Jury duty

[SLOBuds]

It should be easy to get a deferral. But it might be hard to get fully excused.

In California most if not all counties have gone to a no-excuse/small-term system. What happens is that you have a one week requirement to see if you might be called onto a case.

Every day you call a telephone number and they tell you whether you need to come in the next day. If you come in, you might be called and be questioned about possibly doing a case. You might not.

If you are not called in or if you are not picked for a case within that one week period, you are excused until next year or so.

If you are taken in for a case but not chosen, you are excused until next year. So if this happens on Monday, your service is finished. If it happens on Thursday, same.

OK, pretty easy so far. But if you are actually being considered for a case, in the court room and now talking to the judge about stuff, almost NOTHING is considered an excuse. I have heard stories from jurors which sounded like they would starve from lack work/pay if they had to server, and the judge would not excuse them. No excuses for conscientious objection or any such explanations are accepted.

All of the judges just say that a system was designed so that people have a short commitment time, and no one has to waste time if not needed - they call in to see. But in return for that, everyone needs to serve if they ever get to the stage of being in the courtroom.

Once the lawyer questioning begins, all rules are the same as before. The lawyers can accept you or reject you based on questions. Also, as I said above, you can get deferred from service simply by asking - I don't recall even needing to provide an explanation other than 'inconvenient now' or such. You can do this only a few times after they will stop accepting the deferral though.

 

[ragkar]

I expect that in Illinois, jury duty is somewhat like here in Pennsylvania. You'll show up and they'll be a pool of maybe 200 people for maybe 25 cases including the murder one.

You'll fill out a questionare asking your view. eg. would you believe a cop before the defendant? Have you read or seen reports of this case? Are you opposed to the death penalty? If you answer wrong, you'll be dismissed for the murder case. Otherwise if they want the lawyers will question you on the stand and maybe give you a peremptory dismissal.

As far as the other 24 cases, 23 will be plea bargained - no trial, and the last will go to trial. You'll be selected by lot for that one. Most likely result - one day service and you sat on no juries.

As far as the moral incentive, I want both the victim and the accused to get the same justice that I would hope for.

 

[EddieWalker]

I've only served on one jury and it was a battery case. It lasted a week and was the most boring time of my life. I never had such a hard time staying awake. It was actually painful how boring it was. The lawyer would just keep going on and on about a stupid detail that had zero meaning to the case. In the end, it was all BS and we all voted that he was innocent. She said he attacked her, but he was trying to get her out of his house when he caught her doing drugs in his bathroom. She was a nurse and thought she'd accuse him of battery so nobody would believe him if he mentioned her drug use. Not one of us believed her, and of course, her friends all got it backwards when the testified too, so it was pretty ridiculous that there was even a trial. When it was over, the lawyers asked us for our opinions on how they did. I told the Assistant DA that it was a stupid trial and he had wasted our time on something that never happened. After I told him what I thought, most of the others on the jury told him the same thing.

The other times that I've been called in, I've always been let go pretty quickly. My two favorite questions that I seem to get asked are about guns and trusting the police. I'm a gun owner and hunter. I know how they work and how to use them. They don't seem to like that very much. I also believe in the Police and think that almost always, they do a fantastic job and have more then enough reason to arrest somebody. In fact, if they arrest you, you did something wrong. I'm also a big fan of profiling, but that's something that I have to volunteer on my own!!!!! hahaha

I've been contacted by somebody at the courts a few times about not showing up for jury duty, but I never received the summons. If I don't get it, how am I supposed to know to show up? They can't prove that I received it, so there's nothing they can do about it unless they mail them out with proof of delivery. This has happened twice that I know of. Some years I get a summons, a few times I've received two in a year, but then other years I don't get any. I don't think about it unless it's brought up, but I wonder how much other mail I lose? My mom always asks about mail when she sends it because we've had birthday cards not make it here.

