Pretty easy to get out of, right? I’m sure no prosecutor would keep you if you stated plainly that you detest cops and would never trust a word that comes out of their snouts. I’ve also heard of people claiming to have biases against all races but their own just to get out of jury duty, although at least once, I’ve heard of a judge asking jurists who made such claims for proof of past statements along those lines or be slapped with contempt of court charges. Not sure proclaiming to be a racist is the direction I would go in, but to each their own, I suppose.
Of course, always go for jury nullification (or be the lone dissenting vote if your state requires a unanimous jury) if you can, but this is for when you aren’t able to put in the time for whatever reason
Jesus. No, man. That is not the right way to think. The consequences of finding an innocent person guilty are not just bad for that person, they are bad for the entire justice system, and the society that it serves.
I get that you are partly saying that to get off jury duty, but I just don’t want to let that slide. The courts are a vital barrier against corrupt cops, sure, but even upstanding honest cops could easily see someone as guilty because of their own unconscious biases or just the bad luck of circumstance making someone look guilty. It happens all the time.
My friend’s dad, now a retired judge, was the second lawyer who defended Lindy Chamberlain, and actually got her released from the bullshit charge of murder.
She was the famous case in Australia where her baby got eaten by a dingo. The cops thought she’d killed her baby, because she was “cold and unemotional” while being questioned. So they just did not look at the evidence properly, her first defence team sucked, and she got found guilty, even though there was tons of evidence that a dingo had indeed just come and grabbed her baby from her tent and dragged it off.
If the cops look at you and get a feeling you are guilty, they will act on that feeling. You need a court, with a process, to try and detach all that human gut instinct away from the actual facts, to find the truth of the matter.
It’s not like cops would ever lie to close the case or prosecutors would frame someone to get a conviction. Never in my life have I heard about something like that happening.
I’m not going to try and defend my take; i acknowledge it’s a shitty one, and I’ll own it. My original comment was poorly worded, though, when it comes to my stance. "I’m not trying to argue that this is a good or fair way to think. I’m just trying to clarify what I meant in my original comment.
My baseline is that they’re likely guilty, not that I blindly believe they’re guilty simply for being in a court room. I’m suspicious by nature, and the fact that you’re being tried (and that they have enough evidence to bring you to court) doesn’t lend itself to me believing your innocence. This clearly conflicts with the innocent until proven guilty concept, which makes me a poor juror to select.
I also take a lot of stock in evidence - which by its nature points to someone having done a given action. Not necessarily the person on trial, however. My point is that it’s easier to prove a positive than it is to prove a negative (i.e., innocence).
So it’s more of: I think you probably did this, and I believe what I can see and measure (and those things frequently point to guilty) than you’re guilty before you even take the stand.
If they have good evidence, like CCTV photo or something putting the accused far away from the crime, obviously my stance would change. What I was trying to [poorly] get at in my first comment is my suspicious nature. That pre-disposition makes a bad juror to select. That nature may not be fair, and it’s a character flaw, certainly.
Pretty easy to get out of, right? I’m sure no prosecutor would keep you if you stated plainly that you detest cops and would never trust a word that comes out of their snouts. I’ve also heard of people claiming to have biases against all races but their own just to get out of jury duty, although at least once, I’ve heard of a judge asking jurists who made such claims for proof of past statements along those lines or be slapped with contempt of court charges. Not sure proclaiming to be a racist is the direction I would go in, but to each their own, I suppose.
Nah, you keep all that secret, manage to get on the jury anyway, then vote not guilty no matter what.
Unless it’s a civil case. Then you just automatically rule in favor of whichever party has less money.
Of course, always go for jury nullification (or be the lone dissenting vote if your state requires a unanimous jury) if you can, but this is for when you aren’t able to put in the time for whatever reason
I’m of the mind that if you’re being criminally tried, your likely guilty. Not always, obviously, but that’s enough to say to get me off any jury.
Jesus. No, man. That is not the right way to think. The consequences of finding an innocent person guilty are not just bad for that person, they are bad for the entire justice system, and the society that it serves.
I get that you are partly saying that to get off jury duty, but I just don’t want to let that slide. The courts are a vital barrier against corrupt cops, sure, but even upstanding honest cops could easily see someone as guilty because of their own unconscious biases or just the bad luck of circumstance making someone look guilty. It happens all the time.
My friend’s dad, now a retired judge, was the second lawyer who defended Lindy Chamberlain, and actually got her released from the bullshit charge of murder.
She was the famous case in Australia where her baby got eaten by a dingo. The cops thought she’d killed her baby, because she was “cold and unemotional” while being questioned. So they just did not look at the evidence properly, her first defence team sucked, and she got found guilty, even though there was tons of evidence that a dingo had indeed just come and grabbed her baby from her tent and dragged it off.
If the cops look at you and get a feeling you are guilty, they will act on that feeling. You need a court, with a process, to try and detach all that human gut instinct away from the actual facts, to find the truth of the matter.
Its true, the cops never do anything wrong, always just assume they did everything by the book.
It’s not like cops would ever lie to close the case or prosecutors would frame someone to get a conviction. Never in my life have I heard about something like that happening.
I’m not going to try and defend my take; i acknowledge it’s a shitty one, and I’ll own it. My original comment was poorly worded, though, when it comes to my stance. "I’m not trying to argue that this is a good or fair way to think. I’m just trying to clarify what I meant in my original comment.
My baseline is that they’re likely guilty, not that I blindly believe they’re guilty simply for being in a court room. I’m suspicious by nature, and the fact that you’re being tried (and that they have enough evidence to bring you to court) doesn’t lend itself to me believing your innocence. This clearly conflicts with the innocent until proven guilty concept, which makes me a poor juror to select.
I also take a lot of stock in evidence - which by its nature points to someone having done a given action. Not necessarily the person on trial, however. My point is that it’s easier to prove a positive than it is to prove a negative (i.e., innocence).
So it’s more of: I think you probably did this, and I believe what I can see and measure (and those things frequently point to guilty) than you’re guilty before you even take the stand.
If they have good evidence, like CCTV photo or something putting the accused far away from the crime, obviously my stance would change. What I was trying to [poorly] get at in my first comment is my suspicious nature. That pre-disposition makes a bad juror to select. That nature may not be fair, and it’s a character flaw, certainly.