Jury Duty Strategy

[TromboneAl]

To avert the "Hey, do your civic duty" responses, I'll first mention that I've done jury duty a number of times. DW and I get called more than seems reasonable for a county with 85,00 residents. It's 35 miles to the court house, and trials are usually only held in the morning hours, so a week of jury duty means 6-7 hours on the road.

But the prospect of jury duty is doubly scary now, since, being retired, I'd have no excuse for getting out of a long trial.

So, I got my jury summons for June 18. I could either:

1. Just go and get it over with, or

2. Get an automatic 90-day deferral.

The advantage of option 2 is that I may have to serve only once every 1 year + 90 days rather than once every year.

The disadvantage of option 2 is that if the new date is inconvenient, I can't change it.

Advice??

 

[REWahoo]

Advice??

Be sure to convict the guilty b@stard and hang his @ss.

 

[W2R]

I would just go ahead and do it and get it over with.

Personally, I would love to be called to jury duty (having never done it). My friends tell me I'm crazy! The way I see it, it would get me out of the office, and let me participate in the system and make sure justice was done.

But, despite being a homeowner for the past 6 years, with a driver's license, in the phone book, voting at every election, they never send me a notice. Frank thinks it is because of the Ph.D. Maybe they think I am too "ivory tower" to relate to these scumbags.

Other federal employees that I work with get called all the time. They get their salary paid as always, though they have to surrender any extra payment given to jurors.

 

[RunningBum]

Move to a place that has less crime, so you shouldn't get called as often. Are you getting called every year?

I've received three summons, one of them didn't get forwarded to me until after the date. I wasn't needed on a jury the other two times.

I'd say just go now unless it's not convenient, or if you know there's a major trail coming that you might get stuck with.

 

[Walt34]

Show up drunk.

Edit:

Seriously. Tell them you're a hopeless alcoholic and don't waste time on you because you can't remember yesterday. Nobody wants you on the jury then. Of course you have to dress the part so some extent. You don't have to look like a street person but it'll help if you don't shave for a day or two and leave your Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes at home.

The best system I heard of in Maryland was "One day or one trial" every three years. But they had 200k+ people to draw from.

 

[Den26]

Show up drunk.

Don't show up at all... What do you think would happen? You didn't sign for your jury summons, so who's to say if they sent it to you or not? I personally know of several people who throw out their jury duty notices, with the rest of the junk mail...

 

[CuppaJoe]

Some years ago there was a juror revolt in S.F. because the same people were being called over and over again. So they got a new list of potential jurors, that's where I came in. They can call me once a year; I've gone and sat in the jury waiting room many times but never got as far as a courtroom. It seems that of the jury pool for a particular week, half of them have to go into the jury room, half are off the hook at that point. Of those that go into the jury room and wait, again, only some of them serve. I like to gamble this way. I'll serve if I have to but I have many issues that would prevent it, notably I have no backup at work. You might have a lot of trips planned?

If you are being called too often and it's a hardship to get there, you could request removal from the list. In S.F. they don't expect anyone to commute longer than one hour which lets a lot of people who depend on public transit off the hook.

 

[maddythebeagle]

Funny about getting contacted over and over...I got contacted for a federal one shortly after the county one...I wonder if they are simply checking lists of who actually responds....I had to show up once and sat around for a hours and finally let go when the dirtbag didnt show and never needed again....Our county put a younger woman in jail overnight for not showing up, but yeah, I think she responded to the questionaire to begin with and then didnt show up...They probably could find enough people to volunteer (retired and government employees)...

 

[TromboneAl]

Personally, I would love to be called to jury duty

I said the same thing before I had gotten my first call.

What you're picturing: You go in, listen to testimony and statements, discuss the evidence with fellow jurors, and reach a verdict.

What you get: You arrive, and after waiting an hour for the late people, you get a 45 minute lecture on where to park and where to not park. Then they tell you to wait, and put on a TV with loud sound so that you are unable to read your book. Then you go to a room in which you are not allowed to read your book. You have to pay attention while they say exactly the same thing to each potential juror. It's downhill from there.

-----------------

Yes, I get called about once per year.

 

[W2R]

I said the same thing before I had gotten my first call.

What you're picturing: You go in, listen to testimony and statements, discuss the evidence with fellow jurors, and reach a verdict.

Yes, that's exactly what I pictured (preceded by an hour or two of quietly reading my book, while they select jurors).

