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I've served once. Also a gun charge. Just before we were about to deliberate, the guy did a plea bargain, because I think he realized that he had incriminated himself on a technicality during his testimony.
Up until that happened, we had had a couple breaks. I was amazed during those breaks by my fellow jurors. Some of them didn't follow simple instructions, they discussed the case before they were supposed to. I'm not a bossy/confrontational type, so I didn't tell them to stop discussing the case. As I listened to what they had to say, I was a little dismayed by their cluelessness. They latched on to trivial aspects of the case and ignored the "smoking gun," and they assessed the credibility of witnesses bases on their clothing. Granted, it was just the few jurors who were the same ones that didn't know enough to not deliberate until it was time that were also the ones who were so clueless, but I left with some concern about the state of the jurors in Arlington county, VA. It's probably the same or worse elsewhere.
You hear a lot of people complain about those crazy juries out there that will award someone $8 million when they get burned by hot coffee. We need level headed citizens to serve on the juries. Everyone should do their part.
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