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I only ended up on a panel once, and I knew my honest answer meant the one side would not want me. It was a civil case and I truly did not believe in an equal burden on both sides. It was over custody of a little girl about 2 or 3 years old who had been living with the mom. The mom and dad were never married but the dad's parents wanted him to file for custody and move her out of town to where they live. My belief was that he had the burden to prove to me that there was a great reason why the girl should be taken from her mother, given to him, and made to move from her familiar surroundings. It was obvious from the questioning that they were going to attack the fact that the mom was in college and had her kid in day care while the dad's parents said they could take care of her during the day. Not a reason to me. The fact that it was a girl and that he was never even married to the mom further affected my view. It was actually kind of funny. I was the last person on the panel and his attorney tried as hard as he could never to get to the questioning of me. He tried twice to say they had questioned enough potential jurors but the judge made them finish. Somehow, I guess he could tell by looking at me!! Evey single person on the panel he asked if they could view the case with an equal burden of proof, but not me. He asked me one silly question. Sure enough, her attorney made sure to ask me so that the jurors would hear my answer. One other guy went on and on about how the dad had no claim since he did not marry her, and I wondered if he really meant it or if he wanted out of the jury.