What you get: You arrive, and after waiting an hour for the late people, you get a 45 minute lecture on where to park and where to not park. Then they tell you to wait, and put on a TV with loud sound so that you are unable to read your book. Then you go to a room in which you are not allowed to read your book. You have to pay attention while they say exactly the same thing to each potential juror. It's downhill from there.

-----------------

Yes, I get called about once per year.

Ohhhhhhh.... that does NOT sound like fun at all!! Especially all the boredom and not being able to read. Plus, the loud TV sounds extremely annoying.

 

[RunningBum]

Don't show up at all... What do you think would happen? You didn't sign for your jury summons, so who's to say if they sent it to you or not? I personally know of several people who throw out their jury duty notices, with the rest of the junk mail...

Did anyone find this post a bit ironic, with the poster's American flag avatar?

 

[Dawg52]

I said the same thing before I had gotten my first call.

What you're picturing: You go in, listen to testimony and statements, discuss the evidence with fellow jurors, and reach a verdict.

What you get: You arrive, and after waiting an hour for the late people, you get a 45 minute lecture on where to park and where to not park. Then they tell you to wait, and put on a TV with loud sound so that you are unable to read your book. Then you go to a room in which you are not allowed to read your book. You have to pay attention while they say exactly the same thing to each potential juror. It's downhill from there.

-----------------

Yes, I get called about once per year.

Guilty as charged your honor. Now can I go home?

 

[CuppaJoe]

Did anyone find this post a bit ironic, with the poster's American flag avatar?

Oui!

 

[Lakedog]

I think if I received the notice, I would just go unless there was a major conflict (or they would excuse you based on distance). Of course, I have never been called for jury duty. As a federal employee before retiring a few months ago, I remember very few people at the old agency being called either. I have been at my current residence for 13 years, so would have expected at least a couple of notices during that time. No complaints though......

 

[ls99]

I've been called to jury duty many times, only once got to the part where lawyers do their peremptory dumps of jurors. The Judge asked out loud, do any of you have any legal training?

I, in all seriousness put up my hand, and asked the judge; could you please define legal training? I did not think a couple of business law and constitutional law classes amounted to legal training, but to be safe, asked. The Judge said, law school.

The two opposing lawyers took my number down, in 2 minutes I was excused from the case.

 

[Purron]

I've been called three times and ended up on two trials. One was a simple robbery case and the other was kidnapping and assualt with a knife. TromboneAl - having been there I know what a hassle this is. Even more so in your case given the long drive to the court house. This being said, I sense you would make a good juror. I base this on how you communicate with others and appear to be non judgemental. You know, the kind of person I would hope to see sitting there if I was wrongly accused. I know it is almost never the case, but serving as a juror does give a person the opportunity to make a big difference in someone's life. It did for the trial I sat on where the woman was kidnapped and stabbed. Not a fun experience, but something I look back on as something important I have participated in.

 

[Milton]

Personally, I would love to be called to jury duty (having never done it). My friends tell me I'm crazy! The way I see it, it would get me out of the office, and let me participate in the system and make sure justice was done.

TromboneAl has it exactly right. There's lots of pointless waiting around, and precious little "making sure justice is done".

Remember that just because you are a member of the jury pool, you will not necessarily be selected as an actual juror. And lets' not even think about the prospect of being assigned to a large criminal conspiracy case, or a complicated intellectual property dispute, which drags on for many months and has zero dramatic elements.

Listen to your friends! You are crazy!

 

[donheff]

I kinda like jury duty, although I wouldn't want to get on a long trial. I don't have trouble with the boredom since I just read a book and never had a problem with that being allowed -- except during Voire Dire (sp?) or while sitting on a jury I have never been called for Federal jury duty - it would be interesting to be on a jury or grand jury for a showcase trial. My neighbor was the foreman of the Watergate grand jury.

 

[dgalbraith100]

I'm currently doing jury duty on a grand jury. Here, there are 3 panels that run 2 days a week, and a final panel that has alternates pulled in for if there is a missing person.

I was on the alternate panel, but volunteered to be on one of the full panels. (I have the time, not like I'm doing anything else "serious"). So I've been going for the last 2 months, 2 days a week. I have one more month left.

I don't know what petit jury (what most people thing of in jury duty) is like since I've never served in that. Alot of people will think I'm sick and have something wrong, but ... Grand jury duty is a really quite fun. We hear anywhere from 15-30+ cases in a day. We only have to have probably cause, and 8 out of 12 people to "True Bill" a case. We don't need "beyond a reasonable doubt". Instead its basically... "Yea, that probably happened, and that person probably did it... Next..." Once we say that, then they can charge the person with a crime, and start that process. If we say "No Bill" then thats it, the DA is dead in the water and can't continue.

