In the criminal trial I served on (rape, kidnapping, theft, assault with a deadly weapon), I was not elected to be jury foreman, but asked to by the judge. The duties were pretty minimally specified, but mostly to be the point of contact with the judge. During deliberations I would attempt to keep our one pontificator from droning on by asking him a question about something he'd just said and then asking others the same question so as to keep all involved, and also ll feeling as if they'd been involved, without pissing anyone off - unhappy people often make rash decisions.