Jury Duty problems

[Stuie]

Yeah, well... I actually got picked for a jury, and had to sit through a week of testimony about some guy hurting his back.

Then we awarded him some financial compensation for his loss and that was that. Pretty dull stuff.

[TheStinger]

We don't have juries for Personal Injury trials which is just as well as we have enough trouble getting people to turn up for criminal trials.

[rah]

Everytime I've been up for selection, I've been dismissed with every other white man with a college degree. (when you have a minority client that's probably guilty, it's the smart thing for a defense attorney to do)

RAH

[Ming]

The last time I got called for jury duty, I spent the first day reading, and never got called for a case. They sent us home at noon and told us to come back the next day. This was repeated on Tuesday... but they told us to call a certain phone number on Tuesday evening to see if we needed to come in... So I called on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings and was never asked to come in again.

[Dauphin]

My dad's been called three times and my sister twice.


I was surprised to discover that my cousin can not be called for jury service because he is a solicitor.

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by Big Crunch
My dad's been called three times and my sister twice.


I was surprised to discover that my cousin can not be called for jury service because he is a solicitor.

Its in case you know the accused or the judge or the prosecutor or the defending lawyers

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Calc II
I'd love to hear a juicy case as well. I heard it wasnt too hard to avoid it if you dont want to do it....

Its really easy to avoid sitting through a case in any jurisdiction where the lawyers are allowed to question potential jurors. Just let it slip out that you always respect and believe the police and figure that whomever they arrest must be guilty. IN a civil matter, all you have to do is indicate that most personal injuries are faked or that big corporations should have to pay lots out to the little guy. In all those instances, you will be off the jury right away.

I have never been called for jury duty nor has any member of my family. IN Canada, juries are seldom used in civil matters and are only used in criminal matters if the offense is indictable (possible penalties in excess of 2 years in jail) AND the defendent elects a jury trial instead of a judge -alone one.

[Zkribbler]

I work in a courthouse, so I know a little about jury duty.

DanS has the right approach. Tell them you'd like to reschedule. The chances are 99.99999% that they'll be happy to do so.

Detroit Dave is right on...except here shudda said, "Bring lots of reading material and be prepared to wait and wait and wait." Ming's experience is not unusual.

Big Crunch, wow, laws certainly differ from place to place. Here in L.A. County, even trial court judges can get called for jury duty. We had two on one jury panel (although neither was selected to be on the jury). Only appellate court justices, police officers, felons and non-English speakers are exempt,

[Dis]

I was called in once when I was in the military. I could not attend as I wasn't even remotely close to the city of Las Vegas.

And the next time I waited around a couple of hours to be dismissed because I wasn't needed.

[Provost Harrison]

My auntie is currently doing jury service on a murder trial

[Lefty Scaevola]

Just go down wearing a
"O J was framed"
T-shirt

*dismissed for the panel*

[David Floyd]

I don't believe we should be required to be jurors, but having said that, I would be happy to serve, in order to exercise my power to nullify the law

[Provost Harrison]

Hey Lefty, that is a pretty good suggestion

[Sten Sture]

For SF, do call and ask to reschedule, I've done it myself a few times.

(the former elected official in SF who sends the notification letter had the same name as my brother... kinda weird)