Nearly Dodged the Jury Duty Summons

[Midpack]

Never even notified to appear in my life while living in OH, FL, TX or IN. Moved to NC at age 65 and I’ve been notified twice! Not selected the first time a few years ago, and not selected again the second time last year - would have been for Grand Jury, a six month term every other week (whew, glad I dodged that). If I am called again in NC, I’ll have a lifetime get out of jail free card, in NC anyone 72 or older can refuse without appearing at all…

 

[Amethyst]

I had an interesting experience on a mock jury. We were never told whether the plaintiffs or the defendants paid for this, but in big $$$ civil damages cases often one or both sides will pay an outside third party to arrange a mock trial similar to a focus group to get a handle on their chances of winning and as a way to assess the size of possible awards.



We as jurors were paid $300 each for 3 hours of work. First we listened to summary presentations from actors representing both sides. Then we were filmed as we deliberated to see our reactions and measure our understanding of the issues. I was chosen as foreman.

Wow, I never got more than $15 a day. And no lunch.

 

[Badger]

I was called in 4 times but only picked once. That lasted for about an hour when the defendant decided it would be more prudent to declare guilty. Since then I am no longer a desirable candidate for being too old, too educated and probably not what the defendant's lawyer would prefer.

 

[jazz4cash]

The jury I was selected for years ago involved a vehicle accident that disfigured the driver. She hit a tree coming home from a party on a country road at night in the rain. You couldn’t really notice disfigurement until she smiled, but I’m sure her friends and family could tell. Her husband was sleep in the back seat because he had been drinking at the party. They sued the County Engineer for failure to remove a hazard next to the road. The husband was an insurance company executive which should not have mattered but it all just seemed like a money grab. I guess the plaintiff’s attorney read the body language of the jury. After opening arguments we went to lunch. When we returned from lunch they had settled. The plaintiff was headed for a loss but the county settled. The judge saw that we were livid and tried to calm us down. “ this is our system, yadda, yadda”. It felt like a giant lottery for lawyers, judges, and plaintiffs with taxpayers covering the overhead. The county cut the tree down.

 

[StevenA]

The first time I was summoned to jury duty was in the 70s when I was in college during finals week. I got the summons just a few months after registering to vote for the first time, so I think the voter registration records were where they got their names. The college's law school had a legal assistance office for students so I went there to see if I could get out of jury duty. The day I went it was manned by a law school student who said he would give his right arm to serve on a jury and was incredulous that I wanted out. After about 20 minutes of arguing with him, he finally reluctantly told me that, as a full-time student, I was exempt from have to serve.

Since moving to Florida in 1991 I have been summoned to jury duty numerous times but only served once, for a civil trial. The other times I either was told the night before that I didn't have to report, or I reported and just hung around the waiting room for several hours until those of us who weren't chosen were finally told we could leave. That usually occurred around noon or early afternoon. Now that I'm over 70, I can opt out of any future summonses but now I actually have the time to serve if I want to.

P.S. The movies 12 Angry Men (1957) and Juror Number 2 (2024) are excellent jury dramas but bear little resemblance to actually serving on a jury.

 

[harllee]

I don't know why but I have been called to serve on the jury a bunch of time--I bet 12 times in my lifetime. Once I was even on the Federal Grand Jury and had to go once a month for a year! I have actually had to sit on the jury 4 times. Now I am too old to serve and was recently called to serve and got out of it. Why are some us called so often and others never called?

 

[thod]

My wife served on a jury here in Texas, lasted about 3 days. It was a murder-for-hire trial. At the end, the accused woman ended up pleading guilty. The actual murderer (that was hired, testified. It was required as part of his trial plea.) My wife said that was scary, big biker gang kind of person. At one time, he sort of made a slight move toward the jury, shook them all a little.

After the trial, the judge sat down with the jurors and told them a lot of stuff that happened during the trial that they could not know (when the jury was out of the room.)

The time he lunged toward the jury was discussed. The judge assured them they were in no danger. There were 2 uniformed policemen present, and 2 or 3 armed undercover policemen in the gallery. And the judge himself said he had a gun beside him also.

The case was actually covered by two different TV shows that cover interesting cases.

