Jury duty during a pandemic.

[EastWest Gal]

I just got a summons for jury duty for early October. I have a few KN95 masks and will wear one for the duration. The county website goes into detail regarding mitigation, but I'm concerned about sitting in a room for an entire day with strangers even with social distancing. Our area has not been hard hit, but schools are now in session. Has anyone experienced jury duty this since March?

[cathy63]

My Mom just did jury duty this month. She's 85 and there's no exemption for age in her county as long as the person is mentally competent and physically able, which she is. She first had to go in and fill out a questionnaire which didn't take long, but she did find out that they were looking for jurors for a murder trial with defendants from the MS-13 gang.

After not hearing anything for a couple of weeks and thinking she was not selected, they called her back this last Tuesday for voir dire. They kept her sitting around all day before questioning her and then quickly dismissing her when she said she was especially concerned about Covid due to her age. She said people were good about wearing masks both days, but I am pretty perturbed about the whole thing.

[Birdie Num Nums]

I got a summons earlier this month. They did the basic questionnaire online, with follow-up questions done via Zoom or down at the courthouse for those without the ability or willingness to do it via Zoom. I was supposed to go for a follow-up August 27, for a murder trial, but the day before got an email from the bailiff saying that I was excused.


Not my scheduled trial, but related: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion...-felony-trial/

[Birdie Num Nums]

BTW: This is the 4th time I have been called for jury duty. First, about 30 years ago. I think I got a notice that I was excused before I even showed up. I forget. The 2nd time was about 25 years ago. I was selected to serve on the jury, and we found the defendant guilty of a DUI. The 3rd time was about two years ago. I showed up, answered all the questions, and sat around for about an hour until the judge came in and said the parties had reached an agreement and we (the juror pool) were all excused.

[Aerides]

In most jurisdictions, you can elect to defer, usually can do so twice for 6 months at a time. I would.

[stepford]

I'm in the same boat, but hopeful. DW was summoned in June, but jurors are called by assigned group number and she was in group 17. We watched nervously every day as more groups were called. They got up to group 15 by Friday and she never had to go.

I got my summons two days ago and I'm in group 38, so my fingers are crossed. It seems that in my county the same number of jurors are being summoned, but a relatively small number are actually being called due to COVID restrictions. I guess I'm counting on that.

[martyp]

I got a jury duty notice a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised the courts were open for normal business. I hadn’t gotten a jury duty notice in 20 years but I had changed my address to another county. That may have triggered it. In any case I got out of it by letting them know my current residence is in Thailand. They wanted proof so I sent them a photo of my Thai drivers license. I haven’t heard back from them so I guess that worked.

[homestead]

I got called in May and was able to defer it until April next year.

[scrabbler1]

I served jury duty in 1987, 1996, and 2007, so that's about once every 10 years. Since it has been 13 years since I was last called, I figure I am overdue to be called again. Without the pandemic, I wouldn't mind being called. But with the pandemic, and my being in a likely higher risk group (I have Type 2 Diabetes), I would surely be nervous about it.

[Walt34]

Here anyone over 65 can be excused just by asking, which I won't hesitate to do. DW will be 65 next year so she'll be able to be excused too.

[flyingaway]

I got a notice last week and was also asked to fill out a jury questionnaire and mail it back. From September 27 to October 30, I will need to call a phone number at 5:00pm every day to see if I will be needed the next day. This is my first time to be asked to serve.

[Richard4444]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Here anyone over 65 can be excused just by asking, which I won't hesitate to do. DW will be 65 next year so she'll be able to be excused too.

Here in Florida, I believe at 70, you can be excused for your age. I was summoned for jury duty one year ago, not yet 70, but basically gave my medical history and copies of physician letters that I keep, and I was excused.

Rich

[harllee]

I have served several times on juries--once on a Federal Grand Jury that went on 3 months. But there is no way I would serve on a jury now. Sitting close in a jury box? Sitting even closer in the jury room? No way. Fortunately my state has suspended all jury trials for the time being and trials before a judge are being held by Zoom. If I were in a state that has jury trials now I would have to get out of it somehow.

[ckelly78z]

I had to serve yesterday for jury duty selection for a criminal trial. We congregated at the local theater to easily social distance, get screened, and processed. We ended up waiting about 2 hours in the theater before the judge chowed up, and announced that the defendant changed his plea that morning to guilty...we were excused.

There was no Zoom option, or age requirement (between 20-85 present). We live in a rural community that never had a bad Covid problem (only 5 deaths in the whole county).

[dixonge]

I have always done my best to get out of jury duty. The reasons are many, but mainly an inability to sit still that long. I used to blame this on being raised in church having to listen to my father's sermons three times a week. LOL Later I was diagnosed w/ ADHD.


I only came close once. I was never dismissed outright, but they got to 12 + 2 alternates before they got to me. I was like juror #18 or something. I even tried to get the defense to strike me by indicating that I had been a victim of the same crime the defendant was accused of (true) but that I thought I could be fair. Supposedly this scares the bejeebus out of lawyers who would think I was lying so I could seek vengeance. Never got to test that out fully.


Having said all of that, I would do pretty much anything to get out of it right now. To me it's a matter of life and death. Currently sitting in my RV several states away from my home address. But even if I was back near home, if I got a notice I would definitely be a long way away by the time I called them.

[gayl]

I served on 1 DUI trail and was 'asked to leave' on 1 capital case. They opted for death penalty. I would have held them up FOREVER as I think that punishment is wrong.

This time I just sent back a copy of my driver's license (I'm in my 60s). It's going to be a long trial and I don't want to serve on long one with covid out there. Our positivity rate is still around 4% in the city where the courthouse is.

[stepford]

My useless doctor refused to write me a note ("You're only 60 so your risk isn't that high"). So if my number comes up I'll have to serve in about 2 weeks. Odds are about 50/50 that I'll have to go. If I do I'll be wearing mask, face shield and gloves.

If I get COVID I wonder if I can sue my doctor...

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stepford My useless doctor refused to write me a note ("You're only 60 so your risk isn't that high"). So if my number comes up I'll have to serve in about 2 weeks. Odds are about 50/50 that I'll have to go. If I do I'll be wearing mask, face shield and gloves. If I get COVID I wonder if I can sue my doctor...

If I got called for jury duty in my area right now and I could not get out of it I just would not go, they would have to hold me in contempt. Of course I am older than you with a very high risk spouse. Fortunately they are not having jury trials here now. I have served on the jury many times in the past (one time for 3 months) but it would just not be safe for me now. I wonder if on voir dire you tell the lawyers that you are afraid to serve now because of Covid they would dismiss you? Might be worth a try.

[stepford]

I expect I can get tossed out of voir dire if it gets to that point, but I would still have to be indoors with dozens of random strangers for a day beforehand. I'm not willing to risk a contempt citation right now ( possibility of multiple days in court dealing with that are higher risk than jury duty itself). I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and go if called. Perhaps my blasé doctor is right and I am overly concerned about minimal risk, but if I do get sick I will raise an unholy stink about it (if I am physically able).

[MRG]

Many years ago I watched a very clever man get dismissed by the judge when asked if he had any reason why he couldn't be a juror. The plaintiff was a woman and the gentleman claimed, without medical backing, he had a very hard time hearing woman's voices like his DW'S. Judge had a sense of humor and said something about people being blessed in different ways. Dismissed him.