raeanna74

I'm just curious how many here have ever been called for jury duty. I'm sure many haven't because they're quite young and haven't been able to even vote for more than a couple years.

I have been able to vote for 14 years. I have voted but not regularly. I have never even been called for jury duty and our county is not a highly populated area of Wisconsin. I actually live in the county seat as well and have lived in this town 11 out of the 14 years I've been able to vote. I have absolutely no criminal record and have never had a traffic ticket either.

So what determines when and if you are called for jury duty?

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maleficent

NJ they used to call people for jury duty from the DMV roles -- When i lived in NJ - from the age of 20 to 26 at that point i moved into NYC- I got called around 5 times.. each time - i showed up and either the prosecutor or the defence attorney or the judge knew me via my father-- so I always got excused... In the 10 + years I lived in nyc - never got called once...

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Borla

I got a letter about two months ago or so asking me to fill out a short questionnaire because I may be called for a Coroner's Jury. I've never been called for regular jury duty, and as of yet they haven't actually called me for the Coroner's Jury, just let me know I'm on the list. My understanding is that it's similar to a grand jury, except you review strictly cases where death is involved, and you verify the coroner's findings, or suggest otherwise.



Doesn't really answer your question about when and if though, sorry.



BTW - One of my pet peeves is people who claim to be patriotic, or have pride in their nation, but try to get out of jury duty. Seems hypocritical to me to claim the US is the best place to be, but then try to work against one of the things that was set up to insure fairness in our society, no?

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ShaniFaye

Im not sure how they do it, I *heard* that in my county owning a home was one thing that could get you called....shortly after I built my house I was called but thats the only time since I've become of age...many eons ago lol

I didnt have to serve though, they got enough people before they got to question me.

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grumpyolddude

I've been called several times.
When I lived in Wayne County, I served on the jury for a gang-related drive-by shooting. Convicted the shooter. The prosecution couldn't prove that the driver wasn't an innocent dupe.
Oakland County has called me 2 times, but I've yet to see the inside of a courtroom there.

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absorbentishe

I've been called several times, but my number has yet to be called. I had to go in front of a judge once to ask to be rescheduled due to my school schedule. I told him I could do it during spring break or whatever, but never got called back. All but once, I got the summons shortly after receiving a ticket.

Toaster126

From what I understand, places (at least in the US) pull names from DMV lists.

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Rodney

I've been called a few times, in San Francisco and where I now live. I did serve on two juries in San Francisco. But here, I've never even gone down to the courthouse. I simply get a notice, a group number and instructions to call a certain number every day and check whether my group was called. It never is.

I've heard that, in California, it's voter registration that they use to find you. Any Californians out there called for jury duty who were _not_ registered to vote at the time?

I had a friend who was almost called for _federal_ jury duty, and that is a ticket you don't really want to get. Some of those federal cases, especially the civil ones, last a long, long time. Fortunately, they turned out not to need him.

Da Munk

I've received a notice telling me that I might have to serve, but my group was never called. Mine seemed to be tied to the DMV, because I received the notice shortly after getting my driver's license.

Destrox

I was once, and I got out of it because I'm a full-time college student.



And it was during my finals week, so, screwwwww that.

Oh I was only called oddly enough after I voted earlier that year.....

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JStrider

never been called... but if I was it would probably be in cali since i'm registered to vote there and my drivers license is there...

but since i'm in Texas for school... would be tough to do it...

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micah67

Called twice so far in California. Served on one civil case. It lasted about 10 days. I was disappointed with the outcome. I would do it again, though.

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yournamehere

My third time is coming up Feb. 8th.
Served on a breaking & entering case jury in 1986, and a sexual assault & kidnapping case jury in 1990.
They make it easier now - 1 day and you're done if you're not picked. It used to be a whole week.

They grabbed me quick, though - I've only been back in AZ 7 months.

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Lyncher

nope. I wish I could though

Willravel

Yes, I was. I was chosen to be on the same jury as my father (I've been told the odds of that are in the hundreds of thousands to millions). I made it very clear that monitory gain by the prosecution for 'mental anguish' is absurd and is not supported by law. Not only did I get myself excused from a frivolous lawsuit, but my words effected the outcome despite my being excused before the proceedings even began.

msh58

twice i was called for it, once the number didn't come up. second time it was a civil case and i was in the jury box getting questioned pre trial to see if they wanted me. i got dumped though.

Sweetpea

I believe that individuals for jury duty are randomly selected by registration to vote or as Mal said, DMV records in some states.

