Jury Duty- Really Cool Murder Trial

myblueangel19

Someone posted on FB about having jury duty and her idiot friend commented on how she wanted to be on jury duty, especially  'like if it were a really cool murder trial....that would be awesome!'

Does this seem misplaced to anyone else? I couldn't help but respond that 'cool' and 'murder trial' do not belong together and that I hope she will not have a murder trial becase there is nothing cool about it. Am I being a little to snarky on this or would that strike you as annoying?

ILikePineapples

My guess is that this person watches way too many crime shows or something like that, and has sensationalised all the court scenes in her head.  She's the type of person who would not be selected, most likely, just for that reason.  And she'd probably discover just how boring and awful serious crime jury duty is (my dad had to be on one and he hated it).

ooolalalolo

She certainly could have phrased that better, huh?

I agree with ILP--this is probably a CSI fanatic and she will probably not get selected because of this fascination. (Just like I might not get selected because I'm pretty into law.) 

GilliC

Just the title of this post had me twitching a little.

I was on a "really cool" gay assault trial back in the US. I was chosen out of a jury pool of over 100 people. The trial lasted two weeks. It was on the news. There were reporters outside the courthouse.

It destroyed me, and I never ever want to be on a jury again. The "cool" parts are tediously boring, because everyone is terrified of a mistrial. They had to call every single officer to the stand to verify the chain of command before they broke any of the seals on the evidence bags. It took hours just to enter things into evidence.

You have to look at all the evidence and photos of what they did to this poor man, and you're not allowed to talk about it with anyone. Not the other jurors (outside of deliberation, which didn't start until after days of trial). Not your spouse. No one. You just have to go home at night and think about what you've seen and not be able to talk about it. I hated it.

So yes, I can say that I've been on a high-profile court case. And yes, I learned a lot about the judicial process and that it's nothing like it is in TV and films. But it was terrible. And on top of that, it pays ***. Thankfully I'm on salary, but if you work an hourly-wage job...

myblueangel19

yea well the girl who said it would be cool responded to my comment saying that she still thinks it would be cool. Some people are idiots and I really hope that type of idiot never gets on the jury for a murder trial. ugh.

MouseInLux

I'm so glad that its a person on FB and not you! I can't believe anyone can put cool and murder together!

Publius

I would love to be called for jury duty because I am dying to know what goes on behind those closed doors. That being said, given that murder trials tend to last a bit of time, I don't think they'd be very fun to sit on. olalalala-just FYI, in a lot of jurisdictions being an attorney isn't the automatic boot out of the jury pool it used to be. In NY, for example, it only gets you out if you know the judge, prosecutor, or defense attorney. I have a couple of friends who have been selected for juries even though they are admitted to the bar in the state.

Leo713

Publius:

I would love to be called for jury duty because I am dying to know what goes on behind those closed doors.

This has always been my thought.  I'm fascinated by the legal system so I'd be really interested to participate, but not in a "hey that sounds cool and fun!" kind of way.