Jury Duty

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-02-24 02:46am

God damn it. I have to report to be a prospective juror.

My dad says that the best way to get out of serving is to answer all their questions honestly, because neither lawyer wants somebody with intelligence or opinions; they want somebody they can sway. So I guess I'll go with that. Or, to clinch it, I'll say that I hate black people and jews.

The worst part of all of this is that they make me pay for the stamp on the provided envelope for my affidavit. They screw me out of my 29 cents, just like they did with my draft card.

</selfish, immature whining>

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2004-02-24 02:50am

It is not that big of a deal if you get a short case. You should answer the questions honestly. I was an alternate juror about 3 years ago. It was kind of interesting to see how the process worked. My company paid for something like 40 hours of jury duty so I did not miss out on any income.

The only sucky thing, there are not any really cool places to eat close by the courthouse downtown.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2004-02-24 05:05am

I've personally never been called up for jury duty, but I've heard a few methods that make sense. The first, like your dad said, is to keep emphasizing that you'll make your decision based solely on the facts and not be swayed by the emotion. One side or the other has a weak case and doesn't want to hear that. The other involves uttering the dreaded phrase "jury nullification," which IIRC means that you have the right not to find someone guilty if you believe the law they're charged with breaking is unjust. Steer clear of claiming things like "I hate <name of ethnic group>" because they've probably heard it all before and might make you stay in the pool out of sheer spite.

Having said that, one of the biggest problems with the system is that intelligent people skip out of jury duty. If it's not going to be too much of a hardship, you may want to consider going ahead and giving it a try.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2004-02-24 05:30am

Robert Treder wrote:The worst part of all of this is that they make me pay for the stamp on the provided envelope for my affidavit. They screw me out of my 29 cents, just like they did with my draft card.

Draft card eh? Heheh, glad I did mine for free over the internet.

I think the key to getting out jury duty will be to wear a Pauly Shore T shirt.

Sokar · Post by **Sokar** » 2004-02-24 05:38am

Answer honestly and intelligently, you'll be out of there in no time, no attorney wants a juror that might be smarter than he/she is.

Post by **haas mark** » 2004-02-24 05:53am

Thought stamps were 34¢?

And I did my draft thing when I got my driver's liscence. -shrugs-

As far as swayable jurors.. well.. courts suck.. I really shouldn't get into this..

(Note: I *will* break this 'signing off' habit)

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-02-24 12:44pm

verilon wrote:Thought stamps were 34¢?

And I did my draft thing when I got my driver's liscence. -shrugs-

As far as swayable jurors.. well.. courts suck.. I really shouldn't get into this..

(Note: I *will* break this 'signing off' habit)

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the stamp thing.

I did my selective service card on my 18th birthday by filling out a card at the post office. There used to be advertisements reminding people to do this. I don't watch enough tv anymore to know if they still do or not.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-02-24 12:46pm

weird. stamps cost 50 cents where i live, last i bought one.

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2004-02-24 07:48pm

I got out of jury duty because I told the judge that I had a medical problem. The judge asked me if I had prrof of my problem, I just replied that I had three doctors that could back me up. Funny enough, later that week I got sick.

I found out later that should I have been chosen as a juror for a particular case (involved a promiscuos [sp?] couple molesting their daughters) I would've been sequestered for about three weeks.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-02-24 07:54pm

Jury duty is one of the duties of citizenship. I don't know about you but when it comes my turn I'll do it. Weaseling out just isn't in my nature, I suppose.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-02-24 07:56pm

if rumors are true don't they put you up in motel rooms and give you free food for jury duty? or is that only for federal cases?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-02-24 07:58pm

Darth_Zod wrote:if rumors are true don't they put you up in motel rooms and give you free food for jury duty? or is that only for federal cases?

That's only if the judge orders the jury sequestered, which generally only happens in high profile cases.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-02-24 08:00pm

My one time doing Jury duty blew...since it costed my $17 to park my car for the day...and all I got was $15.

