OT: Jury Duty????!!!!, Does the state know who I really am..... Options

[skline]

Nobody will flame you for speaking your mind, I have to agree with you even. My god, what is this world coming to. Matt is growing up right before our eyes.

[Cano]

Britt:

Just fill in the form explaining that you are at Western and will be in finals that week, and send it in. Within a week or two you will get a notice from the court that you have been excused. You won't even have to appear.

[TimT]

QUOTE

I hope I can get out

I cant believe this.. serving on jury duty is not a pain in the ass, or an inconvenience. Its actually part running this country. "for the people and by the people"

You might actually learn something about our judicial system!. Ive been called four time to serve, been through voi dir (sp) a number of times, but have never sat on a jury.

Just do it

though living in another county will goet you off, yo may still have to show up and prove that you dont live in the county that called you

[bd1308]

yeah man....it's not like I mind or anything, I just thought it was hillarious that they picked a corrupt kid out of all the people they COULD have gotten.....anyway, i filled out the form....

[Cap'n Krusty]

QUOTE (skline @ Apr 11 2005, 10:45 PM)

Grant is correct, do not do anything, you can say you never got it and didnt know. It has never been questioned. They dont send registered due to costs and they usually have a large pool to pick from.

Just don't try that in LA County. They've been aggressively hunting down jury duty no-shows, arresting them for contempt, and fining them relatively large amounts. Rumor has it the trend is spreading ........... The Cap'n

[root]

What's wrong with jury duty?
You get paid and have free time to doodle while hanging out in court! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

[aircooledboy]

I get this call from family & friends all the time: "you are in the system, how do I get out of jury duty?"

By the time I am done with them, they are usually REALLY sorry they called. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/mad.gif) I am not a flag waving, do your civic duty, get in your face kind of guy, but damn it, it is a very small price we ask of our citizens to be available for jury duty. If you can go, you should go. End of analysis.

BTW, the "pretend you didn't get the notice" plan is very risky. In the law there is a thing called the "mail box rule." If a letter is addressed properly, and put in a mail box, the law presumes it went to that address. Your assertion that you didn't get it might keep you from actually getting sentenced for Contempt, but it will NOT prevent you from getting summoned and brought before a judge to offer that explainantion. Those who have ignored a jury notice without a problem live in the 30% of counties who do not have the resources to track them down (mostly big cities). In the other 70% of counties, that plan will get you a either a personal invitation from a friendly deputy with a pair of handcuffs, or if you are lucky a Rule to Show Cause in the mail, and you will get to explain how you didn't get the notice to some cranky judge who just heard the last 27 people tell him the same thing. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ohmy.gif)

Sermon over. This poor soap box is creaking like it can't handle my well fed butt too much longer. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/beerchug.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/monkeydance.gif)

[mudfoot76]

QUOTE (Cano @ Apr 12 2005, 07:55 AM)

Just fill in the form explaining that you are at Western and will be in finals that week, and send it in. Within a week or two you will get a notice from the court that you have been excused. You won't even have to appear.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)

I was summoned a number of times while away at university, and each time I just replied that I was a college student in another part of the state. No problems...

Jury duty is another part of being a citizen here.

[markb]

I've only been called to actually sit in the jury box twice. The first time, when they brought in the defendant, he was someone who was in a band I used to work with back in my producing days, so they kicked me off. Second time they asked me what I did for a living and they kicked me off. Guess they figured I'd be a little harsh on a drunk driver. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

[Jenny]

My cousin's going to school @ Berkeley, about 50min from home. When he wrote them stating he was away at school, they sent him an extension for spring break week, when he'd be home (in santa clara county) and on break (no time off from school)

The system works! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

Jen

[Mueller]

my biggest gripe is the parking, or lack of parking for jury duty...other than that, I don't mind the excuse to take a day off from work.....

[TC/914]

I've been kicked loose more times than accepted to serve, but I gotta say that it was a lot of fun being on the jury. Like being an extra in a movie or something, it's a very surreal experience over-all and when you get to decide someone's future . . . it REALLY becomes strange.

If you ever get the chance, report for duty. It's like NOTHING else in the world. Not to be missed, IF you give yourself over to the experience completely!

[Cap'n Krusty]

The Cap'n, hisownself, served a 90 day federal jury duty stint. Unlike the locals, it paid VERY well, and was an enlightening experience. Sat on only trial, where the defendant sold 7 kilos of Cocaine to a motorcycle cop. That's right, a motor cop, who looked like nothing else BUT a motor officer. We convicted him in short order ........ The feds run a tight ship in their courts. None of that fooling around like you see on TV. The judge in charge told us we could get out of serving IF we were dead AND had a note from our doctor. Once during the trial our judge told the defendant's lawyer to sit down and shut up. We liked that, a bunch! The Cap'n

[bd1308]

well...its not like i dont want to, i find it intresting myself (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) I just thought picking a person with only a partially-functioning mind wasn't a bright idea.

[Mueller]

QUOTE (bd1308 @ Apr 12 2005, 09:55 AM)

well...its not like i dont want to, i find it intresting myself (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) I just thought picking a person with only a partially-functioning mind wasn't a bright idea.

you think they know the mental state of everyone they send a letter to??

of course not, that is why you go down there and get interviewed...you might get lucky and put on the "must be related to Miles" list and never be contacted again (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

[bd1308]

me and Miles, long-lost relatives....???we have to be. we're both (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/screwy.gif)

[sgomes]

QUOTE (Mueller @ Apr 12 2005, 08:17 AM)

my biggest gripe is the parking, or lack of parking for jury duty...other than that, I don't mind the excuse to take a day off from work.....

