First time jury duty

[blackenedman]

Had my first experience with jury duty yesterday. Marion county, criminal trial.

Didn't know what to expect, but had a feeling that I would likely be dismissed due to some employment history (previous l.e. and public safety comms). I filled out the survey truthfully, and honestly. After several direct questions from both attorneys, I was selected, much to my surprise. One male defendant, only one charge, explained to us as "Prohibited person in possession of a firearm, IC 35-47-4-5".

We were given our preliminary instructions, then we heard testimony from two IMPD officers (not sure if I should name them - they provided what I thought was excellent testimony, and I plan on writing a brief atta-boy to submit to the dept.) and viewed physical and photographic evidence. The defense offered no witness testimony, nor did they enter any evidence.

The deliberation process began with the rest of my peer jurors selecting me as fore-person, which came as a surprise as well. I won't dive too much into deliberations, but will say, it was harder than I expected. I'm not exactly sure how long the deliberation process took, they confiscated all electronic devices, and time was a little bit of a blur in that cramped little room.

In the end, we returned a unanimous decision of Guilty. A few minutes after returning to the jury room, the Judge joined us, thanked us for our service, and explained a little further about the case. IANAL, so I'm not exactly sure of the logisitics, or particulars of the case, but it was explained that this was sort-of a trial-within-a-trial (am I even close on that, INGO atty's?). The defendant apparently had other gun charges pending, and somehow managed to get a separate jury trial for this one charge (35-47-4-5). Am I correct in understanding that a guilty verdict on this charge would allow the State to pursue a more serious charge?

Overall, it was a very positive experience. The Court and its staff, the Prosecuting attorneys, and testifying police officers were nothing but professional in the execution of their duties. My sincere thanks to IMPD, the Court and its staff, the Prosecuting attorneys, and my fellow jurors...

 

[jagee]

I got called once and was last in the group of the selection process. They never even talked to me. I wanted to get selected, it was a murder case and I was very curious about the whole process.

 

[spencer rifle]

Good job and great experience.
I have been on civil and capital murder juries some years ago. Before then I was told by an attorney that I would never make it onto a jury since I had a beard. Everyone would assume I was an anarchist and cut me loose. Didn't quite work out that way.

 

[Expat]

57 years old and never got even contacted for jury duty. Someone must have blackballed me permanently...

 

[blackenedman]

I'm 47, this was my first summons. The woman from the jury pool office told us the pool is selected from BMV and Dept of Revenue records, which seems better than voter registration.

I thought previous employment might cause my dismissal, but it didn't. And neither did my beard...

 

[Expat]

Well I have had a driver's license, registered vehicle since 1976. Been paying income taxes just as long and paying property taxes for 25 years... still nothing.

 

[K_W]

Had my first experience with jury duty yesterday. Marion county, criminal trial.
...

One male defendant, only one charge, explained to us as "Prohibited person in possession of a firearm, IC 35-47-4-5".

What made him prohibited?

 

[blackenedman]

More useless trivia: They obtain over 700,000 names for the pool, for the year.

Yesterday, just short of 300 people received a summons. By my estimation, maybe 50 showed up.

 

[blackenedman]

What made him prohibited?

We were not given that information.

 

[Dead Duck]

So what's his INGO name?

 

[K_W]

We were not given that information.

EDIT: Retracted, law cited.

 

[snapping turtle]

I get called often. I fill out the paper and send it in. Sometimes I get the call at x hour to see if I need to come in. Most of the time i don’t have to show. I did get a call to come in on a trial once. Did not get selected.

Since I came in did the process they said it would be a couple years before my name went back into the pool again. A few years later I started getting them again. Most of these always asked if I worked for an insurance company. So insurance fraud or personal/injury cases.

If if I go in I would like it to be for a true crime case. Maybe someday.

 

[dnurk]

Well I have had a driver's license, registered vehicle since 1976. Been paying income taxes just as long and paying property taxes for 25 years... still nothing.

I believe it heavily depends in the county you live in. When we lived in Marion County I would receive notifications to “call in”to an automated number to see if I had to show up the next day. Seems I got that at least once a year. Never was actually seated on our jury.

Since living in Boone County (9 years) I haven’t received a single jury notification.

 

[blackenedman]

EDIT: Retracted, law cited.

As I mentioned, IANAL. We were all given 13 preliminary, and 15 final instructions. The Judges quick comments to us at the end of a long day indicated this trial is part of other charges the defendant faces. I don't pretend to know how that works, maybe some lawyer-types folks can fill in some blanks.

The focus in the instructions seemed to be on "did knowingly, and intentionally possess". We were given no background information on the defendant. Some questions were asked during the trial. Several were answered, some were not.

ETA: Count I
On or about xx/xx/xx, Defendant, a person prohibited under I.C. 35-47-4-5 from possessing a firearm, did knowingly or intentionally possess a firearm.

Defendant has entered plea of not guilty.

 

[PGRChaplain]

I was on one Jury, DUI Trial. State presented their evidence, Video of the Defendant blowing .28 on the Machine sealed his fate. Must not have his first Rodeo. Judge thanked us then Dismissed us before Sentencing.

 

[blackenedman]

I was on one Jury, DUI Trial. State presented their evidence, Video of the Defendant blowing .28 on the Machine sealed his fate. Must not have his first Rodeo. Judge thanked us then Dismissed us before Sentencing.

Pretty big gamble, jury trial with video of the breath test?

 

[ziggy]

I have been on a couple of juryies. Both criminal trials; both interesting experiences. The last one, for some reason they told us they had to get er done that day. So we were there until about 10:30 pm finishing up deliberations to convict this crack-head of a couple of things. One charge was first degree arson. I think I was influential in convincing the jury that that was a preposterous charge given then facts proven at trial. So, here we are at 10:30 at night thinking soon we will be on our way home. Nope! They announce that they have an additional charge to file and for us to dispose of. Crack-head now is charged with being an habitual offender. They enter into the record proof of his prior convictions and we had to go back and deliberate his guilt on that charge also. By the time it was all over it was nearly midnight. They were very polite and provided sheriffs deputies to walk the female jurors to their cars (downtown Fort Wayne). Of course my wife was wondering what in the world was going on... No cell phone communications during the proceedings etc.
Being on a jury is a great learning experience if it does not interfere too much with the rest of your life.

 

[1911ly]

I have been called on 3 times. Last time I was post op on a major surgery so I explained it and I was dismissed. I have never been selected to be on a jury. One case I knew a doctor of one of the party's on trial. The other was settled just before the selection process started.

OP, thanks for doing your civic duties! Glad it was a good experience.

 

[d.kaufman]

I have to go on the 5th of February for jury selection. If picked it will be my 5th time in the last 12 years. I am not happy about it at all. Means i will have to eat up my vacation time or take a huge pay cut due to the fact they pay a sh*tty $40 per day.

 

[Hoosier45]

I served as the alternate juror three years ago. Which meant I participated as a jury member until it came time to deliberate. 7 hours locked away in a room and not allowed to speak, nod, smile, or frown. And I had some strong opinions on what was presented and did not agree with our final verdict. Was not a fun time.