Replying to Avatar Julien

I’ve served on a jury once before. The trial was for count of murder and assault with a deadly weapon (aka gun). This is in the US 🇺🇸 btw.

I found the experience mentally draining. Closely paying attention to lawyer’s arguments and witness testimony is very tiring. Then once both sides are done presenting their cases, the jury deliberates in private for as long as it takes the reach a unanimous verdict for each charge.

In my case, the jury was in deliberation for about three days which for the scope of the charges is actually relatively quick. We had to decide whether or not to convict someone of first or second degree murder and people took that decision very seriously. Deliberation was emotionally draining.
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pam 2y ago

i can imagine it being draining, as the onus is on you not to miss anything out. and im guessing prosecutor will go an extra mile to paint a devastating pic and defense will do just the opp ? what happens if its not unanimous ? i've only watched US jury related stuff from movies so its probably very dramatic and intense in my mind

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Julien 2y ago

If the jury can’t make a decision after a certain number of days (I don’t know how many exactly, I think it’s the judge’s call), then the judge declares a mistrial. A mistrial means they start over. The whole trial is done again with a new jury.

In my experience this plays out with you feeling the pressure of avoiding being the annoying person who is holding up this whole thing and wasting everyone’s time. So that aspects does motivate a jury to come to a unanimous decision. Jurors privately vote a couple times a day on what they think. In my case, the vote was almost unanimous for 2nd degree murder by the end of the first day, so it didn’t take too long to get it to 100%

The trial was way less dramatic then TV / movies. The lawyers make very detailed explanations and repeat arguments in different words to emphasize their points. All of this makes the moment to moment action pretty dull.