Author Topic: Jury Duty (Read 649 times)

SunTracker · « **on:** May 02, 2004, 08:04:20 PM »

I received a letter yesterday saying that I had jury duty June 4th. I am willing to be a juror, but I have a vacation planned out on June 11th. I checked my cities webpage and it said I will be "on call" for two weeks.

So if I have a trial that lasts only a few days, will I have to stay in the city for the entire two weeks?

How many days does an average jury trial last?

If you have had jury duty, please tell what it was like. I don't want to go in totally ignorant.

Shane · « **Reply #1 on:** May 02, 2004, 08:43:08 PM »

what basically happens is you go into a pool of potential jurors, this, depending on the locality can be a 1/2 to all day thing.

you'll be called with a buncha of other potential jurors for a case. you'll listen to the judge and lawyers make some statements, explaining the process, what the case is about, your responsibilities, how the selection process works, etc. etc.

then lawyers for both sides will have an oppt'y to question the jurors in that pool and eliminate ones they feel uncomfortable with, for whatever reason up to a certain #.

if you're not selected for the actual jury, you might be done with your juror "duty" that very same day unless your locality puts you back into the general pool for the day or week, in which case the process is repeated until your "time" is up. usually they'll let you go the same day if you haven't been selected.

now, if you *are* selected for an actual jury, the cases are usually started fairly soon afterwards. maybe even the same day or next day.

how long an actual jury duty might last depends on the case, could be from 1/2 day to months - ala OJ.

so if you really wanna weasel out of it, act like an ultra conservative to feels the perp is already guilty. the defense lawyer will be sure to exclude you post haste.

if you don't mind serving then answer stuff honestly. they may or may not keep you.

Nash · « **Reply #2 on:** May 02, 2004, 08:53:52 PM »

You want out?

Just say "If more people were packin' heat, then this sort of tomfoolery wouldn't happen."

But... personally... dodging jury duty is far below dodging the draft.

SunTracker · « **Reply #3 on:** May 02, 2004, 09:29:39 PM »

Great info guys. One more question though. Does being enrolled in college classes exempt a person from jury duty? I have not started my summer class yet, so I can still drop it.

deknuf · « **Reply #4 on:** May 02, 2004, 10:01:36 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by SunTracker
Great info guys. One more question though. Does being enrolled in college classes exempt a person from jury duty? I have not started my summer class yet, so I can still drop it.

Yes, you are exempt

Wolf14 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 02, 2004, 10:42:01 PM »

on call 2 weeks?

doesnt sound like any jury duty, sounds like federal jury duty. If thats the case, have fun. I served on one and I was lucky. Got picked on first case. Eveybody else got shuffled around like cattle at the stock yards. The federal district court in Houston said that they could have people on call for up ro 30 days but since they always had good turnouts they only required 2 weeks. They do make sure you are reinbursed for your expenses and parking fees.

majic · « **Reply #6 on:** May 02, 2004, 10:50:50 PM »

I got the call for jury duty this last March. I didn't have enough vacation time yet so they let me postpone until mid-summer. Maybe you can postpone as well.

Tarmac · « **Reply #7 on:** May 03, 2004, 12:16:56 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by deknuf
Yes, you are exempt

Not in my county/state. College or not, you're going.

Here you could delay it once if you had cause. You may be able to do that to avoid cancelling your vacation. Call your county clerk (or whoever handles it in your area) and ask.

Also, does your summons require you to show up or just call in? Here, I just had to call each night for a week. There was an answering machine that said my jury pool group number and told me whether to show up tomorrow. I never actually had to go in... each day it just said "don't come in, but call tomorrow after 5pm." At the end of the week they just said "you've fulfilled your requirement, thanks for your service." Easy.

SunTracker · « **Reply #8 on:** May 03, 2004, 12:19:31 AM »

I'm not sure, the letter I got just told me to show up on June 4th or I could mail my "excuse" to them. I would actually like to go to jury duty. Might be my chance to make a difference in the system. I have school in June and July, but I can cancel my June schedule.

Tarmac · « **Reply #9 on:** May 03, 2004, 12:21:59 AM »

Probably not worth it to cancel your plans. In all likelihood you'll get thrown out, or the guy will plead out just before the trial starts. Sometimes they find their jurors before they pull your number and they just send you home.

Call your county clerk and ask.

ed: an "excuse" usually doesn't actually get you excused, often just delays it.

AKIron · « **Reply #10 on:** May 03, 2004, 12:39:15 AM »

Maybe you'll get to sit on Michael Jackson's trial, write a book about it, get rich and famous. Eeeeeeeeee.

Shane · « **Reply #11 on:** May 03, 2004, 01:53:26 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by AKIron
Maybe you'll get to sit on Michael Jackson's lap, write a book about it, get rich and famous. Eeeeeeeeee.

that's possible.

SunTracker · « **Reply #12 on:** May 03, 2004, 01:57:13 AM »

In Louisville Kentucky?

qts · « **Reply #13 on:** May 03, 2004, 04:21:30 AM »

Why don't you just contact them and say you're going on holiday on the 11th and could they please delay your jury service until you get back?

flakbait · « **Reply #14 on:** May 03, 2004, 05:23:53 AM »

I've done this before, too. What you do is call a certain number after 5pm and listen for your group number. If you hear your number get called, then you're going in. Being on-call for two weeks definitely sucks, especially when you get picked to come in on the last fraggin day you're on duty! In my bunch there was a guy just like Milton from Office Space. The same voice, the same listhhhhhhp, the same weird attitude. He was trying to get outa duty by saying he had a ton of important clients, and that his company couldn't run without him. When the judge asked him "how many people work for you?" ol Milton answered "25, but they really need me or they can't get their work done, and then it starts making more work, and..." The judge cut him off with "If you have 25 people working for you, I think you can afford to join the rest of us." All I could think of during the whole exchange was whether I could get away with taking a boot off and pitching it at the back of Milton's head.

If you do get called up (odds are you will) you could sit on a simple dispute, or a high-profile murder trial. It could really go either way. The case I was called up for was fairly simple. Labor and Industries said this idiot was faking carpal tunnel syndrome to get Workman's Comp, and the guy's lawyer said he wasn't. In the end the guy's case got tossed out and he was smacked with court costs and fees up the whazoo. My neighbor had duty the month after I did, and his whole stint lasted two days. One day to hear the particulars of the case, one day to debate it and come up with a verdict. On the same token, the old apartment manager got nailed for duty and spent the next three weeks sitting on a fairly nasty murder trial. It entirely depends on where you live. Small towns have a bigger number of civil cases, minor criminal offenses, and the like. But if you live in a nice BIG city, you could get anything!

Depending on what you think of the justice system, it can either be interesting, fun, or very boring. I wouldn't know personally since I never got bagged to sit on a case....But ol Milton did!

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Flakbait [Delta6]
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