Jurry Summons

[BabyTigger99]

I was called for jury duty in June. Our judges (I work at the Courthouse) schedule their jurys 2 - 3 months in advance, for specific days. We are given a phone number to call the day before the case. If it is settled, no need to show up. The two days I was scheduled for, both jurys settled, although I was excused from the second day, as I was scheduled for a PET scan for my cancer. I would have liked to serve, though.

 

[DVC-Don]

I served 3 months on a grand jury last fall. When they asked if anyone was a cop or excop (me) I raised my hand. The response? "Good". I got to be assistant forman and found it very interesting. No excusses are given, but they will let us delay it once if you ask. I was supposed to serve last summer, but they delayed me till October due to a WDW vacation that was scheduled.

 

[ZebraStripes]

Originally posted by missy28

P.S. ZebraStripes-- the process you are referring to is called Voir Dire-- means to "speak the truth".

Thats it!

And the crying...as embarassed as I was...I couldn't help it. I went in thinking this is my duty....I don't know how you do it...you certainly have my respect.

 

[missy28]

thanks for the kind words... unfortunately, down the line, you get more immune to things. I've learned to compartmentalize a lot, and keep office stuff at the office and not bring it home!!

But we need jurors who get emotional and passionate, and it's not at all unusual for jurors to cry, so don't sweat it!

 

[RachelEllen]

The system in Massachusetts is great. Like someone else said, you can basically schedule yourself anytime for a year.

When I went, they were picking for a jury for a very long trial. Maybe it was just a very nice judge, or maybe it was because it was such a long case, but he was taking just about any excuse in book not to have people serve. He let people off for vacation, for having a cousin in a similar job to the defendant, for childcare, because they had once had a bad experience with a person in a similar job as the defendent, etc. The only excuse he didn't accept was worries about someone's job, as he said you are legally protected from being fired while on jury duty.

I ended up being seated, and then struck. (Like they're going to let a doctor be on a malpractice case, so I wasn't too worried)

Rachel

 

[Jockaroo]

I got a summons--right after I had started back to college! I called the courthouse and had my service deferred until summer. Summer came and there were no cases during my week. I was reassigned--for the week hubby and I had a trip to Las Vegas and California. I called and requested a second deferral. The person over this was great. I was assigned the week I finished classes in December. It took almost a year to get this done, but I did my civic duty. And I was the first name called and they kept me. Here we can only serve every 3 years. It was an interesting experience. My case was a DUI and we put a woman in jail at Christmas. Yes, I felt bad, but we all really felt she was guilty. After our verdict, we were asked to stay while the judge addressed the guilty lady. Additional information was given that reinforced that we did the right thing.

 

[Ibelieveinfairies]

Maybe it's weird, but I have always wanted to serve on a jury just to see the whole process from beginning to end. The one time I was summoned, I had to be excused...the reporting date was my due date for my dd's birth!! I was actually a little bummed! Haven't been summoned since!