Jury duty PIA or proud to serve?

[Diesel911]

Jury duty PITA or proud to serve?
How about your comments and expariences.
I have jury duty coming up in January, 2008. I have done it many times before but I am not looking forward to it.
It would be funny if I got on a case where someone has been using one of those illegal alternate fuels.

[jkoebel]

I've always managed to get excused from jury duty, and I really want to do it. Three times, in fact.

[Jim B.]

I have had a look at it from the "other side" for more years than I care to remember.

Jury panels are assembled when it becomes pretty clear that the criminal or civil case is not going to "settle" and it looks like there will be a trial.

The reason most of the time many jurors get called, go to the Courthouse, and sit around for hours in some "Jury assembly room" reading newspapers and old magazines and doing nothing, is because there is last ditch haggling by the lawyers going on; the presence of potential "jurors" down the hall, ready to go, gives a HUGE incentive to get the case settled, or plea bargained, and one more case off the Court's calendar.

You would be surprised at what goes on "behind the scenes" while you are sitting around and waiting to be called into Court to serve on the jury - or sent home, having done nothing all day. The very fact you were there at all actually helps the course of justice move along when your presence caused an intractible case to "settle".

You should hear the stories people tell the Judge to try to evade jury duty.

Don't EVER try "My grandmother died in Texas and I have to go to the funeral", that is the oldest one in the book, they will laugh in your face soooooo hard.


An imperfect scenario, perhaps, but I have yet to see a better one come along

[nate300d]

Three years ago I served on Grand Jury for four months. We met as the case load required which ended up being about 1-2 days per month. Grand Jury was very eye opening. I did not realize how many felony level crimes were being charged in the rural county that I live in.

I would say about 98% of the cases were so blatantly obvious of being felony level. In about 20% of the cases my thought was that this does not need to go to trial....get a rope and save the tax money now. Then there was one case where a baby died as a result of the negligence of about eight people. The prosecutor wanted a fish to fry and quite frankly all of us on the Grand Jury wanted to take a baseball bat to all eight, but buy law there was no 'smoking gun' in the case and no one was charged.

It was a learning experience and I am glad for the opportunity. With that said I don't think that I would care to serve on a trial jury.

[Hatterasguy]

I hate jury duty and luckly have never been called in.

If I ever get stuck going I'll make up some story about being an equal opertunity racist looking to hang whoever is on trial. That should get me out.

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I hate jury duty and luckly have never been called in.

If I ever get stuck going I'll make up some story about being an equal opertunity racist looking to hang whoever is on trial. That should get me out.

They claim that you are selected from the voters registration list. However, I registered to vote at 18 and was not ever selected to go on jury duty until I was 32 years old (after I got a job with the Fed. Gov.). It is clear that after getting that job I was put on some sort of list.

[wbain5280]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I hate jury duty and luckly have never been called in.

If I ever get stuck going I'll make up some story about being an equal opertunity racist looking to hang whoever is on trial. That should get me out.

Then how do you know you hate it? As for the second commnet, you could be charged with contempt.

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I hate jury duty and luckly have never been called in.

If I ever get stuck going I'll make up some story about being an equal opertunity racist looking to hang whoever is on trial. That should get me out.

Yeah, saying that will probably get you off the jury, (especially a criminal jury), but using it as a transparent ploy (they hear this kind of crap every day) to evade jury duty it would probably annoy the Judge enough to make him excuse you only from his Courtroom, and send you back to the jury assembly room to cool your heels all day until you get herded into the next courtroom to try your luck there.

Listen, Judges all day have to listen to people claiming they are too busy, they are such busy, hotshot realtors, or such important businessmen to waste their time on jury duty, and that they are so much better and more important than ordinary citizens that they should not have to bother with jury duty.

That attitude will get them a lecture about how along with the benefits of citizenship comes the burdens, one of which is serving on juries. It won't get them off jury duty, though.

If you have an upcoming honeymoon, or a vacation (and bring the airline tickets to prove it), have proof that you are so broke the wolves are at the door, and need to be out looking for work, or are a legal resident of another county, or absolutely honestly can't speak English and somehow are a citizen anyway, all of those things will almost certainly get you out of jury duty.

