast majority are sent home. You probably have to hang around for the whole day and then you are probably dismissed for life.

If you are selected, I can't say.

Poutbutton

If it's Dublin you turn up at the specified court at the specified time along with about 199 others you all sit down & wait til roll is called. Choose a seat near a TV. Bring a book or paper with you. Turn off phone & MP3. Listen up for your name and shout your presence when you hear it. TV will come on with view of a court room & a Judge will call out the details of the case i.e. all the names of everyone involved, the defendant the prosecuter, the gardai involved, the solicitors & barristers involved any professional witnesses or regular witnesses. This is so you can check if you know anyone involved in the case. You may or may not be called up to this court room, if you are, a team of legal personel from the prosection & the defence will look you over and either give the nod to let you swear in or reject you. Each legal team can reject 7 people, there's no precise reason they just decide who they want to hear their clients case & ultimately decide their fate :eek: If you have an important ocassion looming, in the days or week following the start of a case, pretend you know one of the witnesses by sight otherwise you will likely miss your big event, I know a guy who missed his sister's wedding because the case went on longer than expected. There are no guarantees. Another guy, a chef, missed being the head chef at a wedding! He was his own boss so that was a bugbare for him. Proceedings generally tend to finish around 4.30 but can go on til 5.30 depending on how close to the verdict you are. Each case is different too so my time guides could be way off for another case.
If it turns out you know someone involved in the case, you tell the Usher that you need a word with the Judge, you can then duck under the rope, yes there's a rope between you and judge, and tell the judge you know such a body so annot serve on that case. You would then return to the cellar and wait for the next case to be called. The cycle begins again.
If you are not called you will still have to hang around til at the latest about 12.30, then you are free til the next day and so on until either the week is up or you are put on a case.
If you are put on a case, things move very qiuckly. You will be brought to a jury room and meet your 11 compadres. You will be given a notbook & pen. You will then meet the judge on the case as you enter the courtroom. He/She will introduce him/herself and the people on each legal team, Judge may also tell you the expected length of the case {you can tell this yourself depending on the amount of witnesses, lots = long case duration, less = shorter case duration} Things start almost immediately so listen to everything and take notes from the beginning, nothing will be explained to you by anyone, the judge will have told you that the verdict you come to will have to be agreed on by all 12 of you, this is hard! Not 11 -1 or 10-2 like on tv.
You get no lessons on how to be a jurer you just do it so the more notes you have on the case the better you all can understand things when you are sent to the jury room.
It's an interesting experience, do you hope to go on a case or do you want to escape?

dvpower

Another couple of points.

You will be asked to choose a foreman/woman. No one will help you to do this and it will normally fall to the first volunteer. But once chosen, the foreman will assume almost godlike powers; others will seek guidance from him and will almost blindly follow his lead on all matters pertaining to the case. The seemingly random act of choosing a foreman is probably the single most important point in the entire proceedings.

You need to take lots of notes. When there is doubt later on about what exactly was said in evidence, you will not be given a transcript. You can ask the Judge for clarification but he will just give you his summary.

cliffy300

Poutbutton wrote: »

If it's Dublin you turn up at the specified court at the specified time along with about 199 others you all sit down & wait til roll is called. Choose a seat near a TV. Bring a book or paper with you. Turn off phone & MP3. Listen up for your name and shout your presence when you hear it. TV will come on with view of a court room & a Judge will call out the details of the case i.e. all the names of everyone involved, the defendant the prosecuter, the gardai involved, the solicitors & barristers involved any professional witnesses or regular witnesses. This is so you can check if you know anyone involved in the case. You may or may not be called up to this court room, if you are, a team of legal personel from the prosection & the defence will look you over and either give the nod to let you swear in or reject you. Each legal team can reject 7 people, there's no precise reason they just decide who they want to hear their clients case & ultimately decide their fate :eek: If you have an important ocassion looming, in the days or week following the start of a case, pretend you know one of the witnesses by sight otherwise you will likely miss your big event, I know a guy who missed his sister's wedding because the case went on longer than expected. There are no guarantees. Another guy, a chef, missed being the head chef at a wedding! He was his own boss so that was a bugbare for him. Proceedings generally tend to finish around 4.30 but can go on til 5.30 depending on how close to the verdict you are. Each case is different too so my time guides could be way off for another case.
If it turns out you know someone involved in the case, you tell the Usher that you need a word with the Judge, you can then duck under the rope, yes there's a rope between you and judge, and tell the judge you know such a body so annot serve on that case. You would then return to the cellar and wait for the next case to be called. The cycle begins again.
If you are not called you will still have to hang around til at the latest about 12.30, then you are free til the next day and so on until either the week is up or you are put on a case.
If you are put on a case, things move very qiuckly. You will be brought to a jury room and meet your 11 compadres. You will be given a notbook & pen. You will then meet the judge on the case as you enter the courtroom. He/She will introduce him/herself and the people on each legal team, Judge may also tell you the expected length of the case {you can tell this yourself depending on the amount of witnesses, lots = long case duration, less = shorter case duration} Things start almost immediately so listen to everything and take notes from the beginning, nothing will be explained to you by anyone, the judge will have told you that the verdict you come to will have to be agreed on by all 12 of you, this is hard! Not 11 -1 or 10-2 like on tv.
You get no lessons on how to be a jurer you just do it so the more notes you have on the case the better you all can understand things when you are sent to the jury room.
It's an interesting experience, do you hope to go on a case or do you want to escape?

