Jury Duty

Where the hell do you live that you can get called again a month after you just served?

The selection process is boring. Boring for the jurors, boring for the lawyers, boring for the judge, the court staff, and the bailiff. BUT it is very important.

If there are 50 jurors, jurors 1-25ish are the focus.

[quote]Where the hell do you live that you can get called again a month after you just served?

Small town. pop. 18,000

I didn't serve the case. I was struck and sent home after about 2 hours.

No complaints. I get a free day off work and $30 spending money a week later.

Hope that happens again tomorrow.

When I did jury duty, I got a day off work, $30, and the bailiff blew me in the parking lot.

I’ve tried to get on a jury, but they never pick me. I’m a real law and order type.

Shame.

R3 = Ben Affleck’s mom

R5 = TFG aka "Mr. Law & Order"

How much are you to be paid? I got forty bucks per day and a transportation fee for living over 10 miles from the court. Served four months. Not bad except it was May through August so I missed summer that year.

My mother had an interesting book of essays written by Anne Rivers Siddons in the 70s called John Chancellor Makes Me Cry.

One of them was called “Wheeee! The Jury.”

Very enlightening.

Good heavens, I just received a notice this morning to report at 0745 on Nov 1. I got a notice about ten years ago, but was dismissed that day. I wonder if they will pass over me, again because I was a former government worker. My notice says we only get $15 per day in Florida. Cheap Republican bastards.

^^^ That's the idea, r10. Call them 'Cheap Republican bastards' when you report and see if that gets you off.

In the 30+ years I've been eligible to serve on a jury, regardless of the half dozen places I've lived, I get called for duty, call in the night before, and have never had to even go down to be part of the pool. Of course, now that I've shared this, I'll probably get a summons tomorrow.

They tell you the case in advance? I've done jury duty about four times. Only once did I even make it into the jury box for the preliminary questions by counsel. I was struck. I'm now of an age at which I'll probably be exempt for the rest of my life.

R8

I think New York State paid me $30 a day. It was a few years ago.

Madonna always responds to her jury duty requests, and shows up to perform her civic duty. Alas, Maddy is always 100% excused due to her world renown moniker and persona, and legal teams assume her participation will Detract from a fair trial, so she is entirely excused. But she still shows up, she's fulfilling her civic obligation. :-)

I served on one jury in which the case went to jury. Another that was settled the morning we were to deliver our verdict. I was empaneled on one, but excused on day 2. Called up another 5-6 times, but either sat around all day then sent home or sat in the courtroom for vior dire and not selected. We call in the night before here to see if we are needed. After five days of not needing to go in, we have fulfilled our service.

In the 80s, my grandmother was called in to jury duty for a sensationalist crime committed by a local celebrity, a used car salesman who ran these schlocky TV commercials. It went on for a number of months. After she died and I inherited her things, I found out that she was the foreman and had the members of the jury sign her notes like a yearbook, "Couldn't have asked for a better foreman than you!" "Thanks for the laughs!" etc. This is more a story about my grandmother than jury duty, but it makes me smile to think these people were bonding and having fun during the whole ordeal. At least it has the potential to be something other than a waste of time.

Correction: wasn't used cars, but electronics. And the trial took place in the early 90s.

I have had jury duty several times over the years but was only selected for a jury once. It was a worker's compensation case and took about half a day. Nothing exciting. I was 19 at the time. All the other times were just sitting around until being dismissed. My jurisdiction currently has a one-day/one-trial jury duty system, which limits the disruption and tedium if you are not selected. That wasn't the case back when I was 19. At that time, the jury duty term was a month, and you had to report every weekday and stay there until being dismissed. It actually worked for me then because I was on January break from college and got paid every day, even if I only had to stay for an hour, which occurred frequently.

I almost made it once after the many times I went down for the call.