 

[disneysteve]

The system is so broken. Requiring random people to upend their lives, miss work and the pay that goes with it, to sit in a windowless room for 8 hours just in case you might need them for a jury. Then if someone is actually picked, need to upend their lives for days or weeks to serve on that jury, during which time they don't get paid from their job, might need to pay for childcare, parking, lunch, etc. It creates a huge hardship for many people.

For years, I was able to get out of jury duty every time I got called by submitting a letter saying that I was the sole full time physician serving a medically-under served community (which was 100% true). Then one year they denied my request. I had to close the office for a day, which meant my patients all had to reschedule their appointments. I wasted an entire day sitting in that windowless room before finally being called up to the courtroom close to the end of the day. The judge asked if anyone had a reason they couldn't serve. When it was my turn, I went up and stated exactly the same thing I stated in my letter. The judge goes, "So you don't think doctors should ever have to serve jury duty." I respectfully answered that I didn't say that at all. It should be on a case by case basis and repeated my situation and he excused me, which they should have just done from the original request. Oh well.

I got called again last year and had no excuses since I'm retired now but fortunately my number wasn't picked so I didn't have to appear. I'm sure my luck will run out one of these days.

 

[pacergal]

I have received many summons, my number was picked once and I actually was able to get on a jury. I didn't think I would, as it was a medical case.
I received a Federal summons in 2019, to serve for two years, 2020-2022. Not able to get out of it, but during covid, not too many juries called!

 

[jazz4cash]

The system is so broken. Requiring random people to upend their lives, miss work and the pay that goes with it, to sit in a windowless room for 8 hours just in case you might need them for a jury. Then if someone is actually picked, need to upend their lives for days or weeks to serve on that jury, during which time they don't get paid from their job, might need to pay for childcare, parking, lunch, etc. It creates a huge hardship for many people.

For years, I was able to get out of jury duty every time I got called by submitting a letter saying that I was the sole full time physician serving a medically-under served community (which was 100% true). Then one year they denied my request. I had to close the office for a day, which meant my patients all had to reschedule their appointments. I wasted an entire day sitting in that windowless room before finally being called up to the courtroom close to the end of the day. The judge asked if anyone had a reason they couldn't serve. When it was my turn, I went up and stated exactly the same thing I stated in my letter. The judge goes, "So you don't think doctors should ever have to serve jury duty." I respectfully answered that I didn't say that at all. It should be on a case by case basis and repeated my situation and he excused me, which they should have just done from the original request. Oh well.

I got called again last year and had no excuses since I'm retired now but fortunately my number wasn't picked so I didn't have to appear. I'm sure my luck will run out one of these days.

I hear you, but your description is a bit overdramatic. The waiting room has windows and free wifi. Our Jury Coordonator did a great job explaining why jurors are needed. She put it in the context of a family member being injured and an insurance company that won’t pay. I am not arguing that our system is not broken. There are a lot of issues with sentencing and the cost to mount a defense for a typical citizen. My biggest issue of all is reliance on circumstantial evidence

 

[harllee]

What about artificial intelligence being the jury? That's a scary thought.

 

[disneysteve]

What about artificial intelligence being the jury? That's a scary thought.

No thanks. But I do think pulling random people out of their lives and livelihoods creates a jury of people who just want to get out of there as quickly as possible. Jury member should be a job, a profession. People trained and educated on how to properly evaluate evidence and testimonies. The law is complicated. The average person isn’t equipped to negotiate all of the intricacies involved. So many people are wrongly convicted of crimes and end up spending years in prison despite their innocence.

 

[MichaelB]

No thanks. But I do think pulling random people out of their lives and livelihoods creates a jury of people who just want to get out of there as quickly as possible. Jury member should be a job, a profession. People trained and educated on how to properly evaluate evidence and testimonies. The law is complicated. The average person isn’t equipped to negotiate all of the intricacies involved. So many people are wrongly convicted of crimes and end up spending years in prison despite their innocence.

We are entitled to a jury of our peers, not a jury of professional jurors. Having lived many years in a system where there was no trial by jury or habeas corpus, I’ll take our system over all others.

I don’t want a jury of doctors, lawyers, college professors or plumbers, and certainly not a group of people trained to judge. There’s already a judge in the courtroom. I want a random selection of citizens with diverse varying perspectives and backgrounds. When such a group can reach a unanimous consensus on something, it probably is for good reason.