Sorry, being on a jury, waiting till you get picked...and then getting picked for some low profile civil case then missing a day of work to do so...seriously blows.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-02-24 08:03pm

Ah, I've got the best way to weasel out of jury duty. Whenever they send me the affidavit, I write: "NOT A CITIZEN". No more jury duty for me.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Wicked Pilot · Post by **Wicked Pilot** » 2004-02-24 08:04pm

If you expect to have a fair and speedy trial by an impartial group of your peers should you ever be charged with a crime, then you need to stop the whining and complaining when selected for jury duty. You should be damn grateful that you live in a country where you are judged under such system, as opposed to simply being locked away in some rat hole by an oppressive state who answers to no one.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-02-24 08:05pm

if the lawyer asking you questions is the same gender as yourself, simply kiss him full on the lips after questioning. that's guaranteed to get you off duty.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-02-24 08:06pm

Why are you trying to get out of jury duty? You get to serve your country's justice system, and possibly be present at an interesting case. (Hell, my Japanese teacher was on the jury presiding over a case in which over 10 pounds of cocaine had been found.)

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-02-24 08:14pm

You also get to miss weeks of work/school.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2004-02-24 08:27pm

Rogue 9 wrote:Jury duty is one of the duties of citizenship. I don't know about you but when it comes my turn I'll do it. Weaseling out just isn't in my nature, I suppose.

I wasn't weaseling because I do have a medical problem (Menier's Syndrome) and I did get sick just days after.

Rogue 9 · Post by **Rogue 9** » 2004-02-24 08:34pm

Enigma wrote:
Rogue 9 wrote:Jury duty is one of the duties of citizenship. I don't know about you but when it comes my turn I'll do it. Weaseling out just isn't in my nature, I suppose.
I wasn't weaseling because I do have a medical problem (Menier's Syndrome) and I did get sick just days after.

I have a medical condition called Asperger's Syndrome that actually would make me objectively perfect for jury duty with some of its effects (obsessive attention to detail in particular). Therefore I'll never get picked.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2004-02-24 09:58pm

As Dave Barry once said, anyone charged with a crime has the right to be tried by a jury of people too stupid to get out of jury duty.

I've got Asperger's Syndrome too, but it just makes me kind of fidgety.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-02-24 10:25pm

Ok, about the stamps: I've never bought stamps, because the only time I ever mail things is with "Postage Paid" return envelopes that businesses send you. You'd think the government would use those too, since they own the post office, but whatever.
So that's why I didn't know how much stamps cost.

And I did my draft card after they sent me it in the mail; I couldn't do it when I got my driver's license because I got my driver's licence before I turned 18.

And while I appreciate the idea of serving my country, yadda yadda, the fact is that serving on a jury would be boring as hell, and chances are it won't be an interesting case, seeing as how most cases are drug cases. Also, I'm not going to be surprised if Hollywood Video has a less than stellar jury duty pay policy, but I don't know for sure yet.

Fortunately, precisely because the case is likely to be drug-related I won't be selected for duty, since I'm in favor of legalizing drugs, and at least one lawyer won't be down with that.

jairyn_1 · Post by **jairyn_1** » 2004-02-25 12:04am

Robert Treder wrote:Ok, about the stamps: I've never bought stamps, because the only time I ever mail things is with "Postage Paid" return envelopes that businesses send you. You'd think the government would use those too, since they own the post office, but whatever.
So that's why I didn't know how much stamps cost.

It happens.

They were 29¢ a couple years ago.

And I did my draft card after they sent me it in the mail; I couldn't do it when I got my driver's license because I got my driver's licence before I turned 18.

Ah, that explains it; I got mine when I was 17.

As for actually doing jury duty, I would liek to do it just once.. just to say I did.

Robert Treder · Post by **Robert Treder** » 2004-03-03 02:35am

UPDATE:

All right, get this bullshit. I sent in my affidavit saying that I could do jury duty; I wasn't going to weasel out of it. My notice said that I would have to report to serve as a prospective juror between March 22-26. It also said to call a phone number for an automated message detailing instructions for my jury group number.

So I called the number, and it said to call back Monday between 11 and 12.

So I called back Monday at 11:30, and it said to call back after 5.

So I called back at 5:30, and it said to call back Tuesday between 11 and 12.

So today, Tuesday, while I'm at work, I call at 11:30, and it says to report TODAY at 1:30 to the Hall of Justice.

What kind of bullshit is that? First of all, the notice said it'd be twenty days from now, second of all, they didn't tell me when to report until the day of!
Since I was already at work when they told me to go, and I would still be at work at the time I was supposed to report, I just didn't go. But that pisses me off, because I wanted to go and do my duty yadda yadda bullshit, but they didn't give me a chance. And now I can't find any further instructions, because I didn't go to the Hall of Justice at the appointed time.
If they try to do anything because of this, I swear to god I'll rip their heads off.

Post by **Dalton** » 2004-03-03 02:37am

...Hall of Justice? Who's the judge, Superman?

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