Jury Duty Anyone

[jamespowers]

You tell them you're a member of FIJA? I thought the goal of that group was to get people onto juries.

AF

lol lol True but my goal is to get out of jury duty. The fact is that here they ask that question in the usual list of questions they run down along with asking if you are a lawyer etc. Fine with me.
You know what they say: you are judged by a jury of your peers too stupid to get out of jury duty.

 

[Atticus Finch]

You know what they say: you are judged by a jury of your peers too stupid to get out of jury duty.

An old DA I once worked for used to say that you always end up trying your most complex cases to juries who believe the 1969 moon landing was faked...and that professional wrestling is real.

AF

 

[jamespowers]

An old DA I once worked for used to say that you always end up trying your most complex cases to juries who believe the 1969 moon landing was faked...and that professional wrestling is real.

AF

Exactly my point. :rofl:
It is a sad state of affairs. Then again if you are a defense attorney....

 

[John in Covina]

If you are working you company may or may not have to pay you while you serve. I worked at a place that paid untill some guy was on JD for something like 4 months.
Here in California we are told we don't get to judge he law but judging the law is one of the rights a jurist has. I'll pass if I can.

 

[sheeplady]

I received another summons for county court (I served in federal court 2 years ago) so I had to have someone fax over the statement that I served within the past 6 years.

 

[jamespowers]

If you are working you company may or may not have to pay you while you serve. I worked at a place that paid untill some guy was on JD for something like 4 months.
Here in California we are told we don't get to judge the law but judging the law is one of the rights a jurist has. I'll pass if I can.

If I don't get paid at work, I don't serve. Since I don't, I don't serve. There is a financial hardship thing you can fill out in that instance.
I haven't served in twenty years.

 

[Captain Neon]

I've never received a summons for jury duty and doubt that I ever will.

 

[Old Rogue]

I've been summoned on 3 or 4 occasions over the past 25 years or so here in Craven County (also the haunts of fellow poster in this thread Atticus Finch). I've been seated in the jury on two cases, one civil and one criminal. Once I was also selected for the Grand Jury, which entails meeting once a month for a year. I have to say that I fall on the side of this being not only a duty, but a privilege, of citizenship. Yes, it can be something of an inconvenience and I understand that for many it is a financial hardship. I'm fortunate in that my company gives court leave (and even let me keep the $12 a day that the county paid for my service, woohoo!).

The criminal case was an individual accused of dealing crack. His defense was that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and the crack had been planted on him by the police. Suffice it to say that this defense crumbled in the face of the evidence and we sent him to the big house. We were dismissed before the judge passed sentence, so I don't know how long he got, but I happened to walk past him in the local mall about a year later. He gave me that "I know that guy from somewhere" look but I don't think he connected me to his trial.

I don't remember the details of the civil case. We had barely gotten started when the judge announced that the parties had reached a settlement and we were dismissed.

On the grand jury, I served as the deputy foreman for six months and then foreman for my final six months. Funny story, when first appointed to the grand jury the judge asked me and the gentlemen who had been selected to serve as the foreman if we knew why he had selected us. He was an assistant principal at a local school and I was a manager at my company so we said that we assumed it was due to our professional management experience. He laughed and said that yes, he had seen that on the paperwork that all the members of the grand jury had to submit and that it did factor into his decision. But the main reason he selected us was that we were the only two that had indicated that we would accept those positions!

All in all, I have learned a great deal about our justice system and I generally feel the better for it. No, it isn't perfect. But the vast majority of people that I've served with took the job seriously and tried to make the best decisions that they could. The deliberations in the jury room were serious and respectful. During my year on the grand jury I developed a great respect for our police, sheriff's department, and other agencies. These folks do a tremendous job and in many cases risk their lives and don't get nearly the pay that they deserve.

 

[jamespowers]

During my year on the grand jury I developed a great respect for our police, sheriff's department, and other agencies. These folks do a tremendous job and in many cases risk their lives and don't get nearly the pay that they deserve.

Obviously you are not in California. lol lol

 

[sheeplady]

I've never received a summons for jury duty and doubt that I ever will.

Here it is based on DMV records. Once you are in the pool (which they draw from for multiple years- I believe 6 years) you are likely to be called. I've been called three times in the past 2 years, but since I served once in federal court I'm out of commission.

 

[Quigley Brown]

I've served at least four times over the years (I've forgotten....). One time, the day before the jury interview for an assault trial, I had been knocked off my bicycle by dog and left me with a one huge black eye. That next day when it came time for my interview the lawyer walked up to me and said he was going to ask me a question that the whole room wanted to ask: What happened to your face?! Too bad I didn't tell him I had gotten in a fight the day before.....I'd probably have been dismissed.

 

[jamespowers]

I've served at least four times over the years (I've forgotten....). One time, the day before the jury interview for an assault trial, I had been knocked off my bicycle by dog and left me with a one huge black eye. That next day when it came time for my interview the lawyer walked up to me and said he was going to ask me a question that the whole room wanted ask: What happened to your face?! Too bad I didn't tell him I had gotten in a fight the day before.....I'd probably have been dismissed.

Or you had been involved in domestic violence. That would have gotten you kicked.

 

[Lily Powers]

I was mailed notices for jury duty about 5 times a year. Seemed like every time I registered my car, renewed my license, walked the dog or looked out the window... something came in my mail regarding jury duty. After I got that glitch adjusted with our Jury Commissioner, I didn't get any "love letters" for awhile, and when I did, off I went. I work for a gov't agency and my partner is a news reporter - alone, either factor will generally get me dismissed but combined, it's doubtful I'll ever sit on a criminal matter. But I spent the afternoon listening to the judge, the defense and the prosecution vet the prospective jurors. I have to admit it was fascinating and educational and I wouldn't have minded sitting on the panel, but I wasn't ever called. It was really funny to watch the ones who didn't want to be on the jury try every trick in the book to get out and the judge sort of left them dangling and then admonished them before dismissing them or keeping them on longer until one of the attorney's dismissed them.

