Thread: Anyone Ever Serve on a Jury?

I get called up it seems every other year, and last week the inevitable happened... I was selected to serve on the jury for a Federal District Court Case in Denver. The case went for 7 days (all last week and Monday and Tuesday) and it was a very interesting experience. Not one I want to have again anytime soon, but interesting nonetheless. Anyone else ever been on a jury? If so what was your experience?

I was actually quite surprised how far off I was of everyone else. The case involved the foster mother of a special needs child who was suing Pueblo School District 60 over the treatment of her daughter while attending special education classes there. The main crux of the case was the use of a special "wraparound" desk to help Ebonie (the daughter) focus in class for roughly 20-30 minutes a day to do desk work like writing, coloring, etc.

The desk was argued by the Plaintiff (the mother) after it had been used for 2 years that it was an unlawful restraint device. The desk was shown to us in photos and is best described as a large rectangular desk with an area cut out for the student to sit in so that the surface area covers the front and right/left sides of them. The chair is pushed into the opening and if needed a bar was placed behind the chair so they couldn't back out. It basically looked like a high chair/desk combo to me. Anyway she was suing for damages which immediately made me question her motives and she claimed the emotional distress caused by the desk caused her daughter such harm that she now needed even more care than she would've before.

Long story short I felt the Plaintiff did not prove emotional distress on any level that was provided in the evidence and I sided with the school district during deliberations. I was in the minority there and had to argue my points for 2 days which was fun and nerve wrecking at the same time. In the end since it was not a "beyond a reasonable" doubt judgment we had to make I conceded to the other side and their was a settlement reached. To let you know how bad it got during the deliberation one guy called me "..one of those Republicans who hates taxes and thinks people need to pay everything themselves".

Too Long Didn't Read Version:

I served in a Jury and it was interesting. Have you ever? And if so what did you think of it. I liked it but am in NO HURRY to do it again.