Jury System

Mistrial Declared After Jurors Found Playing Sudoku

Showing that issues with the jury system are not limited to America, on June 10 a judge in Sydney declared a mistrial in a high-profile drug-conspiracy case after it was discovered that the jurors spent much of their time in…


Lessons in Avoiding Jury Duty

Thankfully, the Chicago Tribune is providing "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of the R. Kelly trial in Cook County, and though this trial will probably teach us many important lessons, the first of them has to do with jury service. Reporter Stacy St….




How to Avoid Jury Duty by Going to Jail Instead

Nobody really likes jury duty, but probably nobody doesn’t like it as much as Daniel Ellis.  Ellis was absolutely determined not to serve on a Massachusetts grand jury, apparently so determined that he wanted to go to jail instead. Ellis…


Six-Figure Award in Case of Golf Cart v. Chevy Cavalier

Madison County, Illinois, is not the lawsuit-lottery capital of the world like it used to be, but juries seem to still be pretty generous.  Last week, a jury awarded William Clawson over $111,000 for injuries he suffered after he drove…





Robert Blake Sought to Enlist 70s Stars in His Legal Defense

The L.A. Times reports that Robert Blake, the former star of "Baretta" who was accused of killing his wife, was very involved in his legal defense strategy, according to transcripts of conversations he had while in prison awaiting trial. In…