I was called for jury duty and served on a civil case, it was fairly interesting and i got paid for it too

sweetpea

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Xazy

Been called twice, had 2 different cases. Second time was almost 4 years to the date of the first time. I guess once in, always in.

ObieX

I actually recieved a notice for jury duty this past friday. It says on the thing here how they call people in NJ.

And i quote (directly fromt he form)

"Names of prospective jurors are randomly selected from lists of licensed drivers, registered voters, filers of NJ gross income tax returns, and filers of homestead rebate applications."

I hope i get dismissed. i dont want to be a state grand juror.

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snowy

Oregon switched a few years ago from pulling from the voter registration lists to pulling from the DMV lists...friends of mine noticed that the number of people our age being called increased dramatically

I was asked to fill out a questionnaire once by the county I live in, in case they wanted to call me. Never got called.

My dad, on the other hand, seems to get called for jury duty all the time. He usually gets excused, though, even though he'd really like to serve! Last time he got called was for a case regarding meth. The judge asked him how he felt about drugs. My dad's reply: "Well, you know I'm a high school principal. We don't allow drugs. Drug-free campus. I'm very anti-drug." How about guns? "Again, gun-free zone. I'm very anti-gun." He also knew the arresting officer (my folks live in a very small county). Shortly after his interview, Dad got sent home.

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Cynthetiq

just recently served 2 days... i wish i had served 3 since they can only call 2 days served every 2 years, 3+5 every 4, 6+days i think 6 years....

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ratbastid

I got called in 97, served a week hearing a personal injury case. Even though the plaintiff's injuries and situation were heartbreaking, we found for the defendant. The guy hydroplaned into the plaintiff's car at just under 55 mph on an open freeway, sending the plaintiff off the freeway and rolling down a 50-foot embankment. Ultimately, we couldn't find him to have been negligent.

Marvelous Marv

California works from the registered voter lists. The federal courts tried to get me once, and they're complete assholes. Their printed matter says, "We don't give a shit what you've got scheduled, and if you've already bought nonrefundable plane tickets for the time we say you have to be here, tough titty."

PLUS, they tell you to plan on being there for a month. Now who the hell can do that if they are (a) self-employed (b) a student, (c) not independently wealthy, or (d) not employed by some agency that's happy to pay you for not working? Oh, and there's no guarantee that the case will be over in a month, and I doubt you can just walk away if it's not resolved.

I sent them three certified letters pointing out the various reasons I couldn't serve. Their answer was the same--we don't give a shit. However, part of my reason for doing it was to be so difficult that they wouldn't try to get me again.

Fine. I made sure I could name a cop or a judge I knew. Was prepared to say the defendant "looked guilty to me" and that I didn't like whatever ethnic group he/she belonged to. Women have it easy--they can just say they have a bladder infection which makes them use the toilet every 15 minutes. When the day came, my number wasn't called, so I didn't have to use any of my preparations.

When I'm retired, I'll be happy to serve on a jury, but while I'm trying to make a living, don't waste a month of my life in front of a couple of blowhard lawyers.

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Willravel

Impossible. I, a Californian, was called for jury duty 3 months before I registered to vote for the first time (I was 18).

snowy

Washington is pulling from their voter registration rolls and DMV lists both, as does California.

My dad might get called for jury duty tomorrow, in fact.

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NoSoup

I was called for Jury Duty and had to serve it very, very shortly after my 18th Birthday. As I had not yet registered to vote, since no elections had happened at that point, I can say inequivically that Wisconsin must use some other means to find jury members. I imagine the DMV or Taxes, but cannot say for certain.

The case that I worked on was highly unusual.

As far as what I learned from the experience, I would have to say that I lost a lot of faith in the system - by the end of the trial several of the jurors just wanted what the rest of the group wanted so we could get out of there. During our first poll after we went into deliberation, it was 11-1 for the prosecution - with me being the only one for the defendant. After two days of deliberation, we ended up getting all 12 votes for the defendant. Kinda scary to think what would have happened had I not stuck to my guns...

As far as the selection goes, first the defense and prosecution picked a pool of potential jurors, and then each side selected six people from that pool. I was the last name called for each, but was almost certain that I was going, as those that were picked were either the youngest or the oldest from the pool.

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maleficent

I think you have the plot of 12 Angry men... awesome movie, with an outstanding cast if you haven't seen it...

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Cynthetiq

I was wondering if he was doing it like Jack Lemmon or Henry Fonda...

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Val_1

I was called for jury duty a couple of years ago. It was a case of an electrical fire. Me and 2 other electrical engineers had been called. All three of us were dismissed. Weird, but they tend to want people with no understanding of the details of the case to that their decisions are based entirely on the testomony they hear in court instead of any outside knowledge they may have.

