InTransition951

well, i just got a summons in the mail and im reading through all this jibber jabber which surprisingly, makes some sense to me.

ive never really been in a jury duty before but im just wondering, what is it like exactly? what do you do and how much waiting is involved? i also remember from being a freshman in high school of one of my teachers being gone for about a month because of jury duty too. am i really gonna be gone for that long or do most people stay only for a day?

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Fotzlid

I've been called 3 times so far. The first two times I was there pretty much all day. The third was only a half day.
What you do is wait mostly. If there is a jury case that will start that day, the lawyers will ask the potential jurors a few questions and weed out the ones they don't want. If you haven't been picked to sit on the jury, you may go back into the waiting area and possibly go through the questioning process again if there is another jury case. If there is nothing else on the docket for that day, they will excuse you and that is the end of it.
Bring a book or something to keep you occupied. Once you get into the waiting area, you can't leave till they dismiss you.

Your teacher may have been called for a grand jury. That usually lasts a month IIRC. Never been called for that myself.

mo42

I'm actually doing jury duty right now, for a criminal trial (you could get called for civil, too, but you won't know until you're in the courtroom).

Day 1 was a lot of waiting in the jury room. Every now and then they would call in about 40 people to go to a courtroom as potential jurors. I arrived early in the morning and was sent to a courtroom around 3pm. Of those 40, 12 jurors and two alternates were selected. They started with a pool of 18, asked everyone questions like whether they had any criminal history or not, whether they trusted/distrusted police officers, etc.

If you sit on a trial, you'll be listening to evidence for 3 days to a month (1-2 weeks is probably average). After that, you and the other jurors will meet in a back room and see if you can come to a unanimous decision.

All in all, though, you're most likely to not be on a jury, just waiting around for a long time. Bring a book/laptop/sudoku or something of that nature for sure.

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yotta

I've been summoned twice. I just shredded the summons. I had classes to go to, and I didn't feel like arguing with them.

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robot_parade

The answer is 'it depends' - each state, and even each county, has different rules and procedures. Federal cases are entirely different, and I have no idea how they work. Doing what yotta did is probably...unwise, since if the judge notices and is in a pissy mood, you can have a police officer show up at your home, bring you to court, then put you in jail. Contempt of court, what fun! Excuses, like being busy, won't do you any good there. There are various reasons you can get exempted, but basically, everyone is busy, no one really enjoys taking time off from work/school/masturbation. It's called civic duty for a reason.

When I called called for jury duty, the first time, I sat in on a day-long civil trial, and a 1/2 day one that ended in a mistrial. The second time I wasn't called at all.

Basically, unless you can give a really good reason why you can't attend (and 'work' and 'school' don't count - "I'm an ER doc" or "Final exams" probably would), count on losing at least a day of your life sitting around and waiting to be called, and maybe another day sitting in on a trial. Up to several weeks if it's a massive complicated thing/murder trial. Or, do like yotta did and ignore it, but be prepared to face the consequences if you aren't as lucky.

Oh, and don't give the judge any shit. Ever. Just not a good idea.

hanfan321

when they were selecting the jury for a theft trial, I told the prosecutor I didn't think the defendant should go to jail for this crime. For some reason I didn't get selected.

robot_parade

Sure. I'm not sure if this is you're point, but there are lots of ways to get out of doing jury duty. If you want to 'get out of it', just do a little research on the right things to say, and you can do that. OTOH, there's such a thing as civic duty. If you believe in that, answer the questions honestly, and serve on the jury if you're asked to do so. The End.
-----Added 8/1/2009 at 02 : 38 : 55-----
Back up slightly - hanfan321 - if you answered honestly, then cool. If not, then why not?

shakran

Good way to be held in contempt of court. . .

BCD

In the three states where I practice law, it is VERY difficult to get out of jury duty. In fact, a lot of judges get p.o.'d when they listen to potential jurors argue why they should get out of it. We're all busy and it is an inconvenience to serve - but it is a civic duty.

When I was called to serve and when I've had clients who can't serve w/o major inconvenience, I've asked (and been granted) the right to serve on grand jury as opposed to the regular jury duty (petit jury). At least in the states where I practice, the grand jury meets on a regular basis at regular times (e.g., every Thursday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m.) for a few months. With this sort of schedule, you can at least plan for it so it isn't as disruptive to your schedule. This is unlike the traditional jury pool where you show up one day and - like InTransition's teacher - could be told with no advance warning that you are sitting on a trial every day for the next two months. I've also had the court agree to push the jury duty service back until the next time they empanel a jury pool (typically every three or four months), if the client was particularly busy (e.g., in the middle of a large transaction, having surgery).

Most people find jury duty really interesting and I think it is something everyone should do. When I served, they gave everyone a tour of the court and jail facilities. You also get to hear some wild stuff and see some talented and no-so-talented attorneys in action.

clavus

The judge told us that he expected jury duty to last two or three days. After he gave us that information, we were asked if we had reasons we could not serve. One woman was pregnant and due in a couple of weeks. She could not get out of it. Once guy barely spoke English, he did not get out of it. Once guy was a total jackass and could not answer the attorney's question with a straight answer. He could not get out of it. One woman had a bad back and could not sit for long periods of time. She could not get out of it.

Only two guys who got out of jury duty. One guy said straight up that he could not find someone guilty of violating a drug law. The other guy was self-employed and "too busy right now, but could serve in six months."

All the people I mentioned who were required to serve by the judge were dismissed by the attorneys, however.

I REALLY did not want to serve. But I did. I can't say that it was a positive experience, or that I'm glad I did. I did it because I'm a citizen and it was my duty to serve.

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yournamehere

Jury duty differs by jurisdiction. Where I live now, you go in for one day. If you're not picked for a jury, you're done. I once lived somewhere where you had to go in all week.
I've served on three juries, and consider my civic duty over with.

Now, if I'm summoned , I just tell the judge I was arrested once and shocked at all the lies on my Arrest Report, and for that reason I could never again believe the testimony of a police officer.

It's worked every time.

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grayman

Only if they can prove you received the summons. If it didn't come registered mail, they can't prove it ever got to you and it honestly isn't worth their time to track down people who don't respond to the initial summons. Now, if you fill out the questionairre and then don't show up, that's a good way to get an escort from the sheriff and an earful from the judge along with the possibility of that contempt charge.

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MSD

This is why people are typically tried not by a jury of their peers, but of the elderly and people who are too stupid to get out of jury duty. It's your civic duty, if you get called and don't have a really good reason to be excused, do it. You could either get a dangerous person off the streets or save someone innocent from injustice, and that's not taking into account the right to jury nullification.

ratbastid

Jury SERVICE, friends. Service.

Naw, but you're right, it's a pain in the ass.

I've been summoned three times. Twice, I called their recording the night before and was excused, and once I was seated on the jury. Personal injury case, young black kid hydroplaned into a older white guy's car, knocking him off the road. He rolled down a 40' embankment and ended up his roof, fracturing his C1 vertebra, the piece of you that holds your head on the top of your self. Bad scene. We ultimately found no fault, but it tore me up for a long time.

ozahs

When I was called for a week of JD at the county court I only ended up having to go three days, then was on reserve for the rest of the week. Those three days were the most boring days of my life. For someone who works in a fast paced environment, to go into that legal world was excruciating. They are so slow and deliberate, with no sence of urgency. Drove me nuts.

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