Jury duty started today. It was ...interesting.

In reply to Jerry :

I’d love to hear the details when it’s over. I learned a lot from my experiences, and I’m glad that I had the opportunities. I definitely look at people a little differently. 

TL;DR version - Guilty of two counts of felonious assault with a deadly weapon on NYE 2019 at a gas station........

Back on Dec 31, around 7pm, a young lady was pumping gas at a Kroger up here. Another lady pulled in behind her, blasting her horn and screaming at the girl to move. She came up to the car yelling and threatening 2-3 different times.

The defendant yelled to the Kroger attendant "you need to get her", but tried to tell us that she was complaining about the young girl doing drugs (she wasn't, Kroger employee testified she could see victim holding her cellphone).

Wow, that’s crazy. That does sound pretty open and shut, especially with the video evidence. I shared this with my wife as a reminder to be careful around crazy people, don’t take the bait. I hope she serves the full sentence that she earned. The victim won’t get off that easy, it sounds like she will be feeling the effects for life. Sad that she did that with her kids in the car, kids that will have no mother for the next few years. Was the jury in agreement from the get go, or did anyone need convincing? 

My luck with jury duty is pretty bad. Starting with the first one when I was 21ish, I've been impaneled every time I've been invited. Twice in Massachusetts and twice here in Maryland. The first one down here I was even made the foreman.

My most recent adventure was this spring when I got picked for grand jury duty. I dreaded it going in but, given a choice, I'll do that again before regular jury anytime. It was one day a month, and rarely a full day. Instead of meeting in a courtroom, we were in a multipurpose room elsewhere in the courthouse. There was no dress code, no rules about food and drink, and a pretty tolerant get-up-and-go-if-you-have-to-use-the-john policy. For better or for worse.

It was supposed to be a six month term but Covid fixed that. We met in March but in an actual courtroom where we could space out a lot more than the other room. Then April and May's dates got canceled. For the last one in June they changed the date by a week and put that right on top of a day where I was going to be out of town, so I was excused from that one. So it worked out OK for me.

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

As soon as we started deliberations, I mentioned the state did a great job of covering every point needed to convict on each count (we were given a sheet that showed each element needed).  Everyone was in agreement, no one felt anything other than guilty after watching the video and hearing the testimony of all parties.  The judge at the end mentioned that she was surprised we were so quick, said she had walked over to the defense and commented that, he answered "I'm not".  He knew he didn't have much to work with.

I feel bad for the victim there.

I've been called 4 or 5 times in the last 25 years.  People love to bitch about it but to me it's no big deal, and something I feel I should do when asked.

Most times I've been sent home after reading my book for a few hours in the ready room.

I was paneled once.  We went to the courtroom, took our places in the box, and waited about 5 minutes.  The door to chambers opened, sat there open for about 5 minutes, and then closed again.  5 minutes after that we were dismissed.  Apparently the defendant saw us sitting there, got nervous, and decided to take the prosecutors plea deal after all.

My wife has serious road rage tendencies and I have been telling her.  Rule 0, which comes even before the first rule, DO NOT ENGAGE. 

So many people have their CCW and carry that it's just not worth mixing it up with a total stranger.  It's a great way to end up dead.

docwyte said:

So many people have their CCW and carry that it's just not worth mixing it up with a total stranger.  It's a great way to end up dead.

True, pulling a knife on someone in a rage incident is a good way to get a first hand view of  a reenactment of that scene from Indiana Jones.when the guy brought a knife to a gunfight.   Its also a good way for a handgun carrier to get sliced to death if he doesn't realize that knives are quicker than firearms at contact distance.

Pro tip: If you are carrying a gun and a person pulls a knife on you  in close quarters run away fast while drawing.  He can stab or cut you a bunch of times before you can draw your handgun if you just stand there.  The 21 foot rule is the absolute minimum for highly practiced people.

jharry3 said:

docwyte said:

So many people have their CCW and carry that it's just not worth mixing it up with a total stranger.  It's a great way to end up dead.

True, pulling a knife on someone in a rage incident is a good way to get a first hand view of  a reenactment of that scene from Indiana Jones.when the guy brought a knife to a gunfight.   Its also a good way for a handgun carrier to get sliced to death if he doesn't realize that knives are quicker than firearms at contact distance.

Pro tip: If you are carrying a gun and a person pulls a knife on you  in close quarters run away fast while drawing.  He can stab or cut you a bunch of times before you can draw your handgun if you just stand there.  The 21 foot rule is the absolute minimum for highly practiced people.

Also, in general, it is the duty of a CCW carrier to not escalate a situation to the point where a weapon is needed.  In the case from this thread, the victim could have been in hot water for escalation if they were a CCW carrier.