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Coppertop

I've been called to jury duty three times and served on two juries. This was by the time I was 26. Seeing as how the last time I was called was back in 2002 or so I think I am due soon.

Case 1: armed robbery (served, mistrial)
Case 2: grand theft (served, verdict reached)
Case 3: quadruple homicide (did not serve)

The quadruple homicide was the Yosemite killings, moved to Santa Clara County because of the publicity. A coworker from the same office was called as well, but that's not too surprising seeing as how the jury pool was quite large.

NoSoup

Nope, haven't seen it. Maybe I'll pick it up the next time I'm at the video store.

It really blew my mind how it worked out - while we were in there, I was the only one that felt very strongly for the defendant, there was probably 3 or 4 people that felt strongly for the prosecution, and the others just went along with them simply because they thought we could get out of there quicker. Ah, the court system.

I don't know if anyone else does this, but during your deliberations did you ever have nicknames for people that testified/attorneys?

We had a variety of people testify, and it was hard to keep track of their names, so one of us would just say "You know, the guy that looked like Keanu Reeves" or whatever when another jury member couldn't remember who we were talking about, and from that point forward that's what we would call them.

The Bailiff had a very confused look on his face when he brought us lunch - he probably thought he had accidently walked into a courtroom where only celebrities hung out.

Oh, I forgot to mention... we were sequestered for the entirety of the trial, which may have contributed to everyone's anxiousness to leave...

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Rlyss

I was called for jury duty in Australia a few years ago. I don't feel too comfortable about saying a lot but it was a rape case. The woman and ex-boyfriend (prosecution and defendent) both admitted they liked it very rough. The couple broke up and the case was whether it was one last sex session before they said goodbye or whether it was not consentual.

I was only 20 years old at the time so it was quite nerve wracking for me. We lasted a few days before the prosecution said something that she apparently shouldn't have and we picked up on it and asked the judge about it. It seems her lawyers weren't happy she said that so we were dismissed and they did it again with a different group of jurors.

snowy

from: http://www.wicourts.gov/services/juror/index.htm

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NoSoup

Well, I suppose that clears that up - Thanks onesnowyowl

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Cynthetiq

I'm not registered to vote in CA, but did have a California Drivers License. I still get called for Jury Duty even though I've been registered to vote in NJ from 91-95 NY 96-date

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Gilda

I got called three back in California (where, BTW, they use both DMV and voter registration, which sometimes results in people getting called twice in less than a year).

The first time I was in the jury pool for two trials. The first was a child abuse and the second was a rape. I was dismissed for cause both times, and policy at the time in my county was that if you got called twice and not seated, you were done. Three days of sitting around in the jury selecting room, but it was cool, as it was summer and I didn't have anything to do anyway. I read like six books and a hundred comic books.

The second time, I didn't get called the first day for a trial, so I was done.

The third trial was a lawsuit filed against the county sheriff's department claiming harassment and voilation of civil rights. In the trial itself, we found out that the plaintiff was a chronic offender who was stalking the wife of one of the deputies, and had literally nobody to corroborate any of his claims.

We voted in favor of the defendants, the Sheriff's department and four named deputies in the first vote. Thinking, well, we should at least talk about the evidence, so we did for half an hour, examining each claim in detail, at the end of which we decided that the guy was a flake and that the only thing we coulnd't figure out with any clarity was why the judge didn't issue a bench verdict based on the complete lack of any evidence.

Gilda

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nitelyfe

How coincidental! I report for jury duty next Monday, at the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. This will be my fourth time to serve and I do it willingly, since my employer pays me for the time I'm there. It's a good time to get caught up on my sleep.

If you want a way to avoid getting picked for a jury panel, try nodding off every now and then. No lawyer wants to have someone on the jury who might miss important information.

viejo gringo

In Texas they use the county voting registration..

got called once when I lived in Illinois...set around for two days before they started to question me.....wanted to know if I knew any police officers..yes, several of them...personal or casual was the next question....very personal was the answer...I sign their checks--I am their police commisioner..

They acted liked they were really pissed off, but I never got called again...(must have black balled me)

Marvelous Marv

Yeah, back in the eighties, I was amazed that they managed to find 12 people who had never heard of Ollie North.

I'm going to take back what I said. I'd gladly serve if I could be on the jury that hears the case of the cop who shot the serviceman.

[/thread cross-pollination]

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william

In FL, (in theory), you are called for jury duty by getting lincensed to drive.