Anyway, I think that allot of summons get lost and never get delivered. Nobody can prove that you got it in the mail, so there is nothing that they can do to you if you don't get it and don't show up.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Eddie, each time I got a jury summons in Dallas County in the '60s, all I had to do was call and tell them I was a police officer and they'd promptly say they didn't want me and to ignore the summons. But then in 1972 I moved into Denton County; first summons was a DWI case and I was excused, next time it was a county civil case, mechanic suing a couple of young truckers for his bill, I was jury foreman and I found that we didn't need to do any discussing, everyone immediately said the mechanic should get paid before I even asked. Next time was a child custody (in a divorce) case, I was #25 and they got their 12th juror at #24 so I don't know whether I would have been accepted or rejected.

I moved back into Dallas in 1977 and someone had gotten smarter; decided that while no lawyer would want a police officer on a criminal trial, they could use us on civil cases. I went down there for the day twice; once a school teacher suing GM and a Chevrolet dealer about her Vega, and once a widow suing a construction company for her husband's death in an on-the-job accident. Both times they settled out of court while the jury panel was gone to lunch.

And after I retired and was living in Navarro County, I got a summons for a capital murder trial. I showed up, told the judge I didn't meet any of the statutory exemptions, but didn't figure they'd want me on that jury. The judge laughed, the prosecutor nodded, the judge said I was excused, and the defense attorney says, "Your honor, we didn't excuse him" and the judge says to me, "Whoa, wait a minute." And I was jury foreman again.

We've been back in Denton County now for 3 years, I've not gotten a summons, but my wife has served on a very peculiar case. A guy had been convicted of sexual assault, but for some reason, the sentence was overturned on appeal, so all that jury had to do was assess a penalty.

 

[dooleysm]

I've only been called once, right after I turned 18 and registered to vote. I was excited to serve, but never got the chance. They sent a short questionaire with the summons and I listed my occupation as Student. I later learned that was an automatic exemption in our county. I've never been called in the 13 years since, though I've been registered to vote in every county I've ever lived in. That's how they get the jury pool, right?

 

[mgamber]

If you really want out, just mention "Jury Nullification" and how you are a big proponent of it.

It's a can't lose situation.

 

[Mike Costello]

I was once summened to jury duty involving a Hispanic man who demanded a jury trial over a DUI. The defense attorney asked me if I had ever been the victim of a felony; I said "yes"(211-armed robbery, many times). He asked what I did for a living--I told him Service Station & Tow Service. Then he asked me what nationality of person did this. I told him some of the people were Hispanic, which was true. He couldn't get me out of that courtroom fast enough!

 

[orezok]

Since I feed at the public trough (school district employee) I get a summons every year. We're prime candidates because we get paid during jury duty and they know that. Nine times out of 10 when you call in you are excused. Fortunately, the case load is light and service here is only one day if you don't get picked for a trial.

I got my usual summons and it came at the beginning of last summer which is the busiest time of the year for me. I have 10 weeks from the day school leaves out until the little kiddies come back and in that time I have to do several millions of dollars of reconstruction work. School opens on a given day and there are NO EXCUSES for not having the work done.

I didn't want to postpone as they usually reschedule you in 2 or 3 months and they will not allow a second postponement. This very likely would fall in September and after 10 weeks of 10 to 12 hour days in 110+ heat I take the RV and go on a 2 week vacation before the weather turns cold. I didn't want to ruin that so I thought I would take my chances.

Showed up and sure enough there was a trial. Went in and was picked as Juror #4. It was a drunk driving case that the attorneys said would take about 3 days (plus 1 for selection). I didn't have 4 days to spare so I'm sitting there thinking "How an I going to get out of this". The judges are not big on frivolous excuses when suddenly this idea pops into my head. Get one of the attorneys to excuse me.

I didn't want to lie so I came up with this idea.

I sat in the jury box during voir dire and just stared at the 2 attorneys as they questioned jurors. I would cock my head to the side and not blink as they looked at me and keep staring until they looked away. I would get strange expressions on my face and snicker as they asked other jurors questions. When I was asked a question, I asked the attorney a question back and didn't answer his question. Attorneys have 100 jurors to select from and don't like loose canons.