I got to whatever they call that second time, where we all met in a court room. We were asked questions and to tell the truth it was hot and stuffy in the room and I did not know the crime. When they got to me I did not hear the beginning of the question but the perpetrator or whatever you call him was sitting there with a guy whom I wondered afterwards was his lawyer. He asked me something to the effect of, 'if a person commits a crime with a gun do you think he should have his gun rights taken away'. I said 'oh, yes, I don't think he should have ever the ability to use a gun again' or something. I got this wide eyed look from both of them and then, bam, I was excused and sent out to the hall. Goodbye.

I sure wish I knew what that case was all about.

I always wanted to be se!ected.for jury duty, until they called my Husband for it. I would still like to be called though. My Husband said; it ain't like TV!

I was a member of a jury for a murder trial in the mid 1990’s. For the life of me I was shocked that I was selected because I knew the sister of the victim. Her and I went to school together. I disclosed that I was familiar with the victims family. I never want to go through it again. Seeing the photos and the autopsy report of the way she was murdered was vile and gruesome. It is so sad and tragic. We found the son of a bitch guilty.

[quote] 'if a person commits a crime with a gun do you think he should have his gun rights taken away'. I said 'oh, yes, I don't think he should have ever the ability to use a gun again' or something. I got this wide eyed look from both of them and then, bam, I was excused and sent out to the hall. Goodbye. I sure wish I knew what that case was all about.

I think it was a "felon in possession (of firearm)" charge. If you're a convicted felon, you can no longer own / possess a firearm. Kind of an odd charge to go to trial.

My cousin was on a high profile trail back in the 80's that involved the mayor of our major city, prostitutes, illegal campaign funds, and perjury. Once they got into deliberations I think the jury had to be sequestered? It was quite a big deal and something we saw on the news and read about in the papers and then lo and behold, my cousin was tangentially connected. Wild.

^trial

Don't they ask you a series of questions and you potentially throw them to suggest you'd be biased or unfair if you were to serve on the jury?

I was a jury member on a murder trial several years ago. The defense had terrible lawyers (one was so nervous she kept getting cotton mouth--I felt bad for her as that was probably her first trial) and the prosecution had an open and shut case. I was surprised it only lasted about 4 days.

They gave us something ridiculous for a mileage reimbursement--like a nickel a mile or something. But the joke was on the county, I lived close enough to walk to court. That check for $3.15 was pure profit for me!!!!

Her and I knew each other. Oh Dear…

For a "felon in possession of a firearm" charge, the defense would most likely challenge the search that led to the firearm. Could get the whole thing tossed if it was improper. But I agree that this issue would probably be settled before the jury phase.

I've been called 3 times and empaneled twice.

First time was a medical malpractice that had been winding its way through the courts for years. Trial started Thursday and continued on Friday. Went in on Monday to resume trial, but was dismissed as judge said defendant doctor had been killed in an automobile accident early Saturday morning.

Second time, the defendant was on trial for assaulting an officer. During the opening day of testimony, a psychiatrist had mentioned the defendant had a prior arrest record. The trial ended for the day and the next day, we entered the courtroom. The judge dismissed us explaining the shrink should not have mentioned the defendant's prior arrest record and he was declaring a mistrial.

So I've never actually convicted anybody or let anybody off.

R31

No, it ain't like TV. In fact, I've heard lawyers ask potential jurors if they'll blame them when they realize the trial moves slower than Law & Order.

I was just recently called into jury duty - and for some reason my number was never picked, so I got dismissed at the end of the day

But what was surprising was how some of the lawyer would reject some jurors - some would sit there waiting for a question, before one (or the other) lawyer would say "We challenge this juror" - just by looking at them

though the judge did say not to take it personally if you get rejected, it has nothing to do with you

wonder if the lawyers are so experienced, they just have sense which juror would be good for them, or maybe they just strike some jurors randomly

R32

Before a trial, lawyers spend a lot of time figuring out what kinds of jurors will help or hurt their case. Sometimes they hire jury experts who help them develop profiles of good or bad jurors and the expert may be in the courtroom observing the jurors. They look not only at the potential juror who is answering the current voir dire question but at how other potential jurors are responding. Are they paying attention? Do they appear to agree with the answers provided by the person being questioned? At some trials, the jurors complete questionnaires, so the lawyers have some background on them. It's possible in your case that the lawyers picked up on some body language or a facial expression by a juror that made them conclude they would not be appropriate for their case.

