Jury Duty

[Hugh Conway]

How often do you get called? Maybe once a decade or so? Suck it up and do your duty. It's not always a waste of time.

your employer pays for Jury Duty - fuck off. and in Ventura county it's once every year or two.

[DharmaBum]

I did my part and hung the jury that I sat on ~10 years back. Couple of guys from up in Harlem had a beef and one dude claimed that the other came in & ripped a chain off his neck (the implication was that this was a collection attempt for a drug debt).

The prosecution offered zero evidence and were riding on the testimony of the 'victim'. Basically a he said/she said situation. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt? No fucking way. The jury was 100% white, and all but myself & one other were intent on a guilty. Blew my mind how a bunch of supposedly educated and somewhat intelligent folks could reach that conclusion and really believe it. But as they tried to sway the our opinion (myself & the other hold out) the racist BS started flowing pretty thick. One woman said something like, "We don't know what it's like 'up there'. It's a different world". WTF? She lived on the upper east side, just like me at the time. I said to her: "A different world? It's 20 blocks from where you live - you''ve got to be joking, right?"

Other dude eventually caved, and I was the cocksucker who forced everyone else to sit around for an extra day and a half why they tried to convince me to send this guy to jail.

There is no fucking way that I'd ever cast my vote to take away someone's freedom without some real proof. While it's possible that everything went down as presented in court, but I really doubt it. There sure wasn't any evidence, or even credible testimony.

See? One person can make a difference and keep the system in check at the same time.

[Trainwreck]

Hugh has succinctly summed up my sentiments on the subject.

[Shredhead]

In Aspen one time, so few showed up for jury duty.
The judge ordered the bailiff to go to the post office and just grab people getting their mail, just so he could seat a jury.

If you want to get out the duty, just show a strong opinion about the case during the pretrial questioning.

I got called to Federal Court for former Governor George Ryan's trial. The thought of being sequestered for months really turned me off. Luckily, I had been paying him bribes for years and told that to the judge. Dismissed!

[The AD]

If you want to get out the duty, just show a strong opinion about the case during the pretrial questioning.

I agree. It's pretty easy to make it clear you don't want to be there and they aren't going to seat someone with that attitude. Of course that's not going to prevent you from waiting around for a hours waiting to even get called into a courtroom.

And, yes, I get paid from my employer now for jury duty, but the first time I got called I did not and I still thought it was worthwhile.

[Trainwreck]

After doing a little research I think there may be a way to keep working while I have work and still do my civic duty. I can request a postponement of up to 6 months for business reasons which puts me right back in the rotation after the designated time period. My client goes national in 3 months, so I will request a 6 month postponement.

If I was still on salary I would love to serve on a jury, I think it would be pretty interesting and a nice break from work

[Smoova]

I got called to Federal Court for former Governor George Ryan's trial. The thought of being sequestered for months really turned me off. Luckily, I had been paying him bribes for years and told that to the judge. Dismissed!

Nothing like squandering your integrity to avoid a minor inconvenience. Mama must be proud.

[XXX-er]

I got called last winter for jury duty but it was settled before it got to court ... how often does thjs happen ?

[RShea]

As commonlaw said, I've never heard of any repercussions for failing to appear. If you are looking to get out of sitting, I can tell you what excuses worked and didn't work from the last jury I drew:

Worked:
Post-heart-transplant medical appt.
Doctor with a full schedule
Administrative hearing officer with a full schedule
Special needs kid at home that can't be cared for by a sitter or daycare
Some kind of marginally understandable medical condition that will cause random fainting

Didn't work:
Farmer planning a planting day
Childcare problems that don't involve a special needs kid
Teacher who would have to prepare lesson plans
Business owner who doesn't have anyone who can cover his responsibilities
Lawyer with hearing scheduled (Judge just said "that's something I can take care of, consider your hearing cancelled.")
Chef at a restaurant without someone who can fill in

As much as I like juries, and I can get behind all the "do your civic duty" shit, I'd much rather have people in the pool who want to be there, or at least don't hate being there. I think people who hate jury service usually take out their frustrations on defendants, particularly when we put on a case. So I say blow it off...

Not sure where you are located, but they can and will request you to come for another day if you get a jury summons and do not appear where I live. If you continue to fail, then the judge will and can send a sheriff out to drag you to the courthouse and appear to explain to the judge why you ignored the summons, just like any other appearance for a summons.

