Thread: Jury Duty, The Bedrock of our Democracy

A comment in the "Should we have let the bears eat her" thread reminded me that I had served on two juries, one in Illinois and the other in Washington. It was a minor hardship, about a week in each case, but I came away with renewed faith in democracy and the ability of ordinary people to do justice. Plus, they were both very interesting cases. I'll bet there are other people on this forum who have served on a jury and have some stories to tell. I'll start with one.

It seemed to never stop snowing in Chicago during the winter of 1979-80 and a young electrician with a very Italian-sounding name, Frank A., Jr., bought an SUV. The next year, there was no snow, the price of gas was high and Frank was traveling 60 miles each way to work. He wanted to sell the SUV but no one was interested. Then the SUV was stolen and Frank reported the theft to his insurance company. The company was about to pay, when another young man goes to the local police station and says, "My friend told me that he paid someone $300 to steal his SUV. This isn't the first time that he cheated his insurance company and I can't take it anymore." So, the insurance company refused to pay, as was its right when there is evidence of fraud. Frank sued the insurance company to force it to pay for his stolen SUV and the insurance company sued Frank to recover money from a previous claim that it had paid.

To be continued...

The bedrock of our democracy? As I recall you left this "corrupt" country to live in Italy.

Originally Posted by JMS

The bedrock of our democracy? As I recall you left this "corrupt" country to live in Italy.

I never said the country was corrupt, I said the Italian government was almost as corrupt as the US government. Also, you can live in another country without giving up US citizenship.

From your snide, off-topic comment, I assume that you've never served on a jury, right? Were you ever called to serve on a jury? Did you try to get out of it?

Originally Posted by JMS

The bedrock of our democracy? As I recall you left this "corrupt" country to live in Italy.

Hush, you. I want to find out why anyone would pay $300 to have their newish SUV stolen when all they had to do was leave the keys in the ignition!

Originally Posted by Chimensch

From your snide, off-topic comment, I assume that you've never served on a jury, right?

Snide? I thought it was rather direct.

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Hush, you. I want to find out why anyone would pay $300 to have their newish SUV stolen when all they had to do was leave the keys in the ignition!

Ok, ok. I'll let it be so you can here the story!

No further comment here.

Originally Posted by JMS

Snide? I thought it was rather direct.

Snide doesn't mean "indirect", it means contemptuous:

Snide

Adjective

1. Expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one".

Originally Posted by Chimensch

Snide doesn't mean "indirect", it means contemptuous:

Snide

Adjective

1. Expressive of contempt; "curled his lip in a supercilious smile"; "spoke in a sneering jeering manner"; "makes many a sharp comparison but never a mean or snide one".

My dictionary says different: "derogatory or mocking in an indirect way"
But even your meaning isn't how I meant it. it seems telling that you took it that way though.
I am only giving you the opportunity to explain yourself, but I'll let it go.

Originally Posted by Rajagra

Hush, you. I want to find out why anyone would pay $300 to have their newish SUV stolen when all they had to do was leave the keys in the ignition!

Well, the only answer we could come up with is that Frank is stupid.

The first witness was the policeman who took the theft report.

Q: Do you remember this case?
A: Yes, it was very strange. We arrived at the defendent's apartment to take the theft report and when I asked him for the VIN number, he didn't consult any document, he knew it by heart...

The next witness was the policeman who took the earlier theft report from several years ago when Frank reported that parts were stolen from his car.

Q: Do you remember this case?
A: Yes, it was very strange. The defendent reported that parts were stolen from his car while it was parked in his driveway at night. Thieves don't usually take the trouble to steal parts, they take the whole car. In addition, why would a thief risk making noise in a residential area at night by removing parts?

To be continued...

I had to report to jury duty last Monday, and while I wasn't picked for the jury, the whole voir dire process was interesting. I was part of a panel of which those selected would hear a first degree murder trial. I wouldn't say that it gave me a renewed faith in democracy though, as what I saw were a bunch of people who were either trying to get out of jury duty or were truly too dumb to understand the basic questions the lawyers and judge were asking.