Jury Duty...

[Disneylover79]

I have Jury Duty tomorrow and it made me think about a few things....

How many people have actually had to serve on a Jury....

What do you take to keep you busy?

Last time I got summoned I did not serve but I sat there until 1pm....

So share your funny,serious, or just plan any type of experience about jury duty...

BTW I can't miss a day of work I have to many patients to see and treat but hey we all have to do it.. I just wish my name would fall of the list...

 

[scrapquitler]

I've been called about 5 or 6 times.
Here in CT we have 'one jury one day' service and we call ahead the night before to find out if we actually have to go or not. All but three times I didn't have to go at all.

The first time I went, we sat in the room until 2:30 PM at which time they sent everyone home. They never called anyone in for voir dire all day.

The second time, I called in for voir dire and the judge dismissed me when I explained that I was a homeschooling breastfeeding mother with no access to child care, and that if my self employed husband had to take time off of work for me to be on a jury, that would leave my family with zero income. I was dismissed.

The third time, I sat in the room until about 11AM. No one was called in for voir dire, and we were all dismissed at that point.

In each case, I brought a book with me and was perfectly happy to just sit and read. The last time I went (back in August) I noticed that a lot of people had their laptops with them. That might be common, or it might vary by the court, so if you think you want your laptop, call ahead to make sure it is okay.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I was on a murder trial when I was 18 and it took forever. But boy, let me tell you how interesting it was and I wished that it could have gone on longer...

The victim was a family man, the defendant was a gang member. The gang member tried to steal this guy's car at a gas station and it went wrong. The guy was shot at point blank range in front of his "baby momma" for want of a better term. The witnesses were all gang member and this one lady came to court dressed in a royal blue evening gown, complete with tassles and spangles. She was about a size 28. And loud.

The other witnesses were all supposedly at a BBQ party at the defendant's house. It was a Thursday at 3 pm. (I don't know many people who have them at that time...but I digress.) They were cross examined one at a time after testifying that the defendant was in attendance...and were all asked what was served at the party. Each one said something different.

The defense attorney was accused of mis-drawing the diagram of the gas station. So, he moves to have the entire court moved via the Pokey Bus to the scene of the crime. We all go and we also get to see how far away the defendant lived from the gas station, so that we can also see if that is walkable in the time table given.

And yes, it was NOT fun to pull up to the projects in Compton in a Pokey Bus. I hope I never have to do that again. We found the gang member guilty after two weeks of deliberations and we got an escort to our cars from the police when it was all said and done.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Oh, and I now bring my laptop and/or my Kindle, but in previous times brought two newspapers and a novel or two.

 

[MinnieMe87]

I brought a book with me when I got called a couple years ago. I would probably bring my Kindle and my Ipod if I got called now.

 

[charming23]

I had jury duty last year. The first day I brought 2 books, my iPod, a few magazines, and a notebook. I was not called the first day and was let go at 2:30. The second day I packed my laptop and was called not 20 mins after I got it set up. I was on ajury for all the other days and would bring small stuff just to keep busy while on breaks in the jury room.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Get there early, find a good seat and bring a good book. Also, just get it in your mind you are going to be there ALL day. I sat thru 3 days wondering when they would let us out. This just made things worse. So don't go in with the mindset that you might get out at noon, or 2 or 4. You are just going to torture yourself. Expect to be there all day, and expect to do nothing but wait.

 

[Lintasare]

I served on a jury back in 2006. It was a double homicide, guy shot his in-laws. The only defense was that he had low blood sugar at the time and did not know what he was doing. It was proven in the jury room that he had to have known because of the difficulty of firing the weapon he used.

We found him guilty of 2 counts of 1st degree murder and 1 count of child abuse since his son was in the next room when it happened.

After it was all over I found out that a coworker knew the guy...they lived on the same street and our jury foreman had previously worked on a project with my dad.

 

[MM27]

I have never been called for jury duty. Never even received a letter. I would love to go, but nobody wants me I guess

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

the one time I was called, we really didn't sit there too long. I think everyone knew if they were on a jury or not by 11 am.

once on the jury, I really didn't need to bring anything, we all got along so well that we talked with each other during breaks. The trial took the better part of the day for 4 days and we deliberated for about a day and a half.

it was 2nd degree murder which took some explaining and a second reading of the judges orders for some to understand that the guy on trial not only did not have to have brought the gun or pulled the trigger..he did not even have to know the others he brought along on the burglary had brought a gun...

we had fun as a jury on the breaks, but in the end it was hard when we had to deliver the guilty verdict.

we were allowed electronics up until deliberations.