It is very interesting all the cases that come though. We don't have alot of downtime, but if a witness fails to show up (usually a police officer, who gets stuck in at a call type of thing). We can sit for 30-60 minutes with nothing to do. On our worst day, we've sat around for about 3 hours total with nothing to do. On our busiest day, we have had a few bathroom breaks, a lunch break, and solid cases one after another after another. It goes fast enough to make your head spin. No point in trying to remember them. The longest single case was a white collar crime, very complex. Took about 4 hours of testimony, and about an hour of us deliberating about it. (69 charges I believe)

I'd do it again (in a year) , its been very eye opening as to what goes on in this city, and the number of *stupid* criminals is mind boggling. The number of Domestic Violence cases we have heard is also crazy. For some reason, drinking and jealousy don't seem to mix.

Oh yea, and I'm making the big bucks at 6.25 an hour (or whatever min. wage is)

Laters,
-d.

 

[rocketdog]

It's 35 miles to the court house, and trials are usually only held in the morning hours, so a week of jury duty means 6-7 hours on the road.

I once lived a long way from the courthouse, and when I was called for jury duty I called them and explained there was no easy way for me to get to the court house. ( I had no car, there was no public transit) They "canceled" my jury duty--no problem.
Perhaps you could contact the court, and tell them you are on a fixed income, and cannot afford the gas needed to make the long commute to the courthouse. It might work.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Your retired. What else do you have to do Al.

 

[dgalbraith100]

I don't know if this is always true, but here, the gas excuse wouldn't fly. Their answer is "We pay mileage cost" (I think it was something like .40 a mile, so it probably doesn't even cover gas these days, but trying that excuse won't get you anywhere). I heard people trying it when I went to my orientation day before my jury duty started... and it was basically shot down.

The "time cost" you might be able to use though.

-d.

 

[Achiever51]

I've been called for jury duty twice in my life; the first time right after (something like 3 days) after I gave birth to my daughter. I called and explained my circumstances and they cancelled my summons.

The second time I got the summons, I went and had a similar experience to T-Al's at first. Sat around in a large room for several hours with a blaring TV before getting called to the courtroom with a group of potential jurors. The case we were being considered for was a domestic violence case, so there were lots of questions to the potential jurors about their own experience with domestic violence. I was somewhat taken aback by the number of people on my panel who were the victims of (or knew others who were victims of) domestic violence. Then the lawyers threw out the fact that the victim in this case was the husband; the wife was the accused. Several of the potential jurors said that they'd have problems dealing with a case like that. I couldn't think of any reason fast enough, so I wasn't excused.

I was selected for the panel and told when to return for the trial (several days later). Got to the courthouse that morning and sat around in a different room for several hours...waiting. Then a court clerk came in, escorted us to the courtroom where we were seated in the jury box, but there weren't any lawyers, defendant or accused. The judge came in, thanked us for our willingness to serve and excused us as the trial was cancelled. He didn't explain any further. The next day, I read in the paper about a local homicide/suicide case where the husband killed his wife and then himself and from the details in the story, I think it was the same couple.

If called, I'd go again.

 

[Htown Harry]

I've experienced the full range, from sitting in the holding pen for a half-day to being selected for a high-profile criminal trial that lasted over a week.

One of the things I did during the slow times of the selection process or the trial was to scan the audience and guess how the people I saw lived their lives or - during the trial - how they might be related to participants. For example, I pegged several old guys watching the courtroom testimony as "retiree out for some cheap entertainment".

So I say "go", as a service to your fellow juror candidates. Spotting a guy with a touch of gray hair - one carrying a trombone case and wearing sunglasses and a "surf's up" t-shirt - would have been very mysterious and entertaining. Especially if I suspected he was a little drunk...

 

[Goonie]

Be sure to convict the guilty b@stard and hang his @ss.

The company that my Dad worked for did pay their employees for jury duty.....they gave them the time off with no problem, but would pay them for that time. So the first time my Dad got a summons, he went down there and asked them "Who do I get to find guilty and send to prison today?" They told him he shouldn't talk that way, because guilt or innocence was yet to be determined. His reply was "I'm missing out on 8 hours of pay today, and I have a family to support. So some poor SOB is gonna pay for it!" He was dismissed, and never called upon again.

Don't show up at all... What do you think would happen?

In our county they issue a warrant for your arrest whether the summons was received or not, and you get to go see a judge about it, and explain it to him/her. It's stated in bold red print on the jury summons.