Duke said:

I was paneled once.  We went to the courtroom, took our places in the box, and waited about 5 minutes.  The door to chambers opened, sat there open for about 5 minutes, and then closed again.  5 minutes after that we were dismissed.  Apparently the defendant saw us sitting there, got nervous, and decided to take the prosecutors plea deal after all.

There was one time I was called, spent all day in a waiting room, and then the judge came out and announced that we could go home. But he first took the time to thank everyone and explain what had happened - one case had exactly the same thing happen, where the defendant decided at the last minute that he probably didn't have a chance and cut a plea deal. And another defendant in a child molestation case had started to ponder how a bunch of average people from his hometown might react to seeing the pictures he'd taken, and asked for a bench trial where the judge would hear his case.

The judge summed up that by showing up and being willing to do our duty, the jury pool had made a difference even if we didn't sit on the trials.

I've had a number of summons over the years. County a few times. Federal once. I much prefer county since Doylestown is a lot nicer than downtown Philly.  Fortunately, my company pays and doesn't really want to deal with processing a $27 check, so I get to keep that as well. The county splits the pay. Something like $15 for the day, plus mileage from home. 

Serving on a jury has only happened once and it was definitely an interesting experience.  Store robbery - shop clerk had her hand bag stolen.  The accused had a pretty good attorney who effectively blew apart what little case the prosecution had (no physical evidence - only her word that it was him and even her testimony was conflicting). The court part was done by around 3:30 or so and the judge asked us if we wanted to go into deliberation now or wait until the next day. Naturally, we all said "now."  In our first vote, all but one of us voted not-guilty, but he was swayed after a few minutes of discussion.  In all, the entire process was done in less than 8 hours. 

Bucks County has a pretty easy system to work with.  You'll likely get a summons every two years or so and they will assign you a date to show up. Only for one day.  Selected for a jury or not, you're good for another two years.  If you call them well in advance, you can even reschedule what day you need to show up, which is nice.  I had to do that once when my summons was during a week I was on vacation and out of town. 

jharry3 said:

True, pulling a knife on someone in a rage incident is a good way to get a first hand view of  a reenactment of that scene from Indiana Jones.when the guy brought a knife to a gunfight.   Its also a good way for a handgun carrier to get sliced to death if he doesn't realize that knives are quicker than firearms at contact distance.

Pro tip: If you are carrying a gun and a person pulls a knife on you  in close quarters run away fast while drawing.  He can stab or cut you a bunch of times before you can draw your handgun if you just stand there.  The 21 foot rule is the absolute minimum for highly practiced people.

The video showed she stabbed/sliced the victim 8 times, seriously deep, in 20 seconds.  Holding the jacket in one hand, slicing with the other.

eastsideTim said:

Also, in general, it is the duty of a CCW carrier to not escalate a situation to the point where a weapon is needed.  In the case from this thread, the victim could have been in hot water for escalation if they were a CCW carrier.

In 99.9% of altercations people are better served by a good OC (pepper) spray than a firearm, as the justification for use is FAR lower.

In reply to Driven5 :

I've been making the same argument to people for a long time.  

Best point, even if it IS justified, your life is in for FAR less upheaval from using pepper rather than a bullet. Add to that risk of secondary injury, home invasion and it turning out to be your kid or something...  

Possibilities of a civil suit that drags on for ages debating if it was justified...

I have a shotgun, but I keep mace by my bedside rather than it. 

I have a pump action shotgun loaded with target load.  If cycling a load doesn't make the bad guy in my house leave, a target load into their chest will.

Between this thread, and the self defense thread, I'm starting to figure out why so many of you American types wind up dead, violently.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

You kick a few British shiny happy people out and then the whole country has attitude for hundreds of years.

God bless security cameras.

914Driver said:

God bless security cameras.

^-THIS.  Without it we might still be deliberating, especially if she claimed self defense.

We get out of jury duty pretty easily...just send them back a note asking if I should bring my green card or not.

they love me.  It seems every six months I got a summons.  I only ever served once, it a child rape case and I said never again.  After you serve you are good for a year, six months later here came another summons..

Nobody else in my family has ever served, nor any of my friends, but the courts love me

Got called for jury duty once and was one of the first to be released during jury selection. Seems a guy answered the door to his mobile home carrying a shotgun and somehow the person at the door ended up getting shot and killed. I think the guy was going for accidental shooting because the 2 of us former military that ran military ranges, own guns and believe there is no such thing as accidental shooting were the first to be released. It may not have been intentional but no accident. Careless handling is not accidental shooting.

The last time I got a summons was in 2004. I was in Fallujah, Iraq at the time. Sent them a copy of my orders and current location. Haven't got a summons since.