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Jury Duty | Pad Patter 9.21.15

scrapsandsass

scrapsandsass

Oh Ricky you're so fine ...
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Feb 11, 2011
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So I was summoned for jury duty. My mom had agreed to come and pick Kennedy up from school in the afternoons since he is in kindergarten. But after I returned my summons and was slated for jury duty (starting today), she backed out and said she couldn't do it (she really had no reason... she's just like that). :furious

I had to go in today and beg to be released, which was frustrating and embarrassing (to me anyway). I actually really wanted to do it. It sounds totally geeky, but I'm a total crime show fanatic AND a writer, so I thought it would be a cool experience. I was a witness in a criminal trial once, and I was seated as an alternate juror once but didn't get to deliberate or know the outcome. My husband was just called and served on a jury a couple of months ago. My daughter is also supposed to be on jury duty for the next two weeks, but her group wasn't called in today.

So what about you? Have you ever served on a jury? Ever wanted to? Have you ever had a great excuse to get out of jury duty? Or any stories about crazy jury room antics?
 
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I wouldn't mind doing it but never got summoned, and now I have the permanent excuse of living abroad so I don't think it's happening!
 
I've been summoned probably 15-20 times in my life - no lie. I wish I had actually kept track of it because it's crazy to have been called that many times when SO many people have never been called.

Out of those 15-20 times, I've served just twice. Between the fact that I worked for a lawyer for my entire working life, and I was married to a law enforcement officer, I got very used to showing up for the orientation and then waiting until they dismissed me for cause. I did end up serving on a one-day DUI trial in District Court. And then the best one was a personal injury case in Federal District Court, where I had to spend 6 days in Seattle on a case involving an injured airline worker. It was absolutely fascinating given the fact that my career was focused on personal injury, so I loved finally seeing the end process/result of the work I did. And yes, somewhat of a pain in the butt to live out of a hotel for 6 days and rearrange my life. I probably never should have been chosen for the case, and in fact the judge in the federal case told me afterwards that he was shocked that the plaintiff's attorney wanted me on the jury given my job. So it was kind of a one-time opportunity.

Or so I thought. About 3 months ago, I was sent a jury questionnaire for federal district court. Again. I haven't heard back from them yet, but I imagine it's coming.
 
I was never called, but that is because I am not a British national...people really get surprised that I live here and have noit done the nationality, but taken that costs £1000 plus you have to study for such an un-realistic test.... (no average Brit around me know buliufas about the House of Lords.....I do , however, know well the prices of the supermarkets, the rent increases, the poor state of the national health service etc etc etc!!!!! I think that qualifies LOL) also, they would want me to give up one of my nationalities (Brazilian & Argentine) which I don;t want to. Argentina is a pain in the derrier and I would never go back to live there, but my parents are there....

back to the point of court, I was never called...BUT...I worked as an interpreter for Immigration, C&E & the Police, ended up being hired by the courts (and it paid SO well!!!!!!!) it was a really,. really interesting job.... I learned a lot on the go, met some amazingly interesting people...left me not liking much certain parts of the Law workers, and not believing that much in justice..... but that isn't only here in the UK......
 
I was summoned but as I was moving out of the area I was released from doing it.
 
I was picked for a jury once about thirty years ago, but they settled out of court before the trial started. I get called in just about every year now, because our county is so small, and you only get excused for three years if you actually serve on a jury, not just get called in. I would have had cause to get out of the last one, because I knew one of witnesses quite well, but they had enough people before they got to me. I wouldn't mind serving on certain types of cases, but there are some that things I just don't think I could stomach looking at evidence.
 
I was called... and we had to check the website everyday to see who was actually supposed to come in the next day. So... if my number was 875, after 5 pm say on Tuesday, I checked and it said only those between 249-367 had to go in the next day... and it went on like this for 3 days. After the 3 days, it said I served. lol!

We are a little state, but have lots of people... I've gotten called maybe 3 times, the two previous times I was excused - college student and on Maternity Leave.
 
I was summoned a few years ago but I am not eligible, and had to prove it to them (ridiculous..). Frankly I don't mind one bit not being able to do it. One of my colleagues had to serve on a murder case and it was awful..
But Julie, wow, that's just crazy being called so many times!!
 
I was called twice years back, both times I was like 9 months pregnant and knew I couldn't be that far from a bathroom. Then I finally got called back in about 10 years ago. I did actually serve on a jury about shoplifting. It was all finished in one day so that was good.