As for excuses you list that failed. I did not request a deferment last year when my number came up, but under the other I noted I was basically self employed and would not be able to sit for a long trial. Letter to excuse was in the mail shortly after that.

Best excuse was during the time that a service contract was in effect for the District Attorney offices. Automatic deferment due to the nature of the equipment being serviced.

I've had to go and sit I believe only 1 time and got sent home a bit earlier than the end of the day- lunch maybe. I also have been on the list a bunch of times and had to call the day before to find out I was not required to come due to the lottery for the needed jury pools.

As for pay - there is a fee to cover part of your parking, and a flat $8 or something similar for each day paid for those that are summoned. Can't cover even the gas or lunch but they do pay a juror here.

[Jethro]

Jesus, suck it up! I am 44 and have had to show up once and everyone was sent home, and I had to sit through a morning of jury selection once. No big deal. The only real bummer is not being able to plan for a trip or something during the scheduled time. I do not know how other areas work, but here in Colorado you do not know if the trial has been cancelled until the end of the business day right before the scheduled day. A long drawn out trial with sequestration would suck though.

[Shadam]

In ozyland its 2 weeks! I got called up tiwce when I was 19. no shit, 6 months apart. both times I handed it to my employer and said can you sort this shit! they smiled and said "job done"
who is going to put 19 year old white male on the jury?
many people said it was an easy 2 weeks of show up for a while. then go home. $50 a day 18 years ago. sorry.

[back bowl]

Not sure where you are located, but they can and will request you to come for another day if you get a jury summons and do not appear where I live. If you continue to fail, then the judge will and can send a sheriff out to drag you to the courthouse and appear to explain to the judge why you ignored the summons, just like any other appearance for a summons.

That could happen here, but it never does. I can't remember, nor can any of the people I work with, any situation where a judge issued a summons for a no-show juror. As long as there's enough jurors to draw a jury, they just ignore the no-shows.

[Shredhead]

Nothing like squandering your integrity to avoid a minor inconvenience. Mama must be proud.

My integrity is intact. I told the truth.

[Long duc dong]

Hopefully none of you haters will ever need to pin your future on people like yourselves.

Shit folks, it beats digging ditches.

Then volunteer for duty. You can do that, if you really want to.

I was called once, several years ago. The judge was inspiring. He was gentle, but firm. All the people who had half-assed excuses did not get out. He actually made me WANT to serve. That, and the fact that the case was only going to be two days. The judge was great, he said "this case will last two days," then gave the prosecutor a long, stern look. He followed that with a similar look for the defense attorney.

The case was about a guy who had been flashing a beauty parlor, on a regular basis. I almost started laughing when I heard it.

I was the first alternate. When one of the original ten was dismissed, I was added. I was in grad school at the time, which made me an easy dismissal target. Attorneys don't want someone who is in graduate level mathematical statistics.

The prosecutor explained that we were to judge the law, not the punishment. I stated that I did not know if I could do that. I gave a hypothetical, that if someone was risking going away for 100 years for stealing a candy bar, that I would have to take the punishment into account. I was one of the first jurors dismissed. Even though I told the prosecutor I would follow the law, she saw the writing on the wall.

Prosecutors don't want nails that stick up. They don't want people who don't consider attorneys to be above themselves intellectually. Give a hypothetical, the way I did. The prosecutor will get rid of you fast. I also think it helped being in grad school. The prosecutor wants people who will go along with the group. If you show them you won't do that, they will get rid of you.

I have to go in again, on July 7. I postponed it for as long as I could. When I go in, if I am called, I will bring up the right of jury nullification. This will get one dismissed pretty fast. Judges and prosecutors loathe it. It is the right of the jury to set aside a guilty verdict, because the juror disagrees with the law. I am simplifying, you should look it up on your own. Maybe some legal mags can help, and give a thorough definition. The point is, bring this up and you will likely be removed. By mentioning this, you are letting the judge and prosecutor know that you will be difficult, if you disagree with something.

[Long duc dong]

Nothing like squandering your integrity to avoid a minor inconvenience. Mama must be proud.

So being on a jury for several months appeals to you? Then do it: Volunteer for jury duty, and request to be put on a case that will last 6 months to a year.

