Have you ever served on a Brazos County jury, and if so, what was your experience?

6,153 Views | 60 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by duffelpud
lethalninja
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Have you ever served on a Brazos County jury, and if so, what was your experience? My friend's mom served on a jury here for a guy accused of strangling his girlfriend (he was facing up to twenty years, and I think he had a record, but I don't know what it was), and they found him not guilty because there wasn't enough evidence to prove he did it beyond a reasonable doubt.
EBrazosAg
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AG
Not sure what you are after or purpose? Never had a bad experience with jury duty or on a jury here in 25+ years. Remember- we all want Justice for others, and grace for ourselves. Probably not a lot of practical application to your brief story.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
lethalninja
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I'm just curious about other people's experiences, since I'm interested in law and the criminal justice system. The reason I mentioned my friend's mom's experience is because she's the only person I personally know that's served on a jury (at least to my knowledge).
Kbeauty63
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I did - within the last 10 years. It was a murder case due to drugs & I hope to NEVER have to do that again. The defendant was found guilty & got a very long sentence. The overall experience was good - was in Judge Hawthorne's courtroom - he was very attentive to the jury's needs.
UglyScientist
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I did 4 or 5 years ago for a DUI case. We found him guilty and I had to announce the verdict as fore(wo)man. I felt like the trial went on longer than needed, but I guess the lawyer was doing his job with objecting to every single thing and dragging it out a while.
lethalninja
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Was it a felony case (two or more prior convictions)?
farmersfight
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I did. Girl was driving her friends car, cop was patrolling the patrons leaving some night club in Bryan. He pulled her over and he found a half smoked cigarillo cut with weed. The girl was arrested over this.

This was county court. The prosecutor spent over an hour describing drugs and amounts to us during the selection, which then happened after an hour of talking to jurors.

Trial began, I don't remember the order of who went first (it was that forgettable). I do know the defending attorney did an awful job representing his client (equivalent to a stripper working lunch on a Monday). The cop came up and described what happened, but no one could prove that it belonged to her. - Case closed.

Took us all of 15 minutes to say not guilty after 6 hours of a crap trial. We were in agreement that even if it was hers, it was not worth her going to jail. I hated every minute of being there - I am self employed and if I'm at a courthouse, I'm not doing my job. As much as despised my being selected, I'm glad we were able to send her home without being punished.
UglyScientist
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I don't believe so. Pretty sure it was his first incident. The lawyer told us afterwards defendant claimed someone else had been driving but didn't want to incriminate that person as it was a married woman and he was not her husband.
Esteban du Plantier
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EBrazosAg said:

Not sure what you are after or purpose? Never had a bad experience with jury duty or on a jury here in 25+ years. Remember- we all want Justice for others, and grace for ourselves. Probably not a lot of practical application to your brief story.


OP is an AI chat bot, I'm pretty confident in that.
.
lethalninja
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You would be incorrect.
falls91
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Domestic Family Violence about 10 years ago in Judge Bryan's court. Ex con (for the same offense) beat up his common law wife after drinking at a bar on Hwy 21 across from Coulter Field. His girlfriend was drunk and giving him grief at the bar. He walked home to get away from her, but she got a ride from her daughter to his trailer and started going after him again and he proceeded to beat her ass. The most interesting thing was that the wife & daughter were witnesses for the prosecution, but were very hostile. We found him guilty in about 20 minutes and I think he got 7 years. I enjoyed it. Very interesting.
war hymn aggie
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served twice over the years.

One was a civil case, the other was criminal.

Found in favor for the plaintiff in the civil case, found in favor of the defendant (possession of marijuana) in the criminal case.
meinkee
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I have served on a number of juries in Brazos County. Civil and Criminal...tho the criminal was dui, not murder! I have found the judges to be impartial and in general very helpful to jurors and lawyers alike. I believe the judges in Brazos County are serious about justice with no fear or favor. I would also point out that every jury I have served on had jurors who took seriously their responsibility.
textar4404
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Esteban du Plantier said:

EBrazosAg said:

Not sure what you are after or purpose? Never had a bad experience with jury duty or on a jury here in 25+ years. Remember- we all want Justice for others, and grace for ourselves. Probably not a lot of practical application to your brief story.


OP is an AI chat bot, I'm pretty confident in that.


