Jury Duty and you..... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

el presidente · #1 08-16-2011, 05:21 AM

Any good stories?

Skippy · #2 08-16-2011, 05:32 AM

Let's see:

Called for jury duty while a registered voter in Georgia. Problem: On deployment in Guam. Didn't get to go.

Called again while a registered voter in Nevada. Problem: On deployment in Iraq. Didn't get to go.

Called once more to jury duty in Georgia. Problem: Moved to Nevada and registered to vote here several years earlier. Made some calls. Didn't go.

Received a letter about potential jury duty in Nevada. Responded that I've been called, have been willing to go, but always seem to be on deployment when it happens.

Called to jury duty again. Problem: On deployment in Afghanistan at the time. Finally see the letter some months later after returning home. Made some phone calls. Case cancelled. Didn't need to go.

jplinville · #3 08-16-2011, 07:44 AM

Sat on a jury in the '90's in Ohio. It was centered around the ringleader of the Lucasville Prison Riots in '93 I was younger then, and very concerned about the consequences of finding the guy guilty, which we did.

It was a very interesting experience.

MS Fowler · #4 08-16-2011, 08:29 AM

Called in the '70s in Baltimore City. They had a one day/ one trial rule. If you responded to the call as a juror, you only had to serve on one trial, or only one day if not assigned a trial.
I was not assigned a trial, took my $12 pay and went on my way. I have not been called since.

I had a Muslim co-worker from Jordan. He had a stock response whenever he was called to serve. During the initial interview question and answer, he would respond when asked about ANY crime, " In my country, that is a capital offense". They excused him.

Hatterasguy · #5 08-16-2011, 09:24 AM

Every time I get the letter I have called in and they haven't needed me.

If I ever do get called in I'll have to figure out how to get out of it, probably just say I think the SOB is guilty and should hang.

sjh · #6 08-16-2011, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skippy

Let's see:

Called for jury duty while a registered voter in Georgia. Problem: On deployment in Guam. Didn't get to go.

Called again while a registered voter in Nevada. Problem: On deployment in Iraq. Didn't get to go.

Called once more to jury duty in Georgia. Problem: Moved to Nevada and registered to vote here several years earlier. Made some calls. Didn't go.

Received a letter about potential jury duty in Nevada. Responded that I've been called, have been willing to go, but always seem to be on deployment when it happens.

Called to jury duty again. Problem: On deployment in Afghanistan at the time. Finally see the letter some months later after returning home. Made some phone calls. Case cancelled. Didn't need to go.

.

Thank you for your service.

.

elchivito · #7 08-16-2011, 11:21 AM

I was called once about 20 years ago. I begged off due to the transportation distance from home/work conflicts and was excused. Now that I have the time I'd find a way to go, but haven't been called since.

spdrun · #8 08-16-2011, 11:25 AM

Got called twice. Once on a drug case, where the prosecutor used a preemptive challenge since I stated that I didn't agree with drug laws as applied in NJ, and wouldn't convict under any circumstances. In retrospect, I should have perjured myself and nullified if I didn't agree with the law.

The second time I sat in a jury room for a day and never got called to an actual case.

Bill Wood · #9 08-16-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by el presidente

Any good stories?

We'll see...
I've got a Jury Summons to appear Aug 30.

Aquaticedge · #10 08-16-2011, 11:38 AM

I was called up. Selected for trial. whole thing was a Cluster.... was a domestic abuse case he said when he was cleaning his crap out of a closet she either hit him on the head with a boom box (little one) or pulled down the stuff on the 2nd shelf on to him.. She said he was a clumsy oaf and he did it himself... this went on for awhile until he confessed his undying love for her and she said she diddnt want it to happen to him and she still cared for him......Case Dismissed...

spdrun · #11 08-16-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquaticedge

I was called up. Selected for trial. whole thing was a Cluster.... was a domestic abuse case he said when he was cleaning his crap out of a closet she either hit him on the head with a boom box (little one) or pulled down the stuff on the 2nd shelf on to him.. She said he was a clumsy oaf and he did it himself... this went on for awhile until he confessed his undying love for her and she said she diddnt want it to happen to him and she still cared for him......Case Dismissed...

Cute.
I hope that he got billed for the court costs!

Aquaticedge · #12 08-16-2011, 11:46 AM

Dont know about that... Worst hour of my life wasted. was not worth the trouble finding parking or paying said parking....

75Sv1 · #13 08-16-2011, 11:48 AM

I was called in twice so far. The first time, I was called up and rejected. I don't know why. I was working third shift, which isn't excussed, so I was happy.
The second time, was a few years ago. I went and was called up after a few rounds of people getting called up and questioned. I went to lunch before that and had 'a' beer. Just one. I remeber it being a Peroni. So not like I had an Optimator or such. Anyways, I had the jist of the case, due to the questions being asked. Satatory rape and alcohol involved. The person was friends with the parents. They were actually in the other bed in the hotel/motel room. So, they asked me about a few things, and alcohol and judgement came up. I stated my view on it and to some extent about the case. The Judge looked sternly and directly at me. Asked' Are You Drunk?' And that they didn't say what the case was about. Needless to say, I was dissmist. I heard the guy was found not guilty.
Tom

BAVBMW · #14 08-16-2011, 12:05 PM

Almost.

