Malcolm Knox is the literature editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, and he's written some pretty good novels as well. I've always wanted to know what happens in jury rooms - and since I'll never be called up (being a law student, mwhahahaha) this is my chance!

Wow! I don't know if I found this book so fascinating because of my interest in the area or whatever, but I thought it was great! Offers deep insight into the processes of the jury room - which are quite secret in the Australian system - as well as insight into human behaviour in general. Jury duty sounds like a gruelling but rewarding experience - depending who you get empannelled with...! Knox has also written with a good mix of references to reports, other jurors' experiences etc which made the book more interesting.

Starting a ray for this book:

puppymummy
caldron
FutureCat

Safely arrived, as always there are a couple ahead but I will get to it soon.
Thanks!

This book was fascinating, I never realised before that juries can ask questions of witnesses. I would have to agree with the author that some of the restrictions placed upon juries are ridiculous - however, I look forward to being a juror one day. As yet I haven't been called :(.
On the way to caldron tomorrow!

thanks puppymummy; arrived safely!

One of my all-time favourite movies is "12 Angry Men" (which I also saw on stage at Brisbane's QPAC theatre last year, starring Marcus Graham [as the Henry Fonda character], Shane Bourne & Peter Phelps) so I'm very interested to read this book.
I'm in the throes of moving house atm, but will get to this just as soon as I can.

Thanks again to hunnyb! :)

(sorry about the delay ~ still unpacking, but mostly 'moved in' now)

I really enjoyed this book. The whole jury experience/process was thoroughly analysed and I felt for the plight of 'those too stupid' to avoid selection :)

However, speaking as one who has always looked forward to doing their civic duty when called upon, I'm not sure if my opinion has been altered in any way but rather my interest piqued . . .

Thanks again to hunnyb ~ now posting to FutureCat (did so today, 16/05)

I spent the weekend in Dunedin visiting the Dunedin bookcrossers (and there may have been a booksale of some sort on down there, but that was sheer coincidence, honestly ;-)), and when I got home, this book was waiting for me.

Looking forward to reading it - I did an essay on the reliability of witness testimony as part of a psychology paper I sat last year, and was fascinated by what actually goes on in a courtroom and in the jury room(as opposed to what Hollywood would have us beleive). Most of the books I read while researching it were from America, where there isn't the same veil of secrecy over the jury, so I'm very interested to see the Australian version (which presumably is very similar to what goes on in New Zealand).

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A fascinating book - I'd never before thought about just how difficult it is for juries to do their job properly. What was equally interesting was the author's note explaining the difficulties he'd had in actually being allowed to publish his book, even though he'd fictionalised all of the identifying details of the case and the people involved. My only quibble was that sometimes he got a bit repetitive (although that might have been something to do with him being a journalist, used to a different style of writing than a full-length book requires, but I felt like a bit of editing would have helped tighten it up a bit).

I so want to serve on a jury now to see how the NZ system compares (the only time I've ever been called for jury service, I sat in the jury assembly room for a morning, and ended up never having my name pulled out of the hat (actually, I think it was a box), then after lunch they said there weren't going to be any more trials that week so those of us who hadn't been selected could go home).

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Given to another bookcrosser at today's meetup.

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"Found" at a concert in Christchurch. I did jury duty once about 20 years ago. Can't think why I got chosen when heaps of people were turned down. We had two trials that week and found both defendants guilty. I was pleased to hear a few years later that they actually were guilty - Cynical me was doubting the word of undercover police versus criminals :o) Looking forward to reading about the Australian system. Feel free to pm me if there are any more entries for the ray.

Back with me again. I'll bring it back to the next meetup and see if I can find it another reader.

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Not my normal read, but as I was a witness in a court case a couple of months ago this could be an interesting read.Being in court as a witness is nothing like TV.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book was on my reading pile but I am unable to get it read before leaving the country and it is therefore being given to another bookcrosser.


The Christchurch bookcrossers meet up on a regular basis,the information is on BCNZ Yahoo NZ The main organizers are FutureCat and myself and we welcome new members to our very friendly group.

Lytteltonwitch told me she was bringing round a few books... I think she meant to say a few boxes of books!

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Given to another bookcrosser at tonight's meetup.

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