civic duties | Pad Patter 15 Feb

Discussion in 'Chatty Pad' started by bellbird, Feb 15, 2019.

  1. bellbird

    bellbird Pollywog

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    So DD grabbed the mail yesterday and exclaimed loud enough for the street to hear that I got mail from the Sheriff. (I didn't even know Sheriff's existed here and immediately think handle bar mustaches and Wild West and she's being random and kidding, it's not like I hang out in saloons
    [​IMG]
    but then I saw it for myself and immediately thought the worst ( my mind went to driving or parking infringement though :blush)
    Turned out I'm in the Jury pool for the year. I've been in their pool before but never actually had to sit through a trial. (I think the Wild West would be more fun)

    Have you ever been called up for Jury Duty and had to sit through a trial?
    (I think I remember @carrie1977 recently being on a jury panel??)
     
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  2. Cherylndesigns

    Cherylndesigns All glasses should be bigger than 1.5 oz

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    I have - more than once. I always said "why can't I win a lottery for money or something good"? It seems like I was forever on the jury duty lists. The last one I was called for was federal jury duty in downtown Detroit! I had to be at the Downtown Detroit Courthouse at 8 AM. I remember going down there that weekend before and finding out where in the world the Federal Courthouse even was.
     
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  3. kelley

    kelley Gets excited over little green things.

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    I've gotten notice that I was being called for duty twice, but both times were back in my early 20s. I'm 38 now and haven't been called for duty in years. Neither time did I actually have to sit a trial - I just had to call every day to see if my number was up, which it wasn't. Back then I was so annoyed at the thought of doing it because I had young kids to deal with, and it would have been difficult to find child care on short notice. Now, I actually think it would be pretty interesting, but I'm not dying to do it either!
     
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  4. IntenseMagic

    IntenseMagic Some grannies cuss a lot. I'm some grannies.

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    I was called for jury duty once, but was excused because my son doesn't go to school in the district where we live, he goes to school where I teach, so I would have had no way to get him to school during the scheduled jury term. I would love to, though and hope they call me some time in the summer!
    My daughter has been summoned twice. Both times when she was like 9 months pregnant lol
     
  5. Ferdy

    Ferdy Heavy Metal Head Banger

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    thank God, never! I'm a public server here, so it could happen, but thankfully not!
    once there was a friend who worked at my office that was called and he was pretty scared, cause he had to be on a jury for a drug dealer case.

    keeping my fingers crossed here that I never have to be on a jury!!
     
  6. Tree City

    Tree City Get a stepladder, I'm busy

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    I've been called to jury duty like 4 times. The first time I was able to get a year extension because I was a breastfeeding mom. They called me back PROMPTLY a year later lol. I wasn't called to a jury; all cases ended in plea deals. Then I got called in my new state, but I had a preschool-age child and no childcare; I called and the woman I spoke with was very sweet and gave me an extension. And as soon as it was up, they sent another notice. (I was hoping they'd forget lol!) I went in and, like others have mentioned here, I was curious about serving and I was willing to do my civic duty, but I wasn't selected. Oh well, there's always next time. Cuz I'm sure they'll call me up in 2 years' time, which is the length of respite you get here between jury duty calls.
     
  7. carrie1977

    carrie1977 Tequila and Taco Tuesday

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    You are correct! I'm currently serving. Week four will start on Tuesday. We have been deliberating since Wednesday. :hissy

    I have served on a jury before back in 2004. That trial lasted two weeks with four of those days as deliberation days.
     
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  8. A-M

    A-M Not a lot of hustle in my hustle anymore

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    I have been called to Jury duty twice. First time I was working for a Government department so that was my legitimate excuse.
    The last time was in the last couple of years so I replied stating something like.... I am a Christian woman and believe I could not pass judgement on anyone whether it be some small offence or large.
    I never heard back so I was relieved.
     
  9. KimJ

    KimJ Did you check in the refrigerator?

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    I have been summoned several times.

    A few were when my kids were little and I had no one to care for them, so there was a simple exemption report to file and I didn't have to go.

    Last year I was summoned by the city, but DH was super sick with this crazy undiagnosable rash and wanted me to drive him to the doctor. I called and it turned out the case had been settled so I didn't have to go.

    Two or three times I have been summoned by the county and gone to the courthouse, but then didn't actually get called into the jury selection. The most recent of these was actually yesterday! Fun way to spend Valentine's Day. :P

    The most eventful summons was also a county one when I was 8 months pregnant with my DD, but DH was unemployed so he was able to watch DS. I went and was randomly picked #1 for the jury pool (meaning I would automatically be on the jury if they didn't find a reason to disqualify me), but I didn't end up getting chosen. I can't imagine why they didn't want the hugely pregnant woman who would start crying for no reason at all (it was a much more hormonal/emotional pregnancy than my first). :eek::giggle
     
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  10. weaselwatchr

    weaselwatchr Viva, Las Vegas!

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    I have been summoned 3 times. The first time we were actually going on vacation and I was excused. I Had to fax them copies of my plane tickets. I was called again, and when I went to the courthouse, we waited in the jury room until luch time when we were told to leave because they settled out of court. And then last month I was called again, and sat there until after lunch. My number was never called and I got to go home.

    Hubby has gotten called once, and was picked to serve on a murder trial. He was sent home too because someone on the jury either knew the alleged killer or the victime, and the judge dismissed all the jurors.
     
