Jury Duty Crap

[sandyut]

when I lived in CO i was called for jury selection at least twice. this was back in the day when you had to show up and sit there all day. never made it to sit on a jury.

Now in UT I have been sent the preselection deal 4 times, almost picked for one but got dismissed at the last second, I was on a jury one time, and now I one the finalists for a trial. I find out tomorrow if I am hosed. they sent a screening questionnaire and I was honest: i don't want to participate, I can not be unbiassed, etc etc. and still picked for final screening. Which is a 4 hour web conference thing from 0830-1230. I wouldn't want me on the jury, cant see why they do.

My wife, never called upon for jury duty.

not happy about this at all.

 

[Chasdev]

I was called to be in the pool half a dozen times in the last 30 years but I only made it to trial one time.
Turned out I was the lone ranger guilt or innocent wise, so I lost and so did the poor person on trial.
I did get out of drug trial jury in the 90's by answering when asked if anyone had anything to say, that I believed in legalizing pot, man I was out the door so fast my head was spinning!
Worked like a charm....

 

[sandyut]

I woman I worked with at my last job got picked for a three week trial...sounds horrible.

 

[crazymoon]

SU, My biggest fear is that I'll get picked and they'll want me to show up during deer season ,not happening ! :)

 

[sandyut]

they just emailed me that this trial isn't happening, but they will keep me active through the month...so i could get called up again...

 

[SmokyMose]

Right now with the covid and all, they're desperate for anyone who knows how to show up.
I've sat in the room a few times all morning and one time actually got picked.
A civil matter and after the opening statements we went to recess and came back to find the judge had tossed it out.
Kind of interesting, actually. They treated us like Kings and Queens.
The last was a Federal case and about 30 of us sat around all day just to find it had been continued.
We were told thank you and our names would probably never come up again for a Federal case.
Yeah, it's a PITA but it's needed.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Got called once in NJ, Summer of '80. I was 18 years old. Sat on a case where one car pulled out into traffic, from a Mall Parking Lot and got hit by another car traveling on the road toward it. Got friendly with the Foreman and got permission to take his 18 year old Daughter on a Date....JJ

 

[thirdeye]

I've got no problems with jury duty, it gives you a real insight to your local justice system and let's you see a slice of your community you rarely see. We have District Court which has a 4 month time frame, and Federal Court that has a 6 month time frame. It's been about 15 years since my name has come to the top of the list, but I served on a particularly gruesome murder trial, so maybe I got a pass.

My biggest fear is that I'll get picked and they'll want me to show up during deer season ,not happening ! :)

In my state you can submit a list of events where you can't be available, business travel, family vacations etc. I'm not sure if deer season is an acceptable excuse, but I bet drawing a special Elk tag or Moose tag would be.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

It can be an interesting experience.

I got on the Grand Jury some time ago.
Lockheed was paying bribes to get their airplanes sold.
I was seated with another juror Marion Knott, daughter of the Knott's Berry Farmer Walter fame.
At lunch break conversation, she was taken back how much I knew about her dad and family history.

Dad Walter perfected and brought to market the Boysenberry. But he ran a first class fruit stand and grew/sold quality produce that made him renown to begin with.

Also, he took Birdseyes idea of shipping frozen vegetables and figured out the same with shipping fruit. First to do it and encouraged other farmers to do it too.
I knew this me being in the Refrigeration and HVAC business and a history buff.

I got to meet the old Jasper when she later invited me out.
She gave me a dozen comp'd dinner chits I still have today.
$1.79 back then - cost $22.00 today.
Fried chicken was a lot different back then.
Pieces were twice the size of the product you buy anyplace today.

Marion came away for the experience with new accounting knowledge that she put into action at their amusement park and foods company.

I was on another jury were every forklift manufacturer, distributer, importer and dealer in the USA were all suing each other. The most confounding, confusing and brain hemorrhaging experience of my life.
I'm still trying to figure that all out.

Their is a lot of money in the forklift business, I learned that for sure. Astronomical bank.

 

[yankee2bbq]

The selection of the jury ( voir dire) is something quite interesting. It can actually take longer than the trial itself. A juror is a powerful person. The defense and attorney know this. With that being said, I have never been on jury duty or probably never will, do to my education. I am considered ‘biased’ . …I’ve worked in the Criminal Justice system for many years in the past.

 

[noboundaries]

I used to get jury duty notices couple times a year. In 1997 I got selected as an alternate on a 6 week double murder trial. Had to sit in the box during the trial. Thankfully, my employer paid full wages for jury duty. I wasn't part of the deliberations but the result was a hung jury. Later, the accused was acquitted in a second trial. Now, decades later, he's the prime suspect in a murder committed like the first in another state. My attitude is somewhat biased as a result. I've only received one jury summons since the 1997 trial.

