Bring it on

TORONTO — If you ever find yourself facing a jury in Ontario, your innocence or guilt could be decided by jurors with convictions for pretending to practice witchcraft or making a false statement under oath.

Alternatively, they could have impersonated a police officer or committed an indecent act and still found their way on to the panel deciding your fate.

These offences are among those officially listed for which Ontario residents can have a criminal record and still be eligible for jury duty.

As it is elsewhere in Canada, a Criminal Code conviction is generally a barrier to serving as a juror in Ontario — with the exception of 27 listed offences, according to an eligibility questionnaire sent to all prospective jurors in the province.

In addition, being found guilty of possessing fewer than 30 grams of marijuana is the only drug offence that won’t necessarily keep you off a jury for “personal reasons.”

The common thread to these crimes — they include being caught in a brothel, or being nude in a public place — is that they are considered relatively minor “summary” offences that carry maximum penalties of $5,000 in fines and/or six months in jail.

Convictions for more serious indictable offences automatically disqualify you from jury duty in Ontario unless you have been pardoned.

Still, some of the listed offences that have no effect on eligibility are head-scratchers.

There’s the arcane offense of trading in lumbering equipment without consent of owner, disturbing a religious worship, or carrying a weapon to a public meeting.

Your juror also may have been convicted of failing to keep watch while towing a person on water skis or surfboard, or throwing a stink bomb into a crowd.

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