Jury Duty....Again!!

[Angry Eyes]

Thanks for all of the responses. It's in the mail, so all I can do is wait it out. I will let you know what happens.

 

[pixiewings71]

You guys who get a 3 year break are lucky, in CA if you're called they can call you again the next year. :/ I get called yearly......

 

[Fire14]

I was summoned for County jury duty appox 2 yrs ago. I know the courthouse/judge we had asked if anyone had served on jury in last 2 yrs i believe. one person said yes fed and was excused. The hardship, don't wanna be there didn't fly day I was there. I never got to point of being called up for questioning but I figure had I'd been the knowing law enforcemenmt would have sprung me.

 

[aprilgail2]

My daughter is going to be 13 next month so I expect the week after her birthday to get a notice LOL- when she was about 1 I got a questionnaire that said "do you have a child 12 or under whose physical or mental well being would be jeopardized if you served jury duty" I checked off "yes" and haven't heard from them in 12 years....I am sure that will soon be ending. I am ok with that and I really wish I would get picked for grand jury where you have to show up for the entire month or more, I get paid from my job full pay so it doesn't really matter to me if I go there or jury duty. I wouldn't mind at this point to have to serve for months LOL- beats going to work.

 

[fall08CP]

I've never been summoned.. knock on wood! I no longer live in my listed state of residence (I move every 6 months so I leave it at my parents' as I'm not married). One day I'd love to sit on a jury; I genuinely feel it's our civic duty. Just remember, it could always be you on the other end one day!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I do think it's funny that some people keep getting chosen over and over again, while others are never chosen. My father and sister seem to be picked every few years. Me? My husband? Never.

I bet I'll probably get one in the mail today, since I said that.

I never get called. I know people who get called every year at the same time.

 

[lisalis]

I feel for your situation & hope you don't get called. The year I quit my teaching job & started subbing, I got called for jury duty. I had already put it off three years before because I had a newborn. I tried to get out of it based on the fact that I would have to pay someone to watch my son- my neighbors all work & no family was close at the time. No go, so I had to go down town for jury duty. Not only that, I got put on the jury for a murder trial which lasted a few weeks. Child care was not a good enough reason to get off duty. So, I paid for child care, missed out on teaching income, and had to pay for my own lunch every day for two weeks. I think we got paid maybe $35 a day or something piddly like that. We did not take long enough deliberating to even get a free lunch! I'm not one to lie, but in the future I need to come up with some reason that I won't make a good member of the jury!

 

[Sagginit]

i had this happen to me a few years ago. i was in retail, full time, part time. since i did not know if i was going to have to go in they couldn't put me on shifts for 3 days. every morning i called in and it told me my group was not needed and to call back the next day. then every day i called work to tell them i could cover if someone had called out and no one did. it sucked to get up at the crack of dawn for three days only to find out i was missing out on work and $$$ to stay home.

in NJ its every 3 years. my friend got picked for a small civil case and was happy to do it to get out of it for 3 years after it. she is a nurse and there is always someone to cover her shift so she can't get out. she has not heard from them since.

 

[disney1990]

Only once every 3 years here in Maryland too. My friend got called and then got called again a month later. Her address is slightly different on her voter registration and her driver's license which caused this to happen. One quick telephone call cleared it up. It's worth a try.

 

[Princess on the Run]

I would love to serve on a jury but never will. I'm a trial lawyer so no one wants me.

What sucks is that when I was away at school, I got a jury summons every 3 months and each time, would call and say that I'm temporarily residing out of the county. That kept up for almost a year and then I went years without getting one. The next time I got one, I was already an attorney and the day I got it for, I was on trial so I got it continued and apparently got put on the "do not summons" list when I called with my excuse because I haven't gotten a jury summons for state court since. I did get a federal summons a year ago and had to call in every day for 2 weeks. The days I was there, I never made it to the box for questioning and found out later they put me at the end as a "last resort" as a professional courtesy. The better courtesy would have been putting me int he box first so I could be excused with the thanks of the court early. Grrrr.

But I really would love to serve. I think it would be very educational and helpful in my own trial work. I know what I pick and don't pick in a juror and it would be cool to see how it plays out behind closed doors.

 

[rigs32]

In NY all prospective jurors take an oath to be truthful during voir dire. Please don't lie. Do you really want to run the risk of being held in contempt? If you try to get off, most likely you'll be put in another pool for another trial (at least in my county) but people not chosen go home.

Most trial attorneys aren't stupid. Part of our job is to read people. We can tell when someone doesn't want to be there.

