Have any of my blind online friends ever been selected to serve on a jury?

[kestrell]

I've been living in the Boston area for over twelve years, and I've been selected for jury duty five or six times, but have never actually been selected to serve on a jury. I have this theory that, as a blind person, I am unlikely to be selected because there's a general attitude on the part of lawyers that blind people are less inclined to be influenced by visual evidence (yes, it's another case of American blind justice!).

Thus, my question: have any of my blind online acquaintances ever served on a jury"? And, if so, did it involved visual evidence, such as photographs?

Comments

Blind Person Who Served On A Jury

[diannaamarich]

Hi there.

I have been called to serve twice and allowed to serve once. My biggest stumbling block was the people who were in charge of signing me up feeling that I didn't have to serve. Convincing them that I really wanted to was the tricky part.

There were no photos. It was her word versus his. I will find my post I wrote in LiveJournal and post a link to it shortly.

Re: Blind Person Who Served On A Jury

[kestrell]

Cool. I did make it once through the first filtering, the stage before the lawyers ask you questions, but the case concerned the rape of a teenage girl, and I asked to be excused because I felt I could not be objective about rape cases.

Re: Blind Person Who Served On A Jury

[diannaamarich]

It's good you were able/willing to state that you didn't feel you should serve for a particular reason. Some cases are just very tough. Mine was a rape case, as well. It was not easy. Thankfully, all they did was read evidence aloud, and asked the witnesses questions. I just had to sit quietly and pay attention.

Re: Blind Person Who Served On A Jury

[kestrell]

The judge I had seemed really reluctant to let me go, as she asked me a bunch more questions after I said I didn't think I could be objective, but finally decided to let me go just at the point that I was about to say that I believe most quote alleged unquote rapists are probably guilty. I realize that it is probably difficult to find anyone who wants to be involved at any level in a rape case, especially involving a minor, but I felt the judge should have accepted my first answer at face value.

Re: Blind Person Who Served On A Jury

[diannaamarich]

There probably could have been trouble if she had just been seen as letting you go without really getting you to express your views. Probably you should have stated that view of yours from the outset, and then she and the attorneys would have had no qualms just releasing you from service. It's her job to get the best jury she can, hers and the attorneys, and so yes, she has to probe to see who really has issues, who just wants to get out of it, etc. No, it's not fair, but she has to do her part to up hold the law. And this is just a layperson's perspective. I may have it wrong, it's just that's how it seems to me.

Next time you go to a case with those kinds of issues, state that view from the beginning. The judge may question it, but stick to it.

Not all cases are rape cases, though. Some jurors are picked for a trial in the morning and are done by the evening, and some, I gather, are pretty darned funny. Some are serious, like rape and murder. Some are civil cases where they want monetary damages. Never sat on one of those. That might be interesting. I'm due to be called up again this year, too, since I did not serve last year. Here it's once every three years if you are picked to serve on a jury, once a year if you are not.