After about 15 minutes the defense attorney turned to the judge and without comment said "Juror #4 is excused".

Mission Accomplished!

 

[LMTC]

I've been called for jury duty only once, although I've been a registered voter since I could vote and will be 60 this year. It was one of the most educational experiences in my life. I was screened for one jury and not seated....and man, was I happy. It was a murder case, clearly a "hit", the man was killed while in a supposed safe house under police protection.

I was later seated on a jury that heard an armed robbery case. Serious stuff, as the defendant could have gotten 15-20 IIRC. Three day trial, three + in deliberation. I thought it was painfully clear....the prosecution simply did not prove the case. Our defendant was the alleged driver, parked out of sight of the store, claimed he did not know his buddy was robbing it, was arrested the next day and NO money from the robbery found on him or where he lived. His story was his buddy asked him to pull over so he could grab some smokes. The nature of the area made parking out of sight of the store a very possible thing as there were only a couple parking spots that would have allowed sight of the store. The only thing the prosecution offered was that he was driving the car so he must have known. On that ambiguity alone I could not convict, but there was a key piece most of the jurors dismissed.....prosecution placed the driver in the car via an eyewitness, whose testimony also included the statement that when the robber got back in the car he HEARD THE CAR START and it pulled away. No indication of haste or fleeing, and what getaway driver with a brain turns the car off while waiting for his accomplice?

Here's where I became educated about the general populace. I think 3 of the other 11 jurors worked for a living, as did I. The rest were either retired or disabled or stay-at-home whatevers. Most of them lived their life vicariously and took in all their information from television. Most of them were very blunt about their belief that "the authorities" are never wrong, i.e., he was arrested, so he was guilty. I'm not sure I've ever been in a group that was less capable of critical thinking. Despite the obvious lack of hard evidence, and the presence of the eyewitness statement (who was called by prosecution, but IMO was of far greater help to the defense) several wanted to convict immediately and most were on the fence. For three days we went round and round about this, until eventually all but one agreed that the lack of money, the starting of the car, and the pulling away normally constituted reasonable doubt. The last person eventually yielded, and I remain convinced she did so to leave, not out of any principle or agreement. It disturbs me to this day to realize my fate could ever be in hands of a group such as that.

After the verdict the judge asked to meet with us. He was/is a legendary jurist, later serving long and honorably on a Federal Appeals Court. He thanked us for our service, and told us we were now free to discuss anything we wanted to from the trial or deliberations. He then asked what our process/thinking was. The foreman told him, with some specificity. The judge then said had it been a trial by judge it would have taken him 30 seconds to issue a not guilty verdict, as the case was never proven in any sense other than placing the driver in the car leaving the scene. He left us with that, and I left with a much lowered respect of my fellow citizens.

To this day I remain astonished at the number of people convicted of serious crimes with no hard evidence at all, nothing more than circumstances which allow for the potential that the accused committed the crime. I have never understood how that passes the test of beyond reasonable doubt for any one who seriously exercises critical thinking skills. Just one man's opinion, but this is why I think it is absolutely essential for all of us to participate in this duty. Otherwise it gets left to people such as were on the jury I served on, and they were not even remotely peers....they were a very specialized group of people who had either resigned from society or never entered to begin with, living in a cloistered world uninterrupted by independent thought. Just one man's opinion......but consider, would you want your jury to be comprised only of people who couldn't get an excuse?

 

[Bird]

I've only been called once, right after I turned 18 and registered to vote. I was excited to serve, but never got the chance. They sent a short questionaire with the summons and I listed my occupation as Student. I later learned that was an automatic exemption in our county. I've never been called in the 13 years since, though I've been registered to vote in every county I've ever lived in. That's how they get the jury pool, right?

Voter registration may be the only source in your state. It used to be that way in Texas, but now they merge voter regisration lists with drivers licenses and DPS issued ID. So if you registered to vote or have a drivers license or have the photo ID that the DPS will issue to you if you don't have a drivers license, you're fair game.