In-case you didn't know where I've been....

[F Horn of Valere]

So I've been on LOA for about a month now. Five weeks ago I was selected for the jury on an aggravated murder case. While not sequestered, the pittance paid to the jury was not enough to still feed my family, so I have been cramming my full-time employment into evenings and weekends, hence the LOA. The trial is still underway, though winding down, but because of some other circumstances, I am back from my LOA, on LOLA until the trial ends in the next 1-2 weeks. (Which is great timing... it was originally expected to be 2 weeks longer than current expected.) I can't talk at all about the trial beyond what I just mentioned... though in a couple weeks I'll be able to divulge any of the boring details if anyone actually cares.

 

So anyways, I am back on a limited basis. I want to give Brid a HUGE thanks... she did a LOT while I was gone, including things that are supposed to be my job. If you haven't let her know already (or even if you have), everyone should let her know how much she is appreciated for all of her hard work here!

[dicetosser1]

hmmm  o may have some questions for you about the jury system over there Horn. Here i work for the Courts and one of my jobs is talking to jurors about getting excused, payment, what it is etc.

[F Horn of Valere]

Well, that kind of stuff I can answer before the trial is over! It all varies by county, but my pay for being on a "special panel" (a jury that is there for longer than a day or two) is $10/day for the first two days (while they pick the jury), and $25/day after that, plus $0.20 per mile traveled to the courthouse. 

[Nikonis]

Does your regular job do jury pay?  If not you're only making about 2 to 2.5 hours worth of pay (based off of Minimum Wage) for probably six or seven hours of work a day... definately not enough to survive on let alone support a family with.

Hope it ends soon and things can get back to normal.

[dicetosser1]

Well, that kind of stuff I can answer before the trial is over! It all varies by county, but my pay for being on a "special panel" (a jury that is there for longer than a day or two) is $10/day for the first two days (while they pick the jury), and $25/day after that, plus $0.20 per mile traveled to the courthouse. 

 

O

 

M

 

G

 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

here we select a jury in one day or less. For the first 10 days, if you work, your employer pays you ure normal BASE wage. No penalty rates etc. We ALSO pay you $104.75 which usually gets reimbursed to the employer.

 

After 10 days we pay 235.65 per day and ure employee pays nothing.

 

Employers cant stop you doing jury. They cant make you take leave for that period. They CAN write a letter asking you to be excused cause they rerally need you but there needs to be good reason for that to be granted.

 

For us a short trial is one or 2 weeks. none of these 2 day jobbies!

 

 

WOW

[F Horn of Valere]

Length all depends on the trial... sometimes it could only take an hour. Others like mine take 8 weeks. Most jurors only have to plan on missing one day of work.

 

Juror pay is also influenced by the employer... most people in a salaried or union job are reimbursed, so the county pays the jury pay to your employer, who in turn still pays you full compensation. It is just for those of us non-union hourly workers that jury pay sucks. 

[dicetosser1]

oh  ok then

 

 

can i just say that you americans are weird???

[F Horn of Valere]

For the jury pay, I'd agree, it sucks. That is why I've had to be LOA, so I could make enough money for rent working after hours!

 

If the length of the trial... that makes a bit more sense to me.

[Cass]

Oh Horn, that sounds long and tedious and tiring! If maybe also a little bit interesting...

 

Have missed you around the boards! Hopefully everything is sorted soon and you get some decent time out to recover (and play here!). :)

[F Horn of Valere]

Yeah, that is a good description....  long, tedious, and tiring, but also interesting! I certainly learned a lot about the justice system and about various other tidbits from the expert testimony. Very glad to be back!

[dicetosser1]

lol you should try being the Court Officer in a civil matter lol  their job is to pass docs from the lawyer to the associate and swear in witnesses. Only there are no witnesses unless it is a hearing.  It is SOOOOO hard to stay awake lol  i would sit there doing lists of things like every Transformer i could think of, every HP character and so on.

[BridMorgan]

So anyways, I am back on a limited basis. I want to give Brid a HUGE thanks... she did a LOT while I was gone, including things that are supposed to be my job. If you haven't let her know already (or even if you have), everyone should let her know how much she is appreciated for all of her hard work here!

C'mon...not one thank you? Le sigh...

[F Horn of Valere]

Well, to be fair, if I read it my eyes would go to "aggravated murder" and I'd be side-tracked for a while. That, and at least some portion of our populous right now don't know me enough to care where I've been, to even check!

[BridMorgan]

I've missed you.  *nods*

[F Horn of Valere]

I've missed you too! Very good to be back. And after a day of work tomorrow I go back for what should be my FINAL day of jury duty! 

[BridMorgan]

Yay! Now we'll get more Horn soon!

[Lanthirrhos]

 

So anyways, I am back on a limited basis. I want to give Brid a HUGE thanks... she did a LOT while I was gone, including things that are supposed to be my job. If you haven't let her know already (or even if you have), everyone should let her know how much she is appreciated for all of her hard work here!

C'mon...not one thank you? Le sigh...

 

 

Sure you had one. I underlined and bolded it for you, just to show you how much I appreciate you and that don't want you to think that no one thanked you! :P

[Bela_theDo]

Welcome back, Horn!

[F Horn of Valere]

And it is now OVER! 

 

So.... this guy shot his mom and nephew, in extreme excess. The guy is borderline genius (IQ) and (as the jury decided in deliberation) realized after several months in jail that he could try for an insanity plea. It did not work... the jury only took 12 minutes to reach a guilty verdict, when this kind of case usually has hours of deliberation. Today, he took a plea deal in which the prosecution withdrew their push for the death penalty, while he withdrew his right to appeal or for parole, so he will spend life in prison with no way to get out, ever. 

 

The trial took so long because we had to hear testimony from his psychologist, his psychiatrist, a neutral psychiatrist, the prosecutor's psychologist, another neutral psychiatrist, the jail psychiatrist, etc..... lots of medical lingo thrown all around out there. Oh, and I now know some things about how to convince a psychiatrist that I am not malingering, since they were forced by the court to explain some of their testing. Very interesting, very rewarding (due to our role in helping the family find closure), though I am glad it is over and I can get back to a steady paycheck.

[Cass]

Congrats on it being over, and for helping the family find closure.

 

That sounds intense!!!

 

 

Welcome back for real!! :D

[ReleaseTheEvil]

Wow. Very interesting. As a psychology student insanity pleas (and their outcomes and details) always interest me. Welcome back, and especially welcome back to "Normal life" and working hours again