  11. carrie1977

    carrie1977 Tequila and Taco Tuesday

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    Interesting...wonder why they would dismiss them all?
     
  12. weaselwatchr

    weaselwatchr Viva, Las Vegas!

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    Don't know. Maybe they thought they were tainted because the one could have said something to the others. Hubby was disappointed
     
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  13. bonnenuit

    bonnenuit Why do I always have to be Captain?

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    I received a notice for jury duty once several years ago. I was told to call in on Sunday night to get instructions for Monday. When I called in, I got the message that all cases had been settled so all potential jurors for that week were excused.
     
  14. bestcee

    bestcee In love with places I've never been to

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    Yep. This was me. I was disappointed. I didn't have a kid, and it would have gotten me out of my job for the day, paid! (My job paid, not the court so it was decent money.)

    The second time they sent me a notice I had just moved to Nevada. I was disqualified because I lived out of state.

    I always joke with DH that they have my Netflix queue, podcast history and library checked out books so they don't want me on the jury!
     
  15. cfile

    cfile My bags are packed for Platform 9 3/4

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    I had Jury duty last August I think it was for the month.. I did get called and was picked for the jury. The trial was 2 days.. 1 day for the trial 2nd day for sentencing as we found the person guilty on the first day. I was originally not very fond of going in the first place, but in the long run, I found it rather interesting. I don't like putting someone in jail but he was guilty.. it was just the amt of time in jail.

    So sorry you are on call for an entire year.. that makes it hard to make holiday/vacation plans.
     
  16. StefanieS

    StefanieS Think it over, think it under

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    We don't get called for jury duty, have found this thread very interesting to read though.
    I am sure what we see on tv is nothing like real life.
     
  17. iciclelady

    iciclelady Active Member

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    I was called once several years ago. There were maybe 200 of us called and they had to whittle it down to the juror panel, so I guess 12 people? It went pretty quick - lots of people couldn’t serve because they knew somebody on the counsel team, had health issues, etc. I was one of the very last excused because I had a booked vacation during the time of the trial. I actually would like to serve one day, but kind of grateful I wasn’t on that trial because it was a human trafficking case. I feel like that would have been graphic and emotional!
     
  18. jenn mccabe

    jenn mccabe She's OUR sunshine!

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    At least twice - but my kids were little and my husband traveled a lot so I was excused. It's been years since I've been tagged for Jury duty ... wonder when I will get again, I'm due!

    And LOL about the mustaches and images of the wild west! I always think that too when I hear the word. :giggle
     
  19. BevG

    BevG If I can't remember it, it didn't happen

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    I am an experienced juror. My first time serving was on a Federal case in a court that was 50 miles from my house. Yes, I had to drive there and back for 4 days. It was a bank robbery case. The car was guilty, but it wasn't his car. We had a hung jury and the judge had required us to agree. So they were going to have to try the case all over again with a new jury. In my heart I felt the guy probably was guilty but there was no evidence he was actually there. If he had dropped a button off his coat, I would have convicted him. I was jury foreman. All we could figure is that some evidence was not shown due to some bargaining or something.

    Then I served on a local drug case of an Uncle and Nephew that were tried together. We found the Uncle guilty but not the Nephew. The detective in the case said it was "okay" because this was just charge 1 of 4 for the two of them. They were not allowed to present evidence from the later charges but only the evidence they had at the time of the original charge.

    Then the next time I got seated I got off because I was experienced. They were looking for first-timers in a cop vs speeder case.

    Then the next time it was a gun procession by a felon on probation case. I was the very first person called to the box. The prosecution liked me but the defense released me when they went started asking me parenting questions about my kids arguing over who did something wrong and me having no way to tell who really did it. They did not like my answer of "punish them both". The other parents (and teachers) gave much more lenient answers so they stayed and I got to leave. So I am released for the next 2 years.

    My hubby has been called up for this coming Thursday. He has only served on civil cases in the past. The last one was a landlord issue and neither the renter or the landlord had a lawyer. It was almost a farce (tenant claimed mold in the apartment required medical procedures but did not bring copies of the medical bills with her - she also didn't ask if any of the jurors were landlords and therefore possibly biased.) The jury found in favor of the landlord as there were several landlords in the jury and the lack of evidence of any medical expenses.
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2019
  20. tkradtke

    tkradtke Professional Brainstormer

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    I have been called three times. The first time, it was from our previous state. We had just moved and I hadn't updated my license yet. The second time was about 9 years ago. It was at the Cook County court house here in Chicago (which is not in a great neighborhood and it is also the Cook County Jail). I was there all day and called in for one of the last jury pools of the day. It was an attempted murder of a minor case, and they happened to fill the jury before I got called up to be interviewed. Because of the neighborhood, I had taken a cab there (no problem)... but could NOT get a cab to come pick me back up!! I called the cab companies and they told me that no one was accepting the fare... sigh. I finally had to call the cab driver who usually took my husband to the airport and he came and got me (but had me meet him a block away and around the corner from the court house). Last time was in November... same court house but Uber made things much easier. I wasn't called all morning and shortly after lunch, they announced that they wouldn't need any more jurors for the day, we collected our checks and went home. So now I'm good until this November. Now that the kids are older (and one is even out of the house), I wouldn't mind being on a jury. The one when the kids were younger stressed me out because my husband was out of town at the time.
     

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