Lorne
September 13, 2010 / 23:11

Thanks for the insight, Mike. Does this mean you'll be offline for a couple weeks? What's the timeline from "selected to be a juror" until "cut off from the outside world"?

Jill
September 13, 2010 / 23:50

You are one lucky dude. This is an experience and process that I have always to be a part of. I will be waiting with baited breath for every freakin detail. I want you to even include an uploaded mug photo of how you think you looked while staring the accused in the eye. ( I need to start practicing the same look should I ever get summoned.) - am also interested in the dynamics of your fellow jurors and of course the case itself.

Mike from Lowville
September 14, 2010 / 10:51

Jill, your better off watching reruns of Perry Mason or Barnaby Jones to wet your appetite. Been there done that. For me the guy on trial was charged with drinking out on Lake Ontario. Most court cases are just as exciting as mine was. Boring, loss of pay and time. If I'm never asked again, it will be too soon!

Cheryl
September 14, 2010 / 16:50

I never got summoned yet, and I hope I never do. I think I would be able to get out of it though as I'm blind.

dale
September 14, 2010 / 19:39

Been summoned 3 times in 15 yrs for Jury duty - once in Toronto & twice in Peel.
Picked for a juror on my LAST day in TO. after 4 days - robbery & told case last 2-3 days. Tues. trial started & finished Thurs. Jurors were told a verdict had to be in by early Fri. aft. or be sequestered until Mon. Initial vote was 9-3 & jurors tried to convince the 3 others. We were sent to a hotel on Thurs. - food & lodging was paid for & had to be at court Fri. at 7:00AM to decide by 2:00PM Friday or weekend in lockup in hotel with NO TV, NO RADIO or newspapers & stay in the hotel with no outside communication at all.

We had to decide & fortunately Fri. a verdict was reached just in time. The right choice was made.

A humiliating & emotional experience as we jurors thought we were being those being tried in court.

Other 2 times never called as a juror but yet spent 3-4 days waiting. I was challenged 1 time in Peel - thank you.

MY Lottery numbers will come up again - but TOO bad its wrong lottery.

James
September 15, 2010 / 04:38

@Cheryl: Fortunately or not, depending on your perspective being blind doesn't always guarantee you're not gonna end up being picked. I know a couple folks who were.

Cheryl
September 15, 2010 / 17:38

I thought that blind people couldn't be on a jury. They couldn't see the accused. Well, I sure hope I never get picked, that's for sure.

Mike from Lowville
September 15, 2010 / 18:08

@Cheryl, why would you need to see the accused? The Crown has to prove guilt! Looks has nothing to do with it.

dale
September 15, 2010 / 18:47

Doesn't a juror have to SEE evidence?? During my trial as juror there was physical evidence crucial to the trial.

Cheryl you'll never get picked.

Scott
September 16, 2010 / 13:38

I was a juror on a high profile 1st degree murder trial last year - Ran from late September until the verdict in early December 2009. Quite the experience let me tell you. What's most frustrating is just the woeful lack of efficiency. While they talk a good talk about respecting your time, that story gets old pretty quickly. It's not uncommon to show up at 9:45 am as instructed for court at 10 only to not set foot in the court room until after 11 am. Long lunches and short days are great if you're at work but when you want to get through the trial and get back to your normal life, it gets pretty frustrating. Late lawyers, sick jurors and witness miscomunications add to the delays and frustration. The nitty gritty deliberation process makes the experience though. We were out for 3 long, hard days. Frustration of a different kind sure but it was certainly memorable. The people dynamic is something you can't truly be prepared for. 12 people with different thoughts, backgrounds, experiences, education, baggage, communication styles makes for interesting debate.

Cheryl
September 16, 2010 / 18:11

Well, let's hope I never get picked. I don't really know if blind people can serve or not, but hopefully they can't. No communication with the outside world? What do you do in the hotel all day then, twiddle your thumbs? I would go crazy.

dale
September 16, 2010 / 20:01

I was sequestered for 1 night in 1995. 1 floor of the hotel for jurors only & have to share a room. Meal - dinner & breakfast was a choice of a few things & was paid for. Our rooms had TV's with many channels blocked.
Many of us didn't know we would be sequestered so many had no change of clothes, etc.

Granted the court had a person to look after us during this time & he was awesome making sure everything was OK & we all socialized with him that night
(which he wanted). We all had a great time.

Cheryl
September 16, 2010 / 20:20

Well, glad you ended up having fun. The thing is, if you can't have contact with the outside world, won't your family, friends, or loved ones worry about you? That wouldn't be good if you couldn't even make one phone call.

dale
September 16, 2010 / 20:37

@Cheryl We were allowed phone calls but in the presence of the court marshal. I had 2 young kids at home at that time & was given every opportunity to call with him present. He didn't listen but was knowing it was family discussion only.

James
September 16, 2010 / 23:53

@Cheryl: It's not like you're trapped in solitary confinement or anything. You can still socialize--just not with someone who isn't supposed to know about the trial's inner workings. Like, say, anyone not staying with you. But you could probably bring something to read if you think you're not going back home that night. And as was already said, you're still allowed to make phone calls. Just not to the media--and you aren't exactly guaranteed complete privacy.

Scott
September 17, 2010 / 08:55

My recent experience with being sequestered:
-Everybody gets their own room. Although the people aren't exactly strangers after interacting for the better part of 2.5 months, they can't expect you to bunk with somebody else.
-No telephone calls. Cell phones are confiscated before deliberations and phones are removed from the hotel rooms. You can ask your court chaperon to call home and relay a message and your family can call the court at a specific number and do the same on their end.
-We had 4 chaperones at the hotel/dinner for 12 jurors.
-You are given advance notice that you are going to be sequestered so it's not a surprise. You are instructed to bring an overnight bag and let your family know. What is unknown is how long you might be sequestered. You should have an idea however based on the case at hand, the evidence you've seen, number of charges, the makeup of your fellow jurors, etc.
-Court takes care of your meal expenses. Typically, you eat dinner in the hotel restaurant and they bring in fast food for lunches (pizza, swiss chalet, etc.)

Cheryl
September 17, 2010 / 17:48

Well, that last comment sounded the worst. They take the phones out of the rooms. It wouldn't be good not having privacy. This doesn't sound like a good thing. Could someone actually be sequestered for several months? That would be hard. I still hope I don't get picked ever.

dale
September 17, 2010 / 19:35

@Scott - I guess things have changed since 1995 when I was sequestered for 1 night. Your court time was MUCH longer than mine & probably knew sequestering would be much longer & that's why own rooms. We didn't have phones in our rooms but were able to ask chaperons to go to pay phone on the floor with us & call home. We were allowed a short time only.

I can sympathize with you Scott & your input really puts the reality into being a juror on a Major case.