Jury Duty

[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.