What constitutes a good juror varies with the case. I was once in a jury call in which all the lawyers and finance industry professionals were struck. It was a criminal case involving a guy charged with an assault using two different guns. Did the defense think we would be too judgmental? Who knows? Another time, after a case settled right before the trial started, one of the lawyers told me that he had wanted me on the jury so I could explain the case to the other jurors. It was a complex civil case. I was happy it settled because it sounded so dull.

Lawyers get two types of challenges: Challenges for cause and peremptory challenges. They use challenges for cause when there is a specific reason the juror might not be impartial, for example, s/he knows someone connected with the case. Those challenges are unlimited. Peremptory challenges allow lawyers to strike jurors for no specific reason. Each side gets a limited number. Deploying those challenges often involves some strategy because each side wants to make sure it has enough challenges to strike jurors the other side would want to keep.

R32

[quote]wonder if the lawyers are so experienced, they just have sense which juror would be good for them, or maybe they just strike some jurors randomly

As I wrote, they usually have worked out beforehand what kinds of backgrounds would be good for them, for example, if they were defending an insurance company, people who believe they were ripped off by their insurers obviously would be avoided, but experienced, successful trial lawyers do have a second sense of who would be right.

R23

It's possible the defendant planned to argue something like it wasn't his gun; it was brought into his home and he wasn't aware of it. Maybe a conviction would have been a third strike and landed him in jail for a very long time so he thought it was worth going to trial instead of taking a plea.

[quote] Don't they ask you a series of questions and you potentially throw them to suggest you'd be biased or unfair if you were to serve on the jury?

I’m not American, but when I had jury duty, the jurors were called by a ballot and took their seats. One by one they stood and the prosecutor and defense could challenge or not. The defense challenged two grandmotherly women were replaced by ballot again by two Asian guys and the rest of the motley crew stayed.

I was very surprised that one was interviewed about our beliefs like in the movies.

I've done jury duty three times. One was a murder trial (gang shooting - guy found guilty), one was a grocery store slip and fall ("victim" rigged it to sue store), and one was a broken contract case (involving a shady priest - settled out of court before we deliberated). In all three cases I was elected foreman. One other time I was called for jury duty but never selected for a case.

Everyone should do jury duty just to understand the process in case you're ever one of the parties involved.

For a real thrill, OP, hope that you get picked to serve on a grand jury empaneled for six months. You’ll meet on a set day of the month six times.

I was the foreperson on a 3-count attempted murder case involving gang members. I learned so much about gangs, the colors they wear, how they protect their territories, etc. It was a really interesting case, but scary, too.

Because the case involved gangs, after the verdict (we found the defendant guilty on 2 of 3 counts), we were lead out of the back door exit of the court flanked by cops. But once we were out the door, the cops went back inside and we were all out in the parking lot by ourselves. I remember being scared to death walking home, wondering if a vengeful gang member would gun me down as I walked down the street.

Part of me would like to do it, but I've heard from several family members/work colleagues how boring it can be. My sister started on about 3 different cases before they were dismissed for various reasons after a day or two. Then she got told her they didn't need her again.

R38 But keep your trap shut. Grand jury deliberations are secret, and if you blab, you'll ruin the whole case.

Dress up as Princess Leia and tell them you can read people's minds. They'll dismiss you right away.

Being called a month later seems like a glitch in the system. OP should bring this to the attention of the local jury manager. I think most places are a year or two minimum breaks in eligibility?

In San Francisco, if you're called for jury duty, even if you don't get selected to sit on a jury, you're exempt from jury duty for the next two years.

I've been called five times over the of my life but usually I just gets sent home. Only once have been actually asked to server on a jury, and it was this summer. It was for a rape case, where the accused was an artist who drew female nudes and advertised for models on craigslist; he was accused of raping a model. Midway through the trial the accused decided he wanted to have a case decided by the judge rather than by the jury (which is a legal maneuver in my state), so the judge sent us all home. The accused got off, but he was going to the defendant this year in three more rape trials!