Tim had been called up for jury duty four times, but the 29-year-old musician had always been unavailable due to his former career in the busy advertising industry.
asserted
musician → call → industry
However, when a friend who worked at SBS suggested he apply to be part of TV experiment The Jury, his interest was piqued.
uncertain
interest → work → experiment
“God, I had nothing better to do,” he says.
asserted
he → have → nothing
“I’d gotten out of rehab a couple of months before that, so I was just chilling, and I was like, ‘Why not?
asserted
I → get → that
Let’s do some reality TV.’”
asserted
’s → let → TV
The experience ended up significantly changing his perceptions of the justice system.
asserted
experience → end → system
Tim is one of the 12 everyday Australians taking part in season two of The Jury, where viewers are taken inside the usually off-limits world of the jury room.
asserted
viewers → take → room
As in the first season, which came out in 2024, the series follows a real case, the details of which have been anonymised.
asserted
details → come → which
The 1700-page transcript of the real criminal trial is condensed to a 500-page script (created to very closely reflect the original testimony) and the new jurors are left to find their own verdict.
asserted
jurors → condense → verdict
For the show’s legal consultant Simone Quinn, a solicitor who has been practising law for nearly 30 years, it’s a unique insight for audiences.
asserted
it → practise → audiences
“[The jury room] is completely secret and closeted,” she says.
asserted
she → say → ?
“It is an extremely sacred space and the confidentiality of those deliberations and the jurors is critical to ensuring that justice is dispensed properly.
asserted
justice → ensure → deliberations
The trial this season covers the disappearance of a woman whose remains are found when the defendant’s former backyard is dug up for construction a decade later.
asserted
backyard → cover → construction
Quinn says it’s a trial that would have been particularly challenging for jurors to navigate.
asserted
jurors → say → ?
“I thought it was a really tricky case to put in front of a jury,” she says.
asserted
she → think → jury
“Having a woman’s remains dug up in a residential backyard points to something very sinister, yet the case or the evidence before them really was circumstantial.
asserted
case → have → them
This season was a massive undertaking, with 16 actors and dozens of crew working together for a two-week shoot at the 172-year-old Justice and Police Museum in Sydney.
asserted
actors → work → Sydney
“There was a court officer who took you in, every detail was as it would be if you were experiencing it in real life,” Tim says.
asserted
Tim → be → life
“So it wasn’t hard to pretend.
asserted
it → pretend → ?
Everything felt completely real.”
asserted
Everything → feel → ?
As in an actual jury, the 12 participants also brought a range of life experiences to the table.
asserted
participants → bring → table
Throughout the episodes, they candidly shared their own personal histories of crime, tragedy and hardship.
asserted
they → share → crime
For Tim, who has experienced substance addiction, he felt reasonably able to park his biases and aim for objectivity on the case, though he admits that was not always 100 per cent possible.
asserted
that → experience → case
“Having experienced drug addiction and seeking treatment with other people who are drug addicts, I think you really sharpen this sense of empathy for people that you did not have,” Tim says.
asserted
Tim → experience → that
“My sense of empathy is almost the biggest bias that I brought into it.
asserted
I → bring → it
Some of the people in this case acted very irrationally, but I can understand why.”
asserted
I → act → case
He says his experience on the show has completely flipped his thoughts on juries.
asserted
experience → say → juries
Tim now believes the system used in most of Europe, where a judge or panel of judges determines guilt or innocence, seems the best option.
asserted
judge → believe → guilt
“This is like the digestive part of our legal system that you don’t see.
asserted
you → see → that
It’s kind of gross,” he says.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
“Everyone knows it’s a jury of your peers.
asserted
it → know → peers
In a criminal trial, they need to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
asserted
they → need → doubt
You hear those as sound bites.
asserted
You → hear → bites
But when you’re really there, to me, it didn’t make a damn bit of sense to have 12 people plucked off the street who have no legal experience actually having to grapple with some pretty serious legal concepts.
asserted
who → ’re → concepts
“I thought everything would be explained, but they just plonk you in a room and say, ‘Figure it out for yourself.’
asserted
they → think → yourself
I was gobsmacked at how much faith they put into 12 random people that may or may not have any experience with the legal system.
uncertain
that → gobsmacke → system
I think it’s to its detriment, honestly.”
asserted
it → think → detriment
The Jury: Skeleton in the Garden premieres at 7.30pm on Monday October 5 on SBS and SBS On Demand.
asserted
Skeleton → premier → Demand
We’ve got you.
asserted
We → get → you
Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
asserted
Watchlist → get → ?
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