My guess is he's the same guy that used to post years ago that lived with his mom, then moved out of state, but continued to post strange topics. Can't remember the username. Way back in the MyBCS days.
lethalninja
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I've only been posting since last year, and I never moved out of state.
EBrazosAg
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That would explain a lot…… I bet you are correct.
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Birddog
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County court, felony DWI (3rd) found guilty. He said he was all over the road because his truck was old. Too much other evidence to support guilty.

District Court, armed robbery, guilty. Said his buddy handed him a non working shotgun and forced him to accompany him in robbing a motel.

Petit jury trial in JP Court, Misdemeanor DWI (1st) hung jury. One person held on guilty verdict. Realized that selection of jurors is so important. Get one dumb arse and you have a chance.

District Court, Civil case on medical malpractice. Guy had 3 hip replacements. Last one he caught MRSA. Found not guilty, just a string of extremely bad luck. Felt really bad for the guy but not surgeons fault.

Don't know why I get picked. Asked a question during voir dire in only one selection.
TXAG 05
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lethalninja said:

You would be incorrect.


Exactly what a chat bot would say.
lethalninja
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I could have said wrong instead of incorrect, but incorrect sounded cooler.
Hammerheadjim
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I have been asked to show up for six juries. I served on two. Both were DUI cases that were pretty cut and dry, based on the video. I think the first one got 6 months, the other was a third strike and he went to Huntsville for a while.

Was on two armed robbery and 2 capital murder jury pools. When I asked if I support capital punishment, I said yes and that we didn't do it often enough. I was excused. I was excused from the armed robbery trials when asked if I was a CHL holder. I told them I was and got dismissed. Bummer.
Walk softly and carry a big stick! Make sure the big stick makes big boom noises and flashy bright lights.
lethalninja
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Did the jury decide the sentence of the guy who went to Huntsville or did the judge decide?
4lilmonkeys
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falls91 said:

Domestic Family Violence about 10 years ago in Judge Bryan's court. Ex con (for the same offense) beat up his common law wife after drinking at a bar on Hwy 21 across from Coulter Field. His girlfriend was drunk and giving him grief at the bar. He walked home to get away from her, but she got a ride from her daughter to his trailer and started going after him again and he proceeded to beat her ass. The most interesting thing was that the wife & daughter were witnesses for the prosecution, but were very hostile. We found him guilty in about 20 minutes and I think he got 7 years. I enjoyed it. Very interesting.


I was on that jury too.

The ex was pretty combative on the stand. And, IIRC, the daughter said their relationship was damaged over the incident and they hadn't spoken since.
MyNameIsJeff
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lethalninja said:

I'm just curious about other people's experiences, since I'm interested in law and the criminal justice system. The reason I mentioned my friend's mom's experience is because she's the only person I personally know that's served on a jury (at least to my knowledge).
Wait... So you're this obsessed about criminal justice in this county and every single related news story gets posted by you on this forum... Yet the only person you know that's served on a jury is your "friend's mom"? I figured you practically lived at the court house.

Anyway, my only experience here was jury selection a few months ago. Reported at 8am or whenever, sat through the defense asking every single prospective juror every single question, and was finally released at around 8pm. A significant portion of this time was spent sitting in the hallway. It was absolutely miserable.
trouble
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Y'all, I know several people who know or have met ninja. His weird quirks are just different than y'all's. He's not a bot.
falls91
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I forgot about that part. I was originally juror # 15 or so, and watched jurors steadily get eliminated, including the guy in front of me. Right before he went for his interview with the attorneys, he told me he was going to express how biased he was going to be against the defendant because he had a teenage daughter at home. It worked. The trial was delayed by a year or more as well because the daughter got pregnant and had a child.
EliteElectric
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Can we not get staff to put up a lethalninja criminal justice thread and drop all of these in there? Half of the front page is all twitter like CJ posts from lethalninja
lethalninja
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I probably know some more people that have served on juries, but my friend's mom is the only person I know for sure that served on a jury, since I haven't asked that many people I know if they've served on a jury, and she mentioned it without me asking. I also saw my mom's friend at the courthouse and she was part of jury selection, but she didn't get called to serve on the jury. A guy and a girl from my high school were part of two other jury selections, but they didn't get called to serve on the juries either. Also, I don't post every single criminal justice related news story in Brazos County, I post the notable ones.
BQ_90
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been on 3 juries

first one was CS muni, Kohls employee steals bottle of cologne, they have video of it, guy runs from store. Manager calls cops they arrest him. I think the fine would have been less $150 if he paid it. He went to trial. We deliberated for about 12 seconds (clear video of him taking it into bathroom, then manager found empty box in trash). I think the max fine we could give was $500, can't remember, he got the max.