My daughter was excited to get a summons, she actually came up from Miami to go down there to serve. As her boyfriend is a police officer, it's pretty unlikely she'll ever get to actually be on a jury.
 
I was called years ago when I was teaching and my principal wrote asking for me to be excused and then later I was called when I was the sole caretaker for my mom when she was incapacitated and the judge excused me before any questioning by the lawyers. I'm expecting to be called again now that I'm retired and I wonder if I would hear everything with my crappy hearing and two aides (that often times don't do the job real hearing does). Guess I'll just have to wait and see.
 
I think I got a letter about serving when I was in college once so that excused me and then I called another letter years ago where I had to call each night to see if I had to turn up the next day, but I never had to go in.

Julie, I can't believe you've been called so many times! That's crazy!
 
I think I've gotten a summons 4 times. Two of those were when my kids were little and I didn't have anyone to watch them, so that was excused.

Another was while I was 8 months pregnant with my second. I ended up being number 1 in the jury pool for a case that time. During the questions I mentioned that I was "very pregnant and my emotions weren't always agreeing with my head", which was totally true; it was a way more crazy emotional pregnancy for me than my first. For some reason, they didn't choose me. :giggle

The most recent time was about 4½ years ago. That time I just drove the 40 minutes to the courthouse, sat packed in a room like sardines with a few hundred strangers for two hours, then was dismissed and drove the 40 minutes back home. So exciting! :p Just showing up counted as serving, so I wouldn't be called again for at least another three years. I'm kind of surprised I haven't gotten another summons yet.
 
I don't really want to make this public (cuz of big brother and all), but I've never been called. I think my job would get me excused, though. Hoping I never find out. Shhh....
 
Yes. I've served, and it was a horrible experience. Not the trial, but the other jurors. Well, maybe the trial, too. It was in Washington, DC, and about 90% of the other jurors were government workers. Which meant that this was a "vacation" to them. They wanted to string it out as long as possible, starting deliberations at 10:00 am and leaving at 2:30 pm. I chewed them all out - a good "shame on you!" - for wasting taxpayers money - my money, and for the fact that I still had to work a 40 hour week after leaving jury duty. I was in grad school and if I didn't work, I didn't get paid. I was barely making ends meet as it was. And I also had to hit the books after I got off work.


So, I did what any good grad school student would do. I took it over. My own little coup. While I refused to be foreman, I used some good teaching principles on them. We went around the room, and I wrote down everyone's questions about the case. Every stinkin' little thing. By the time we got to the last juror, about every question was already asked. Then, we tackled them one by one. Then took a vote. Thankfully we all agreed and I could go home.


I've been called twice since, but was relieved both times because I was sole caregiver for the kids during the day. I hope I never get called again because I can't sit still due to back injuries.
 
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I served sort of recently. I was the fore person or whatever it's called, also. Somewhere, there's official courthouse paperwork that I signed, which determined that young man's fate. Anywho. It wasn't THAT serious. It seemed to us that the prosecution was working on limited information, crappy investigation work, and trying to make a technicality stick a troublemaker in jail. We sat in court for 4 days, and then deliberated for 5 hours over whether or not the prosecution proved beyond doubt. It boiled down to reasonable doubt to convince a handful of jurors.

We've lived in our house for less than 2 years, and husband has been summoned 3 or 4 times already. Hasn't had to serve yet, though. But he hates getting them in the mail.... grumbles and curses for days. Haha. Oh, and it is kind of crappy - we get like 1 week notice. I think mine was less than a week, to be honest.
 
I was called for jury duty the first time when I was 8000 (37) weeks pregnant so I just wrote in that I was due any second, and they let me go.

Exactly one year later, I got called again, but I didn't have to serve.
 
Gosh, I have been called about 6 times (my husband has been called ONCE!) and even had to sit on a Federal case looong time ago. It was tax evasions. What I remember most was that I was a single Mom on food stamps and Medicaid and lost 4 days of work that they compensated me for $10 a day - ugh). The case was on a was a peanut farmer with 6 kids - they had him cold to the rights documented. His kids cried the whole time in court - they actually let them sit through it. Sad all the way around.
 
This is such a weird thing for me. We have a completely different system without a jury and I've only seen it on tv or in movies. Reading about you actually having done this is so crazy!
 
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