 

[bill ace 350]

you think the possibility of having to do jury is bad?

How about retiring after 21 years and getting a DD214 that states "subject to active duty recall"?

Screw the Sergeant Major. If i get recalled, I'm walking all over his grass!

 

[TNJAKE]

you think the possibility of having to do jury is bad?

How about retiring after 21 years and getting a DD214 that states "subject to active duty recall"?

Screw the Sergeant Major. If i get recalled, I'm walking all over his grass!

Get off the grass!

 

[mr_whipple]

20 years back or so I received notice from the Virginia Beach district Court that I was selected. The letter had a brief questionnaire that was to be filled out and returned. I don't remember all the questions, but one was if I was on active duty (which I was) and another had something to do with watching/reading the news. Sent it back and never heard another thing about it.

 

[Dive Bar Casanova]

A beauty pageant was recording an infomercial featuring many contestants water skiing. All the products featured were sponsors of the pageant.
Instead of using an experienced water ski boat operator the production company used a stunt driver with no experience.

One scene while being pulled on the skis by the boat the girls fell.
Inexperienced boat operator swung the boat around and ran over the girls.
Chewed them up tragically.

Lawsuits galore.
Judge told us (the jury) we're going to see the best lawyers in the field.

It opened up where one lawyer presented the girls prosthetic arms and hands wrapped in butcher paper. Shocking to many.
At the first recess the judge leaned hard on all sides to find a settlement and the trial ended.

I rarely get picked these days.
We had the RV all packed and ready to go on a trip figuring I wouldn't get picked.
I got picked for an armed robbery case.
Judge asked if anyone knew the arresting officers and what luck, one was my next door neighbor.

But: Not until I said we had common interests did the Judge dismiss me.

 

[rkrider99]

In my 71 years, I've never gotten called for jury duty, until a few months ago. Sure enough, the exact time period when I was supposed to fly up to St. Louis to play in a golf tournament with my son. So I started looking for the exemptions.
The one that immediately jumped out at me was: I am 70 years old or older and request to be exempt from this session, or a box that said exempt from any further jury duty, which I checked.
I guess they don't want a bunch of old people snoozing during the trial, or requesting multiple breaks from the judge. At this age, when you gotta go, you gotta go!

 

[Torch&Tone]

It's easy to dislike going in for jury duty - boredom, inconvenience, etc. - but, just like voting, it does have consequences and would be sorely missed if it was done away with. And if you don't do it, the job might fall only to knuckleheads who weren't "smart enough to find a way out" of it! What sort of jury would you want if you were wronged, or wrongfully accused? (And no, you cannot bribe them with barbecue, no matter how tasty!)

 

[sandyut]

well, the trial i sat on was a DUI and the guy was super guilty. he even admitted to drinking all day, etc. After being picked up at jail he went back to the bar. claimed the breath tester was broken, but the state police had all their doc in a row. 4 on the jury, two of us were all in on guilty, one guys said this "I'm not sure I can call him guilty because I have driven drunk". I about lost my s**t. we have to talk him through this at an elementary level to get through it. what shoulda taken 10 minutes took all day. that left me with jaded feelings about the process.

 

[daspyknows]

My last jury duty experience was a long time ago. I am self employed (well, now retired) and I had already postponed once. The case was an insurance fraud case. The defendant's lawyer was a real prick and didn't care whether anyone was inconvenienced. We sat through the interview process all morning. One woman ran a child care business out of her house and the lawyer said her business was not his problem. Finally at 1:30 with one seat on the jury left we broke for lunch. I hadn't been called yet along with about 12 others. The courthouse was a block from a microbrewery where a friend worked so I drank my lunch. I came back and was called. I said it was a financial hardship and the lawyer told me that wasn't his problem. I was asked a question about my opinion on the case and I proceeded to start giving a speech on how what was wrong with society was the conspiracy between insurance companies, the legal system and government. After a few minutes the judge asked me to stop, called both lawyers up, then chatted and the judge said I was free to go and please don't come back. Never got called for jury duty again until I moved. Since moving I have had to sit through jury selection twice but never got interviewed. I typically try to reschedule when called for a Friday before a long weekend or right before a holiday. In one of the two cases I spend 8 hours in a room waiting on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I had my computer so I could work while killing the day. I felt bad for a truck driver who had an 18 wheeler full of turkeys for a food bank 8 hours away parked outside the courthouse. He ended up having to drive all night.

 

[ofelles]

I have been called maybe 4 times. Got interview twice. Once in a child molest case and once ina Drunk Driving case. First one I said I had been molested as a child but could be unbias and the 2nd I said I am a recovering alcoholic but again unbias. Both times "See ya later".
Sometimes honesty works.