ETA: I made $40/day. Not much for someone who works, but for a stay at home mom it was kinda nice.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

I've only been called once. I didn't make it past the phone call. My Mom always wanted to be called but never did. My boyfriend, now dh moved down and got called a few months later. He has been called several times. I think he is half and half about being on the jury. He doesn't like having that responsiblity. Of course people have now called him stupid and unpatriotic. But hey thats small minded people for ya.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I have never been called for jury duty. Never even received a letter. I would love to go, but nobody wants me I guess

I wouldn't let this keep me up at night. They will want you eventually. Even Obama was called for jury duty a few months ago. As POTUS, he had the option to decline. My dad was called about 2 months after I was. And he was in his late 50's. I think they get everyone eventually. My husband swears he got called because he voted for the first time in a presidential election. I think they go by tax records...but I'm not sure. Unfortunately, my DH will no longer vote in any election.

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

I have not served on a jury, but I did get to wait. I also learned something: be careful what you bring!

I decided to bring my homework with me to work on while I waited. I brought my whole backpack. BIG MISTAKE! I forgot to clean it out and left a pair of small pink scissors in it. You would have thought I brought a gun! I was pulled aside by security and was patted down (even though I went through the metal detector with no problem.) Then they gave me the 3rd degree about why I had the scissors in the first place. Then they called over the head of security who took one look at my backpack and the little scissors (they were the tiny kid ones) and called the officers off. He lectured me about bringing anything sharp/dangerous into a courtroom and that the officers are “looking for some trouble”. He said normally they have to “get rid of” anything like this, and that normally I’d end up in a holding zone until an investigation was completed , but he said he’d “do me a favor” because he didn’t think I was dangerous. He walked me over to the info desk and had the receptionist hold onto my scissors for me while I had to serve jury duty. I collected them at the end of the day.

Geesh. To think I almost ended up locked up because I forgot to remove some craft supplies. Never again! I learned my lesson!


Yes, I know they were just doing their job and I shouldn't have brought the scissors

 

[Katie's Butterflies]

I wouldn't let this keep me up at night. They will want you eventually. Even Obama was called for jury duty a few months ago. As POTUS, he had the option to decline. My dad was called about 2 months after I was. And he was in his late 50's. I think they get everyone eventually. My husband swears he got called because he voted for the first time in a presidential election. I think they go by tax records...but I'm not sure. Unfortunately, my DH will no longer vote in any election.

From what i've been told, you can be put on the list for jury duty if you recently got a drivers liscense or state ID, registered to vote, voted for the first time after not voting for a while, or if the computer just randomly chooses your name.

 

[tar heel]

I wouldn't let this keep me up at night. They will want you eventually. Even Obama was called for jury duty a few months ago. As POTUS, he had the option to decline. My dad was called about 2 months after I was. And he was in his late 50's. I think they get everyone eventually. My husband swears he got called because he voted for the first time in a presidential election. I think they go by tax records...but I'm not sure. Unfortunately, my DH will no longer vote in any election.

No, not tax records. If that were the case, people who do not own property would not be eligible.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

From what i've been told, you can be put on the list for jury duty if you recently got a drivers liscense or state ID, registered to vote, voted for the first time after not voting for a while, or if the computer just randomly chooses your name.

Thanks for the info. I think mine was randomly chosen. I have had my license for 20 years and have always voted. So maybe DH is right that when he decided to register to vote, it picked up his name.

 

[disneymomofmyca]

I have to report tomorrow too! I have been called to report both times right after I renewed my driver's lis. Tomorrow is the very first time I actually have to show up and I am a bit nervous! We have to call the night before and I have always been instructed to not appear...until now. We live in a very small county so the odds I will know other jurors or the person on trial are pretty darn good...hmmm...could be interesting!

 

[design_mom]

I was called for jury duty right around the time that we were expecting to fly to Russia to adopt our daughter. (We had been given a rough time frame that would likely have put the jury duty right around the time we were expecting to leave.) Instructions for requesting an excuse were included in the summons, so I explained the situation. However, there was a big notice that until you *received* your excuse, you were expected to appear and could be arrested if you didn't show.

I waited and waited for that excuse to come, but nothing arrived. Then we got our call to go to Russia (it came earlier than we expected.). We got the news on Wednesday that we needed to be in Moscow by Saturday -- and we wouldn't be home until *after* my jury duty was scheduled to start. I could picture them hauling me away in handcuffs as soon as I got off the plane!

I called the court to check on the status of my excuse, but the lady who handled that was out that week. I finally ended up calling the judge directly. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the right protocol...but he granted my excuse. However, he told me that I would be expected to serve at a later date and that I would be on the "short list" of names to be summoned.

However, that was 4 years ago... and I haven't been called since.

 

[Jex]

I had it a year or so ago, it ended up being a murder case and out of 140 people or so I ended up on the jury. Probably because it was a pretty big high profile case here locally and I somehow missed it when it was in the news. I actually enjoyed it though, not only did it get me out of the office for a few weeks, but it was interesting. I do remember that one guy that was in the jury pool got out of it when he showed the judge his plane tickets, and reservations for a trip that he was taking in a few weeks to WDW when we were all going through the first round of interviews.

 

[yoopermom]

I'm a teacher, and the 2X I've been called, I've been dismissed as soon as they hear my profession! It's a small county, so they probably figure the defendant was one of my students.

Terri