 

[LisaR]

If you get called, it's fairly easy to get out of jury duty. Just know what to say, practice with me "All lawyers lie, Doctors are never wrong, anyone who drinks should get put away for life, I think all bankers are criminals" etc, etc. enough blanket statements that make the lawyers nervous about your ability to look at the case objectively, and they will not choose you. You need to be smart about it and make sure they don't choose you if you don't want to be chosen.

A few years ago while I was serving, two people tried your approach. While they were quickly dismissed from the jury box, the judge refused to dismiss them. He had them sit in the galley while the lawyers went on choosing the jury. It took three days to pick a jury and he made them come back all three days and just sit there. It was fantastic to watch and it served them right.

 

[scrapquitler]

A few years ago while I was serving, two people tried your approach. While they were quickly dismissed from the jury box, the judge refused to dismiss them. He had them sit in the galley while the lawyers went on choosing the jury. It took three days to pick a jury and he made them come back all three days and just sit there. It was fantastic to watch and it served them right.

In Ct, you only have to go for one day, and get questioned for one trial. So if the lawyers or the judge say no, you are finished.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Since Massachusetts is one day/one trial, I checked the Connecticut jury duty laws to see if they're comparable; I found:
"******Sec. 51-238a. Length of term of service as juror. The length of the term of service for jurors shall be one day except that (1) if a juror is impaneled on a jury trial which lasts more than one day, then the term of service shall be the length of that trial, or (2) if a juror is administered the voir dire oath and examination of such juror is not completed during that day, then the term of service shall be through the completion of the examination, if the juror is not selected, or the length of the jury trial, if the juror is selected, or (3) if the court otherwise orders, then the term of service shall be such number of days as the court may order." (bolding by me)

So it could happen in CT .

 

[LisaR]

Since Massachusetts is one day/one trial, I checked the Connecticut jury duty laws to see if they're comparable; I found:
"******Sec. 51-238a. Length of term of service as juror. The length of the term of service for jurors shall be one day except that (1) if a juror is impaneled on a jury trial which lasts more than one day, then the term of service shall be the length of that trial, or (2) if a juror is administered the voir dire oath and examination of such juror is not completed during that day, then the term of service shall be through the completion of the examination, if the juror is not selected, or the length of the jury trial, if the juror is selected, or (3) if the court otherwise orders, then the term of service shall be such number of days as the court may order." (bolding by me)

So it could happen in CT .

And I'm pretty sure all judges can hold anyone in contempt of court if they are being an *** just to get out of serving on a jury. But hey, if someone wants to go in saying, "All lawyers lie," I say go for it and see what happens!

 

[pixiewings71]

In CA we call the night before we are supposed to serve to see if we are expected to actually show up the next day. So we find out then if we have been postponed for the following day, if so I go to work and then call again the next night. This continues until they either say you're excused or you have to go in.

 

[Pigeon]

If you are a substitute teacher, you might be able to ask for a deferment until the summer months if you are called.

The last time I was called right after Christmas, there was a student in the pool, who was complaining that he was home on semester break, but had to leave the following day to go back to college out of town.

The judge sort of chewed him out for not asking for a deferment until summer on his questionnaire.

 

[Angry Eyes]

OP here, I assure you, I could never lie to get out of jury duty. Our family will be forever grateful to the jury who convicted the man who killed my DBIL who was a Garland, TX police officer. I take my civic duty very seriously and don't mind serving jury duty, I was just hoping not to serve so much jury duty. Twice in one calendar year for someone who doesn't get paid when not working is excessive IMO. I am a firm believer that I only end up where the Lord wants me and if it's on a jury (again) then I will joyfully serve. Thank you again for all of the feedback, I truly appreciate it. I promise to update so you all know what to expect when you get called again.

 

[shamrock30]

I had Federal Jury Duty three years ago. I had plane tickets for Italy the following week, and if I had been put on a trial, that obviously would have been a problem. I called and spoke with a clerk, and he said I still had to appear. Those of us who didn't get picked for a trial the first day had us come in again the next day, plus we were on call for a third day. I didn't get picked, thank goodness.

 

[lovesdumbo]

If you get called, it's fairly easy to get out of jury duty. Just know what to say, practice with me "All lawyers lie, Doctors are never wrong, anyone who drinks should get put away for life, I think all bankers are criminals" etc, etc. enough blanket statements that make the lawyers nervous about your ability to look at the case objectively, and they will not choose you. You need to be smart about it and make sure they don't choose you if you don't want to be chosen.

I was called for Federal jury duty some 20+ years ago. There was one man in particular that didn't want to serve. He tried everything to get out of it. He finally just yelled "they are all guilty anyways!". He was taken out of the court room in hand cuffs.

I was picked for the jury for the racketeering trial. I was pretty happy when I got the call that the case was settled out of court before the trial actually began.