Funny story - Last time I went in for jury duty. There was about 50-60 of us in the court room waiting to be picked. The balif (sp?) comes in and says, "for those of you who don't know, the parking lot across from the court house is NOT for jury duty parking. Any car parked there without a sticker will be towed." I kid you not as soon as he finished talking about 40 of us (me included) got up to go move our cars. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

I looked everywhere for a sign. I finally found it on my way OUT of the parking lot. There was a little 5" square sign on the INSIDE of the fence declaring the lot for official cars only. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ar15.gif)

[Sparky]

My favorite:

Tell them your really excited and that you have watched every episode of Law and Order. When they ask a question preface it with the Doink Doink sound from the show.

Should work...

My best,
Mike D.

[Part Pricer]

Over the years, I’ve been summoned for Jury Duty a few times. Normally, I would show up, be excused and then enjoy the rest of my unscheduled day off. However, a few years ago I was summoned for Jury Duty by a Federal court instead of State or Municipal courts as I had been in the past. It was quite a different experience.

As potential jurors, we underwent a rigorous vetting process. There were written questionnaires that consisted of about 150 questions. This was followed by two-minute stand-up presentations by each of the roughly 100 potential jurors where we were told to “State your name, city in which you live, occupation, marital status, number of children and their names, your hobbies, and anything special about you that you would like the court to know.” The presentations were all done under the watchful eyes of the judge and the prosecution and defense teams. After this, we were given a lunch break.

After lunch, they read off a group of juror numbers. If your number was called out, you were excused. About half of the original pool of people got to go home. I was not one of the lucky few. Then, we were called up into the jury box in groups of 8 to 10 people. The attorneys on both sides were allowed to ask questions of each individual. The lawyers scribbled notes on Post-Its and passed them to one another during all of this. This went on for about an hour and a half. We then took a break.

After the break, juror numbers were called out one-by-one. When a person’s number was called, they had to go sit in the jury box. When the person sat down, the judge asked both sides if that person was acceptable. If they were acceptable to both sides, the person remained seated and they became part of the jury. There were a few people that did get kicked out. The jury box was filling up. I was sitting there saying to myself, “Don’t call my number, don’t call my number.” I breathed a big sigh of relief when the woman sitting next to me was called up to sit in the last available seat in the jury box. “Cool”, I thought. “They’ve got their jury, I can go home.” I didn’t work out that way. They dismissed the woman and my number was called next. I got up sat in the jury box and waited to hear if I was an acceptable juror. Both sides agreed. The judge said, “Thank you, we now have our jury”. She then dismissed the potential jurors from the room that had not been chosen. She then turned to the group of us sitting in the jury box and told us when we would have to arrive in the mornings, what time we would be dismissed daily, and told us about nearby eating establishments. She then dismissed us for the day and told us to be back first thing next morning.

Great! I was now on a Federal jury! And, I had no idea what the case was about!

The next day it didn’t take long to find out the details of the trial. The judge introduced the defendants to us. There were five of them. They were all police officers in the City of New London (the other side of the state) and they were all charged in the beating death of a mentally retarded man. Well, if I had to sit on a jury at least I got an interesting case.

The case went on for three weeks. We heard from eyewitnesses, expert witnesses (police procedures, beatings, coroners, etc.), family, friends and the Chief of Police. However, the most interesting witness was on the first day. There was an eyewitness that clearly didn’t want to be there. As jurors, we were excused from the room four times during his testimony. He was obviously very reluctant to testify. I guess he didn’t want to have to testify against local cops and then have to go back home. He never completed his testimony. When we came back after the forth time being excused, he was gone. They called up another witness. We were never given an explanation.

There were all other types of maneuvers, objections and sidebars going on during the trial. It was nothing like what you see on television. It was very frustrating because you wanted to stand up and yell at the lawyers to get to the point. But, that’s not how the system works.

Anyway, after three weeks of testimony, we were given the case to deliberate. This was probably the most interesting part of all. I had been part of a group of twelve people for the last three weeks listening to the details of an event. Yet, we were not allowed to discuss it with each other until we were handed the case. It was interesting to hear what others had observed and concluded.

We were given a 25 page verdict sheet. We had to go down the sheet and determine each individual charge for each individual defendant. At first, we were not unanimous in all of our positions. It took us 3 and a half days of deliberation to come up with unanimous verdicts for all counts. All five were found guilty.

[CptTripps]

In Ohio, we only get $6 a day. I was summoned, and picked at the age of 19. I was about to get a promotion at my job, and got picked to serve in a federal case in Cuyahog County. I served 7hrs a day for 4 weeks, on a BS case about a drug dealer that wasn't really a drug dealer, and after the guy pled-out, I was handed a paycheck for $118.00. When I returned to my job, I'd been passed over for the promotion. Employers aren't SUPPOSSED to penelize you for jury duty, but when you are 19 and just starting out, it REALLY hurts your career path. I COULD have gotten out of it, but I wanted to do "the right thing."

Now all things happen for a reason, but ever since then, I've been REAL pissed at the system that we have. I know, I know...Go USA and all that, but there are much better ways of being patriotic.