I served on the jury that convicted this man.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20110826_11_0_Amnwss80593
Welcome to the "I served on a murder trial jury" club. I am glad to serve as required, but it's not necessarily pleasant.
Quote from: sgrizzle on August 27, 2011, 07:49:51 PM
Welcome to the "I served on a murder trial jury" club. I am glad to serve as required, but it's not necessarily pleasant.
It is not a pleasant experience.
This has opened my eyes to how the justice system does and does not work.
I served on a jury trial in 1995, it was a child molestation case. I have to say, that experience is still with me today. The whole process is interesting, and a learning experience that you never forget. Our deliberation was about eight hours, and we returned guilty verdicts on all of the counts, and there were three counts to go over, and we also had to recommend the lenght of prison time for each count. The judge (who was related to Jilda Unruh, google her) said that in these type cases he sentences, those convicted to consecutive sentences, so they serve one, then the next, etc. The interesting thing was I ran into one of the people that I was on the jury with about a year and a half later and we discussed our experience, and concluded that we made the right decision, but things stuck with us about the whole process.
Quote from: dbacks fan on August 27, 2011, 09:01:03 PM
I served on a jury trial in 1995, it was a child molestation case. I have to say, that experience is still with me today. The whole process is interesting, and a learning experience that you never forget. Our deliberation was about eight hours, and we returned guilty verdicts on all of the counts, and there were three counts to go over, and we also had to recommend the lenght of prison time for each count. The judge (who was related to Jilda Unruh, google her) said that in these type cases he sentences, those convicted to consecutive sentences, so they serve one, then the next, etc. The interesting thing was I ran into one of the people that I was on the jury with about a year and a half later and we discussed our experience, and concluded that we made the right decision, but things stuck with us about the whole process.
The judge gave his card and told us to call him if we needed to talk to someone about our verdict. He did say though, his offer is usually only taken if a child is involved in the case.
Both my wife and I have served on jury trials. Hers was civil, mine involved removing children, permanently, from their parents. They are a real experience in humanity. The responsibilities you shoulder last a long time. The frailties of the judicial system you witness are sobering.
Quote from: GG on August 27, 2011, 08:12:48 PM
It is not a pleasant experience.
This has opened my eyes to how the justice system does and does not work.
Hopefully you were happy with the sentence you gave. I was for a matter of minutes. Immediately following the sentencing we were told the information they weren't allowed to tell us, and my heart sank.
Judicial system sucks sometimes, but it does what it's supposed to.
Yup... The person getting convicted of 30 murders doesn't have any bearing on this murder case so can't be mentioned...
Been called up 4 times so far. I've not served on a jury yet though.
Closest I got was a child molestation case and was in the voire dire. Glad I wasn't picked for that one.
Quote from: sgrizzle on August 28, 2011, 01:10:44 PM
Hopefully you were happy with the sentence you gave. I was for a matter of minutes. Immediately following the sentencing we were told the information they weren't allowed to tell us, and my heart sank.
Judicial system sucks sometimes, but it does what it's supposed to.
I had a similar experience, though I learned additional details about the case by looking up back issues of the Tulsa World the day after the trial was over and wish the prosecutors would or could have brought up some of that information. Bret Swab and Chad Greer tried the case for the DA's office. That was the reason I was very vocal in opposing Swab's D.A. campaign five years ago. Truly a terrible prosecutor.
It's also given me a better appreciation for what juries can and cannot consider, so I tend to not be so harsh on jury verdicts I don't agree with anymore.
I was a prospective juror for one of the John Gotti trials in NYC. Gotti had one of his henchmen parade around in front of the jury to intimidate us. We were assured that the U.S. Marshals would protect us. I thought, "Yeh, sure." I was glad when I was dismissed.
The worst case that I juried was a rape case in Oakland. We had city dwellers and suburban white bread on the jury and the white bread just didn't get it, kept blaming the victim.
You get to know those other jurors really well.