But "big business plans" won't, and saying that you "are the sole owner of a small business" will get you a lecture that nowhere is it written that small business owners and people in business for yourself, are exempt from jury duty, and that if ONE small business owner gets excused, then ALL small business owners would have to be excused, so that won't fly.

Now if the jury is going to be a six month long murder trial, the Courts often hand out "hardship questionaires" for potential jurors to fill out, because it is understood that making people be on a jury every day for half a year is likely to cause some real, recognizable hardships.

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

I hate jury duty and luckly have never been called in.

If I ever get stuck going I'll make up some story about being an equal opertunity racist looking to hang whoever is on trial. That should get me out.

Interesting comments.......

[MTI]

However, I am in favor of what many courts call "jury reform."

I don't believe that jurors should be kept waiting, idly sitting in hallways or lounges without being informed of what is going on or why they are being held hostage. The biggest complaint from jurors and prospective jurors is the amount of wasted time, not the time spent hearing the case.

I am in favor of allowing jurors to submit written questions, moderated by the judge and counsel. Note-taking should be allowed as well, with instructions given about the use of one's personal notes.

[tankdriver]

I was called once, wasn't picked. It was a waste of a day (that I didn't get paid for because I had one of those, don't work don't get paid jobs), and I'd heard stories from people who once they were called, got called regularly every 2 years in VA.
I vote PITA. I'll do it if I have to though.

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by MTI

However, I am in favor of what many courts call "jury reform."

I don't believe that jurors should be kept waiting, idly sitting in hallways or lounges without being informed of what is going on or why they are being held hostage. The biggest complaint from jurors and prospective jurors is the amount of wasted time, not the time spent hearing the case.

Probably you know the reason for that is that it facilitates the settlement of cases where there is not otherwise a reason to do so. Once the jury panel of prospective jurors is summoned into a Courtroom for voir dire, pretty much the time for talking and negotiating is done, now it is time for the trial in Court to commence.

Settlements do occur within the time of trial, or even as far along as during jury deliberations, and then the jurors are dismissed, wondering if all their work has been for naught. A good Judge would explain why it wasn't.

I am in favor of allowing jurors to submit written questions, moderated by the judge and counsel. Note-taking should be allowed as well, with instructions given about the use of one's personal notes.

In most Courtrooms, (in California anyway) all the jurors (and alternate jurors) are routinely provided with notebooks and pencils, for taking notes, but are instructed by the Judge that those are to be considered subordinate to the evidence, testimony and legal instructions that are given by the Judge in Court.

Individual notes can be passed to the Judge during the trial, via the Court bailiff, if they relate to requests for witnesses to speak louder, bathroom breaks and requests of that sort.

During jury deliberations, notes signed by the jury foreman are given to the the Judge via the bailiff, requesting clarification of a law, requesting readback of testimony, results of a jury poll stating they are deadlocked, etc.

They are typically then read into the record, when the jurors, litigants, attorneys, and court reporter are all back in Court, and then the Judge addresses the contents of the jury note or question, Court being formally in session while this happens.

It is unclear why you think that should be reformed, unless you think that individual jurors should be able to ask questions routinely during the presentation of evidence and testimony.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

It is unclear why you think that should be reformed, unless you think that individual jurors should be able to ask questions routinely during the presentation of evidence and testimony.

Some judges here allow jurors to submit written questions, while other don't. Written questions are passed to the judge via the clerk at the close of a witnesses direct and cross exam. The judge and counsel review the questions, objections can me made and placed on the record, but it's the judge that has the final say in whether the juror's question is posed and in what form. Counsel then have the ability to follow up with further questions if necessary.

There is some debate about how passive or active a jury should be.

[Skid Row Joe]

Henry Fonda was an actor, not an architect. He might as well played an unemployed actor, as an architect.

[aklim]

I was asked to serve on the jury a couple times in the last 10 years. I was turned down because I wasn't a citizen. Lets see what the next few years will bring now that I have registered to vote.