I certainly got further along in the process than I ever have in the past. I used to never even get jury notices. That changed a few years ago. I don't know how it works in your part of the country, but here you get a notice telling you that there's a chance you'll have jury duty on a given date (in my case Feb 23) and a phone number for you to call after 6pm the night before where an automated system will tell you if you actually have to go in or not. For several years, that was as far as it went for me. I'd call the night before, and be told that I wasn't needed (kinda like dating was for me in high school...). I have only had to actually go in to the courthouse once, and then I sat around in a room with several other people, maybe 100, for an hour or two, only to be told that an attorney had filed a last minute motion of some sort, so the whole trial was going to be delayed. We were all allowed to leave, and that counted as having served, so we could expect a one year exemption from further jury duty.

This time, I called the night before and was told I would need to go in, so I did. I then sat around in the same room, with another group of people (less this time, seemed like 40 or so). After a bit we were told that the court was ready for us, so we all marched off to the specified room. Upon entering the "courtroom", the first thing I noticed was that this room was nowhere near as nice as any courtroom I'd ever seen portrayed in any sort of media. This place made Nightcourt look large and glamorous. We all sat down and were given a brief talk about how great our country was and how lucky we all were, blah, blah, blah... We then got to listen to so-called mini opening statements from all parties, with a brief summation by the judge. He then asked us if any of us wanted to apply to be excused.

I was torn, I'd really like to do my part, and it seems like something new to learn, but on the other hand, I have responsibilities at work also. The judge expalined that the attorneys felt that the trial would take 4-7 days, and he thought that it was likely to go 2 days more than they thought. Ultimately, I decided that I had to at least try to get out of it, as the only mechanic at a local automotive repair shop, not only would I be causing my employer a hardship, effectively idling the shop, but also the customers whose cars I had in the shop, in various states of repair. I raised my hand at the proper time and was given a sheet to fill out. The judge retired to his chambers to read over all of our sheets, and when he returned, I was excused.

Well, excused to go back to the first room where they'd let me know if they could use me for any same day trials. But they could not. So I went home, changed my clothes and went to work.

Thing is, I kinda wish I'd gotten to be on the case. It sounded interesting.

It was a civil suit, between a plaintiff, the city, and two other people who seemed to be some sort of co-dependants. It seems the story goes like this:

On July 4th 2007 the co-defendants, who will be referred to from here on out as "Mr. and Mrs. Idiot", were going to have a party. Mrs. Idiot contacted the city about closing down their cul-de-sac for a block party. The city informed her about the required permits, which she obtained and filled out. Note, I did not say she read the permits. The permit was approved, so the party was a go. On the day of the party, July 4th, Mrs. Idiot called the city/police to find out when they were going to close the road. They informed her that they were not going to close the road, that was here responsibility, and that the permit stated specifically that she would need to obtain certain equipment and place it in the specified manner. She had not done so, so she and her husband decided the next best thing was to use a length of rope tied between a utility pole and a stop sign, and proceeded to do just that. Then, at approx. 6.30pm, once the party was well underway, the plaintiff, to be referred to as "Dude", who had been elsewhere, attempted to return to his home, on the cul-de-sac. Dude had left much earlier, before the rope was put up, so he was quite surprised when he turned onto his street on his motorcycle... The rope did not take him off the bike, nor take his head off of his body. It caught him under the helmet, against his neck, held for a moment, and then broke. He now is claiming various damages, both medical and emotional. It seems a bit of a stretch, since he only missed one day of work, and didn't complain much at all until Jan 2009, but... So now he's suing the city and/or Mr. and Mrs. Idiot. The city of course had a calm, cool, and collected attorney. Dude had a large, somewhat sleazy-seeming emotional attorney. And Mr. and Mrs. Idiot were representing themselves.

Like I said, it seemed like it could have been interesting. Of course, there is a whole lot of information that I didn't get, but on the surface, it seems like the city should be able to get out of this fairly easily, as I can't quite see how they could be responsible for Mr. and Mrs. Idiot's actions. Dude seemed to be a little bit of a whiner, and Mr. and Mrs. Idiot, well, they thought it would be a good idea to put a piece of rope across a well used road...

Maybe next time. I really think the whole thing could be improved if the courts found a way to give more advance notice to prospective jurors. It's a little rough to not find out until after work the day before.

MV

dynalow · #15 08-16-2011, 01:00 PM

My father spent 30 years as a career officer in the military. Near the end of his career he & another officer had a little run in with a cop one night and soured on the whole authority thing.

Years later, living in retirement in another state, he gets a letter to report for jury duty and sent them back a scathing letter, written in Latin, basically telling them to go f#&@ themselves.