Being out of work for 6 months, while sitting on a jury, is not what I would call a minor inconvenience.

We really should have professional jurors. As a defendant, I would be much more comfortable with a professional, educated, group of people making a decision.

[RootSkier]

jury nullification. This will get one dismissed pretty fast. Judges and prosecutors loathe it. It is the right of the jury to set aside a guilty verdict, because the juror disagrees with the law.

Yes, like in the Medgar Evers trials, where the all white jury refused to convict the murderer even though there was overwhelming proof of his guilt.

America at its finest!

[RootSkier]

We really should have professional jurors. As a defendant, I would be much more comfortable with a professional, educated, group of people making a decision.

This is how it is in most countries, only they have a different name for them: judges.

[TBS]

We really should have professional jurors. As a defendant, I would be much more comfortable with a professional, educated, group of people making a decision.

Defendants' counsel generally prefer jurors who aren't bright and educated - easier to create doubt.

[js44jack]

If you throw out the letter they sent you they have no way of proving you ever got it so you don't need to show up.

[Chainsaw_Willie]

If you throw out the letter they sent you they have no way of proving you ever got it so you don't need to show up.

Consider that if I do not work, I do not get paid. I do not have vacation or sick time to fall back on, it's no work for any reason = no pay, period.

They can't prove that I ever received a jury summons. I don't recall ever seeing one in my mail. I guess in this big city, I must be one of the lucky ones that's been overlooked.

[RootSkier]

I was scheduled for tomorrow, but it was settled. I am sort of disappointed.

I doubt I would have been seated, especially if it was a criminal trial.

[MakersTeleMark]

I was scheduled for tomorrow, but it was settled. I am sort of disappointed.

I doubt I would have been seated, especially if it was a criminal trial.

It likely wasn't criminal. You don't just all of the sudden accept the plea on the table the night before, but when you are staring at your checkbook all night, well, things have a way of moving positions the night before a trial.

Although I do amend the above due to one occurrence where I had a felony jury trial completely prepped, and the morning of, the head D.A. decides to dismiss the charge. That really sucked for me (what a ton of wasted prep-work), but my client was more than stoked.

I've had civil trials settle on the courthouse steps more times than I can count.

Finally, you folks skirting jury duty disgust me. You are despicable Americans.

[Big Snowballs]

I did it, couldn't get out of it once they picked me. The crazy woman that was suing Home Depot for 18 million probably regrets that her lawyers insisted I be on the panel. I had to be at court at 8:30 a.m. in the morning,(Malibu by the way) get out at 4 p.m., drive home, take a shower and a shit then go to work 'till midnite(I work swing shift). After six weeks of that I was so jaded with the total B.S. the plantiffs lawyers and witnesses spued at us ,I made sure I was head juror in deliberations.So in the end when I read the verdict, the bitch got nothing, not one f'ing penny. I was happy to have been part of the justice system and see justice prevail.

Karma is a bitch and you better hope some idiot like yourself isn't sitting on the jury if you find yourself in the same situation.

[G]

Finally, you folks skirting jury duty disgust me. You are despicable Americans.

I used to happily look forward to jury duty (really!). Now I will do everything I can possibly do to avoid it. This system is bullshit.

I've been summoned dozens of times, occasionally even just a couple months apart. I do not get sick pay or vacation pay, so taking the day off for jury duty takes money out of my pocket and pisses off my boss. I would be happy to accept that hardship in order to perform my civic duty. However, nearly every time I take that day off, I get informed the night before that I will not be needed and my name will be returned to the pool.

Fuck that bullshit. I went through the trouble and expense of taking the time off of work for this. Now I will not get to fulfill my duty, and they will require me to return again in the near future? Hell no. If the court does not respect the time and effort I put into making the arrangements to serve, then I refuse to respect my summons. Either put me to work, or excuse me for the rest of the year, assholes.



It saddens me that the way this system is set up, the people most likely to have the time to serve are the stupid, lazy, housebound losers who have nothing better to do with their life. Unfortunately, these are the last people I would want to trust my own fate with if I were a defendant.

[RootSkier]

It likely wasn't criminal. You don't just all of the sudden accept the plea on the table the night before

It settled before that. They only post the law and motion calendar one week in advance, and it didn't show up last week, so I never got to see the name of the case or anything.