second one, as we where about to start, they settled. It was somebody suing walmart for injury or something like that

third was kid that participated in robbing gas station and aggravated assault, he pleaded guilty, wanted jury to decide punishment, we gave him 18 years I think. On another thread this was discussed and OP pointed out he's out of jail
75AG
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Whoa!!! You were there for 12 hours? I've been called in Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, and Brazos, and have never kept beyond 2PM unless I was chosen (3 times). Must have been a doozy of a case.
lethalninja
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Did you give the Kohl's guy the max because he was an employee when he stole from them, or would you still have given him the max if he was a customer, since he went to trial just to avoid a fine when it was obvious that he did it?
NateDog
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Probably gotten 8-10 notices over the years, made 5 or 6 trips to the courthouse, ended up on 3 juries.

First was a DWI way back in the 0.10 limit days, guy turned left on red with a marked police CSPD cruiser sitting right beside him. Blood test came back 0.10, on the booking video he did appear drunk, which I thought was weird because 0.10 isn't that bad (unless you're driving). Defense argued that the prosecution had offered no evidence the blood draw was done in a sanitary place (it was done in the ER at St. Joe). Guilty, it was his 1st offense, couple years probation best I can remember.

Most interesting was an intoxication manslaughter where the defendant had pled guilty, so we were just there for sentencing. Defendant had spent all day with a group at ChiliFest (only "a few" beers of course), came back to B/CS, then two of the group left again, defendant behind the wheel. Lost control at high speed, hit a tree, his friend in the passenger seat was ejected & killed (not wearing a seatbelt).

Blew the doors off the breathalyzer, like 0.25 or something way high like that. Find out he was currently on probation for DWI and had one other vehicle-related prior (not DWI). Incredibly, there were a couple of jurors wanting to give him no prison time, only probation edit: the minimum possible, 2 years ("he's so young", "it was an accident"). Finally got to 3 years, with a deadly weapon enhancement (his truck), meaning he had to serve at least 2 full years in TDCJ before parole.

Most recently, and most boring, was a failure to identify charge. Guy got pulled over and gave a driver license to the cop that was obviously not his (whoever was in the photo was hispanic like the defendant, but that's where the similarity ended). Further investigation revealed he's an undocumented Mexican national. Defense attorney points out the prosecution never proved the defendant's true identity, so how could they have proved he isn't the man on the license? Guilty, few months in jail, plus now he's a criminal alien, so he'd be deported after that (although I'm sure he's back by now).

All of the court staff from the judges on down to clerks & coordinators were very professional, capable, and expressed sincere gratitude to the jurors any time I've been there.
lethalninja
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Did any of the jurors that wanted to give the guy probation for killing his friend in the DWI blame his friend for getting in the car with him and not wearing a seatbelt? I'll admit that his friend made some poor choices (both of them did, but the friend wasn't endangering other people), but he shouldn't get probation, since he was already on probation for DWI at the time of the crash.
Jinx
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Esteban du Plantier said:

EBrazosAg said:

Not sure what you are after or purpose? Never had a bad experience with jury duty or on a jury here in 25+ years. Remember- we all want Justice for others, and grace for ourselves. Probably not a lot of practical application to your brief story.


OP is an AI chat bot, I'm pretty confident in that.


Best thing to do is ignore the obsessive posts by not replying. I usually dont even open the thread.
lethalninja
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The reason I've posted so much in the thread about the guy who shot the police officers is because the case and his record is interesting. I post about other things besides law and crime (on the other boards), but most of my threads on the Aggieland board are about law and crime.
MyNameIsJeff
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75AG said:

Whoa!!! You were there for 12 hours? I've been called in Dallas, Tarrant, Harris, and Brazos, and have never kept beyond 2PM unless I was chosen (3 times). Must have been a doozy of a case.
It was miserable. The defense was literally going through each of the 75-100 prospective jurors with every single question. I think they let like 3 people go at lunch. The case was recent. Guy breaking into homes and sexually assaulting multiple women in BCS. He was sentenced to life in prison.
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