 

[Chuckanut]

I used to think it would be cool to be on a jury but a few close calls have changed my mind. I was selected and made it through opening arguments once. The case was settled by the time we returned from lunch. A great waste of taxpayer money.

Why was that a waste of taxpayer money? Would having a full-blown trial been cheaper?

 

[Chuckanut]

I've been on two jury trials in my life. One trial was criminal activity including battery on a police officer and burglary. The other was violation of a no-contact order. I consider both to be a great learning experience for me. I learned a lot about the law and how it is applied.

I believe in both cases the verdict we reached delivered reasonable and fair justice. Was the experience perfect? No. But, it is a major mistake to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

 

[disneysteve]

I don’t want a jury of doctors, lawyers, college professors or plumbers

That depends on who you are and what you are on trial for. As a physician, when I went to court on a malpractice claim, I absolutely would have wanted a jury of my peers, fellow doctors, people who actually understood the issues at hand. Thankfully the jury ruled in my favor but with 12 people who had varying degrees of knowledge of medicine, it could have easily gone the other way. It really shouldn't come down to who has the better lawyer who could convince the jury that their client is right.

 

[MC Rider]

I'm on call this week and hope I don't have to go in, but probably will. I hate leaving at 6 dark 30 to be there at 8 AM. Don't trust the system at all. Justice for all, my ass.

 

[Chuckanut]

I enjoy The Lincoln Lawyer series on TV. But, I don't for one second believe that the histrionics that make a good TV show represent a real life trial. Well, maybe in the OJ case..

After the trial, the judge sat down with the jurors and told them a lot of stuff that happened during the trial that they could not know (when the jury was out of the room.)

A friend was on criminal case years ago where the accused was a prison inmate who allegedly had committed a horrible assault on another prisoner. They convicted him of everything.

After the trial was over the DA told them all about the defendant's past criminal history to assure them they had made a good decision. It was pretty grisly stuff.

 

[ArmchairMillionaire]

I enjoy The Lincoln Lawyer series on TV

I've only read the books by Michael Connelly. I own 8 of them in hardcover. I had no idea it was on TV.

 

[Chuckanut]

I've only read the books by Michael Connelly I own 8 of them in hardcover. I had no idea it was on TV.

It's on Netflix. Thankfully, the stories are pretty much very true to the books unlike others that add things and often change endings and other important parts of the stories (I am looking at you Foundation and Pickett).

They do modernize the stories a bit, and add a bit of side drama, but the basic people, plots and outcomes are the same, IMO.

 

[Gumby]

I've received 4 state court jury summons and 1 federal jury summons. I only had to show up once, the rest were called off when I called in the night before the due date. The one time I actually did have to show up in person, I was the first venireman called out for voir dire (which by the Connecticut Constitution is done individually for each potential juror). It is typically just the two counsel, the potential juror and a court reporter. The judge is called in only when there is a dispute over challenges for cause.

As soon as I came into the court room, the two counsel said to me simultaneously "you're excused". So I thanked them and left for work. Completely understandable. I wouldn't want me on a jury either.

 

[Alan]

The right to trial by a jury of one’s peers is one of the things that makes the US such a great place. It’s an amazing right, and only works when we the people make an effort.

Exactly. I have been called several times and actually selected and served on one criminal trial.

The right to a trial by jury and the associated double jeopardy law have been embedded in the laws of England since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. There are few laws in the Magna Carta that have not been superseded but the right to a trial by a jury of your peers still stands.

 

[Gumby]

......It really shouldn't come down to who has the better lawyer who could convince the jury that their client is right.

The young wife once said the same thing to me. My response was "It's a darned good thing it matters how good your lawyer is, or they wouldn't be paying me the big bucks."

 

[jazz4cash]

What about artificial intelligence being the jury? That's a scary thought.

Yeah, scary but humans are being programmed to accept AI as the end all-be all. Reminds me of a recently released movie where the accused has access to thousands of databases and video to prove his innocence.

 

[disneysteve]

The young wife once said the same thing to me. My response was "It's a darned good thing it matters how good your lawyer is, or they wouldn't be paying me the big bucks."

Unfortunately, it's also why thousands of people are languishing in prison for crimes they didn't commit, because their public defender wasn't as good as the other side's attorney making the big bucks. Certainly if I'm on trial I want the best lawyer I can find, but not everyone has that privilege.