Not too bothered if I`m called or not, would like to see how the system works or if I don`t get called its fair enough. Its not in Dublin, but down the country. Thanks for the info, very helpful

Dan133269

Poutbutton wrote: »

the judge will have told you that the verdict you come to will have to be agreed on by all 12 of you, this is hard! Not 11 -1 or 10-2 like on tv.

Am I not right in saying that s25.1 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 provides that a jury decision need not be unanimous as long as 10 people are in agreement?

I have jury duty myself quite soon, looking forward to it, should be interesting. I was considering objecting to taking the oath in the ordinary manner if I get selected as a juror as I'm an atheist, but I don't think I'll cause the hassle and have everyone looking at me cross-eyed I have an LLB, would I be allowed clarify issues of law to the rest of the jury if questions came up when we were deliberating?

McCrack

You are correct on S.25. Juries verdicts need not be unanimous.

Dan133269 there's no certainty that you will get picked to serve but if you do and your case runs all the way and you end up deliberating you can say whatever you want to your fellow-jurors. Deliberation is a very private matter between you and 11 others. Nobody can or will interfere.

dvpower

Dan133269 wrote: »

I was considering objecting to taking the oath in the ordinary manner if I get selected as a juror as I'm an atheist, but I don't think I'll cause the hassle and have everyone looking at me cross-eyed

You risk other jury members holding this against you. In my experience, the jury room is like any other gathering; assertive people tend to dominate the proceedings, quieter types don't get a word in. People bring their own preconceptions and prejustices.

dvpower

Dan133269 wrote: »

I have an LLB, would I be allowed clarify issues of law to the rest of the jury if questions came up when we were deliberating?

No. Juries are there to find fact, specifically not to interpret law. In fact, I think there is a restriction on (practicing?) solicitors serving on a jury.

Poutbutton

McCrack wrote: »

You are correct on S.25. Juries verdicts need not be unanimous.

Dan133269 there's no certainty that you will get picked to serve but if you do and your case runs all the way and you end up deliberating you can say whatever you want to your fellow-jurors. Deliberation is a very private matter between you and 11 others. Nobody can or will interfere.

Well the judge told us we had to come to a decision that all 12 of us agreed on, is it different for each level of the court, ie high court, circuit court, district court or the court of criminal appeal etc? All 12 of us immediately had a conversation about this when we returned to the jury room as everyone thought it would be 10 or 11 to 1 vote, we even had it clarified and Judge repeated his request.

Swearing in if not religious is called taking an affirmation, you will be asked to swear on a bible or affirm.

Our man in Havana

If the jury panel is down the country you can be roped in for up to 2 weeks with you having to attend each day for the 2 weeks. If you are not required that day you are usually dismissed by 11am leaving the rest of the day free only to return the next day.

I was called a few years ago. I was on an armed robbery which lasted a week. At the end we were excused for 10 years. It was an interesting experience to say the least.

Dymo

I know this is an old thread but still relevant

Called to present myself at the courthouse yesterday along with about 100 other people, there was a jury of 12 selected which left about 80 people left over.

The judge then asked everyone again to come back in a weeks time (80 people.)

Why is this, I was surprised that they didn't pick back up jurors for the trial but to ask everyone to come back again in a weeks time, is this for the same trial or is it for another trial or could I be called back again and again until they have used up this pool of people.

Victor

Dymo wrote: »

is this for the same trial or is it for another trial

Most likely a new trial - jurors have to be present for the entire trial (although they may be sent to the jury room from time to time).