Jury Duty Across the Years - 20 June 2024

I have had several calls for jury duty in multiple states across multiple decades.  My early jury duty was in Chicago in the 1980s, then there was a long blank period in Massachusetts, and then three calls to jury duty in Washington.  Each of them contributed to my understanding of the legal process in the United States.  Although not entirely pleasant, I strongly recommend that everyone serve on a jury duty at some time in their life, earlier if possible.

The first jury duty call was in metro Chicago.  Chicago had a one-day-one trial jury process.  We reported for jury duty for one day, and if not empaneled onto a jury, we were done.  If we were empaneled, we served for one case.  

For this case, we waited in a pool for the morning and were released for lunch.  When we came back from lunch at 1pm, we were told that the defendant had accepted a plea deal and we were dismissed.  Evidently this is common.

The second jury duty call in Chicago was for a drug case.  I was put on a jury for a drug case.  A defendant had been found in a basement apartment, fleeing from police officers.  An officer came into the room to see the defendant sitting on the bed in skimpy clothing (I no longer recall the details, but "underwear and a man's shirt" would not be too far off).  Searching the room, the officer found a syringe in the wastebasket.  The officer arrested the woman on drug possession charges.   A lab report (submitted in evidence) later confirmed the presence of an illicit drug on the syringe.  The officer told the jury that the defendant must have been holding the syringe when the cops burst in, she dashed to her bedroom and tossed the syringe into the wastebasket.

Complication #1: The officer did not see the syringe or any drugs in the hands of the defendant, and she testified that the drugs belonged to her boyfriend (not present at the time of the arrest).  

Complication #2: her fingerprints were not on the syringe.

If convicted, this would be the third drug conviction for the defendant and she would be sent to prison for a long, long time (10 years or longer).

The officer told the jury that a group of officers were responding to a report of domestic violence when they came across the defendant.  When she ran, they chased her into the basement apartment.

Complication #3:  The defendant did not live at the address associated with the domestic violence.  The police were at the wrong address. 

Given a choice of conviction or release, the jury did not find enough evidence of a crime by the defendant.  

The next jury duty call was in Massachusetts.  The MA rules were for two-days-one-trial and my first day in the pool was uneventful.  I was selected on the second day for a workman's compensation case.  A man working as a plasterer was standing on a moveable scaffold when it collapsed, injuring the man.  He had been studying to become a mycologist, and the injury meant that he was incapable of performing the physical duties of raising mushrooms (hefting heavy bags of compost, etc.).  The man was suing the scaffold company for lost wages and lost opportunities.  Each side brought in witnesses and experts to present their story.  The dueling experts were professors, one explaining that the caster would fail in a way to cause the injury, and the other explaining that the caster failing could not happen without damage to the caster (therefore the scaffolding company would not be liable and someone else would be).  Everyone agreed that the accident happened and that a failed caster contributed; the question was the cause and timing of the failure of the caster and the answer would point to a different party.  Some miscellaneous facts that I recall:  the scaffold was discarded after it failed and the claimant had to return to the worksite to pull it from the on-site garbage pile; there was no chain of custody of the scaffold;  and the casters were to be inspected each day before use by the workmen before they used the scaffold.  

It was a hung jury split down the middle, six and six.  We were told after the trial that the injured workman had already been covered for medical expenses under Workman's Compensation (fund, laws).  We were not told this and only presented with a question of liability and the damages (if any) were to be based on liability and lost income.  This was also the second trial; the first trial had also resulted in a hung jury.  I do not know if the workman went for a third trial.  

I was called for jury duty since then, but my wife received the call and explained that I had just served for a week of jury duty withn the year, and the clerk marked by records so that I would be exempted for two years.  That was twenty years ago and I have not been called since.

As citizens, we have few formal duties.  Follow the laws, vote, and serve on juries.  Service on a jury gives deep and personal insight into how the laws are applied and how citizens are deprived of their liberty.  We should each welcome jury duty.