 

[countryclubjoe]

Is Federal Court jury selection different from Superior Court?
How does Federal Court get there jury pool?
Best regards.
CCJ

 

[sheeplady]

Is Federal Court jury selection different from Superior Court?
How does Federal Court get there jury pool?
Best regards.
CCJ

When I was selected for Federal Court, it was because my DMV record was pulled from the list of licensed drivers and put in a pool. Federal, state, and county pull from the same pool. Therefore, it was only by chance that I was selected for Federal court. The split between what is heard in federal court versus other courts is a little random to someone who isn't familiar with the law, like myself. I had expected it would be some big issue being Federal Court, but they mostly hear cases like bankruptency that fall under federal jurisdiction.

I was lucky- I live in the same city where the Federal Court meets for my Federal Court district. The district is huge- some of the people who served with me had a two and a half hour drive to get to court- that's 5 hours a day for jury duty.

Because I served in Federal Court, I cannot be recalled to serve in NYS for the next 6 years. If I had served in county, it would only be 2 years. (I can't remember state.) Given the number of calls I have gotten (3 since I was added to the pool in 2010) I'm pretty lucky I served in Federal Court. My recent summons was for county, before I was called for state. I am not sure if they will continue to call me or nix me from their database now since everyone has asked me to serve. I believe I am only in the pool for 6 years. It will be kind of a moot point in a year or two because I'll be moving, but it's interesting.

 

[JFriday]

I have been called three times, the first time I passed selection and we made it about two thirds of the way through and a plea was reached, which when we reviewed it was thought to be a better result than we could have hoped to reach under the original charge to preserve the peace in future. The second time I was excused as I was to testify in criminal court the same week; witness trumps jury duty. The last time, both the defense counsel and Crown counsel had encountered me as a witness in previous trials and felt that this was a potential conflict and jointly expressed with a smile that if I was as detailed as a juror as I was a witness they might need to establish a juror pension plan as the review of evidence and testimony during deliberation might take years.
All of this said, I eagerly commend the act of serving on a jury to all who read this. It is your duty as a citizen, and an important part of the legal tradition, and a service you owe your society. I confess here to having a background in legal history and state that I am an ardent defender of the legal process that has evolved in Anglo-American (in my case Canadian) society. Over one thousand years of procedure and precedence along with hundreds of years of prior legal theory derived from early cultures and canon law have served to create the system that exists, a system far more tested than could simply be assembled by the writing of statues and enforcing them without the benefit of human review. As such all members of the court system are imperative; the learned justice to hear the case and maintain the rules of procedure and fairness, the presence of educated counsel on both the Crown and defendants sides to argue the academic points of law derived through its practice, the clerks who ensure the procedings take place at all and the records staff who document the procedings, and as such grow the great body of legal knowledge on which the system stands. Key to this is a jury, whose role it is to weigh the evidence presented and with the guidance of the justice reach a decision on matters of guilt or innocence, the most vital action of all. As stated before a good jury should not be composed of the folks left over at the end of selection because they have a pulse and no other committments. There is a serious need for intelligent jurors. The lawyers making the arguments did not fall off the turnip truck and show up in court. Several of my fellow jurors had a tough time keeping up with the pace of the procedings and the intricacies of the testimony. This was not for lack of literacy, but lack of exposure to such rapid amounts of information and technical detail, as well as an understanding of how the law related to the testimony heard. We were fortunate to have an excellent justice who wisely and professionally answered these questions, without compromising the trial itself in any way. This left all of us quite impressed with the court process, we really could have little complaint with how events unfolded. It did lead me to question whether the system should have a qualifying literacy/reasoning exam used as part of the process of selection.

Lastly, I am fortunate that my contract enshrines an expectation of jury duty without penalty of any sort from my principal employer. This certiainly reduces the financial and other concerns that can arise from a trial of any length. It really should be something required legislatively that no penalty should be assessed to a citizen fulfilling their duty to the maintenance of peace, order, and governance. This would help to alleviate the "let's get this over with" outlook that is present so often. (Frankly it is rampant in so many areas of society now where done is good enough and getting it right and good craftsmanship seem quaint ideas that we should work to counter this whereever we get the chance).

Be an involved member of society, we will all be the better for it.

 

[Gin&Tonics]

Never been called to serve yet, but if I ever get called, the defense will dismiss me immediately as a law enforcement officer. They assume we'll be biased against the guilty... I mean the defendant Fancy that!

I think one should serve though; it really is your duty as a citizen of whatever country you reside in, unless you have a really legitimate excuse. If you don't like that, you should probably scram and find another country to live in where they don't have such inconvenient things as legal trials and juries and such.

 

[jamespowers]

Never been called to serve yet, but if I ever get called, the defense will dismiss me immediately as a law enforcement officer. They assume we'll be biased against the guilty... I mean the defendant Fancy that!

I think one should serve though; it really is your duty as a citizen of whatever country you reside in, unless you have a really legitimate excuse. If you don't like that, you should probably scram and find another country to live in where they don't have such inconvenient things as legal trials and juries and such.

Really great coming from someone who will never serve.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Really great coming from someone who will never serve.

Perhaps..in a way..he does most every day...

 

[jamespowers]

Perhaps..in a way..he does most every day...

And makes more for it than we will as jurors.