Jury Duty Questions

Bucky

EOG Dedicated
Registered voters only get summoned, right? I guess this is what it is like to get drafted into the Army. Well, anyway, I write two letters to the Clerk of Courts explaining I was self employed and similar to a Hot Dog vendor - there is no one to take my place - no commission - no nothing - everything stops rolling. She wrote back twice that my employer has to give me time off and cannot fire me or terminate me if I serve on a jury.

"Duh" did she even read the letters? Any ideas? I would like to explain that college bowl football games are like "hard ons" and if you don't use them - "that one is never happening again".
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Don't even sweat jury duty..

I've gotten everything from annoying barking dogs to Rufus shoplifiting a necklace from KMart..

Just spend the day and go home. It's just White Man's Burden. Write it off.
 

John Kelly

Born Gambler
Staff member
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Don't even sweat jury duty..

I've gotten everything from annoying barking dogs to Rufus shoplifiting a necklace from KMart..

Just spend the day and go home. It's just White Man's Burden. Write it off.

If the letter doesn't arrive registered mail, I never got the notice.
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Registered voters only get summoned, right? I guess this is what it is like to get drafted into the Army. Well, anyway, I write two letters to the Clerk of Courts explaining I was self employed and similar to a Hot Dog vendor - there is no one to take my place - no commission - no nothing - everything stops rolling. She wrote back twice that my employer has to give me time off and cannot fire me or terminate me if I serve on a jury.

"Duh" did she even read the letters? Any ideas? I would like to explain that college bowl football games are like "hard ons" and if you don't use them - "that one is never happening again".
Call them up, somewhere on the form you reciieved it should have a place to say that it is a hardship. Different states use different methods to select jurors, some use voting, some drivers license lists, etc.

Often is you claim hardship and they grant it, they will tell you that you will have to come in the future - say 6 months, so thats no guarantee either.

i loved jury duty, got paid my normal pay from work and only had to show up for a couple hours before they would send us home.
 

Timetopay

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Registered voters only get summoned, right? I guess this is what it is like to get drafted into the Army. Well, anyway, I write two letters to the Clerk of Courts explaining I was self employed and similar to a Hot Dog vendor - there is no one to take my place - no commission - no nothing - everything stops rolling. She wrote back twice that my employer has to give me time off and cannot fire me or terminate me if I serve on a jury.

"Duh" did she even read the letters? Any ideas? I would like to explain that college bowl football games are like "hard ons" and if you don't use them - "that one is never happening again".

Reminds me of a lot of the guys who read my death thread.

Ask for a supervisor and she will read the letters more thoroughly. Even if its to still tell you you have to come in atleast she will answer properly.:btj:
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

When I started my jury service in August, the judge would not excuse the teachers, even though some of the trials were scheduled for the first week of school. Harsh! But the judge said everyone in the room is making a sacrifice, so teachers should not be exempt.

The court should pay you if your employer does not or if you're self-employed.
 

winkyduck

TYVM Morgan William!!!
Re: Jury Duty Questions

If the letter doesn't arrive registered mail, I never got the notice.

BEST answer

If someone can't get out of Jury Duty they should be ashamed to admit it. In CA you have to go for ONE day and if not put on a jury that day you are free from Duty. IF you get called into a courtroom to possibly be paneled on a Jury and can't answer questions the "right way" to get out of Jury Duty you deserve to be put on a Jury
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

If the letter doesn't arrive registered mail, I never got the notice.

LOL. I think that might have been tried.

And a convicted felon?

You do realize that you are there one day every few years and this judge is there every day. Do you really think you are going to outsmart him with these lame excuses.? LOL. Go for it.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

The jury questionaire letter ask's if you have ever been arrested before. I live in PA. In the box I checked yes. They called 2 weeks later and asked, "for what." I told them a felony. The girl said, "thank you for your time you are excused."
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

The jury questionaire letter ask's if you have ever been arrested before. I live in PA. In the box I checked yes. They called 2 weeks later and asked, "for what." I told them a felony. The girl said, "thank you for your time you are excused."

I wouldn't do this unless you really were arrested for a felony. You sign the questionnaire attesting that the information you provided is true under penalties of perjury. Why risk it for one day of your life?
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

I wouldn't do this unless you really were arrested for a felony. You sign the questionnaire attesting that the information you provided is true under penalties of perjury. Why risk it for one day of your life?

I am self employed also. At the time I didn't think they would look to far into it. Probably not the best advice to give someone else. JK's was much better for sure.
 

mr merlin

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

I wouldn't lie, up here in MN there was an article last week about a woman who blatantly lied on her form and they filed charges against her. She had a felony but said she didnt'. Just tell them the truth and go from there...of course if you're lying to us/and them...good luck.
 

Bucky

EOG Dedicated
Re: Jury Duty Questions

It's not that big of a deal I guess. I can watch ball games all Saturday and Sunday but a day of jury duty sounds like some form of torture. Thanks for the tips. Will let you know if something interesting happens.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

The better ways to not be selected for a trial is to acknowledge that you know someone in the case (plaintiff, defendant, witness, lawyer) or know more about the nature of the case than the average person, either from a previous legal dispute, employment, or something else.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Look, if you don't want to serve, just tell the judge you possess keen intuition, and you can tell if a person is guilty just by looking at them
 

Bucky

EOG Dedicated
Re: Jury Duty Questions

LOL - that does concern me that the jury would need to analyze if someone is lying or not. I play some poker - really liked that book by the FBI guy that talked about tells when a poker player was bluffing or weak. Hope, that - Do you play Poker question does not get asked.

On a side note, I have a friend who is a magistrate judge - play pinochle in the same game sometimes at the VFW for small stakes/entertainment. I am sure I could not be on a jury if you know the judge. Anyway, he is really good at reading the other card players on whether they are strong or weak.

So, I said once, "Man, you missed your calling with Poker because you really pick off a lot of tells" . But, then again as a judge you must spend a lot of time figuring out whether people are lying or not.

His answer was, "yes, I do, but I don't catch all of them because some people are really good at it"!
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

You dont have to be a registered voter in CA. Not sure what you need, just an ID I guess.

I got called a few years ago. Put I was a convicted felon down and still had to go. Went in and told them at the window I had a felony conviction, they said to sit and wait. I sat there for 3 hours got called in to the courtroom, had my number called fr the case, was in the box doing Voir dire and finally had to get a side bar tell the judge and the attorneys I was a convicted felon. They asked if I put it on my application i said yes, told them I told the clerks as well. I was excused obviously. But out here the system is screwed up. They probably wanted to verify it somehow, but since I was sworn in under Voir dire and had my name and stuff they had me dead to rights if I was lying.
 

WVU

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Why not just do your duty as a US citizen? You might learn something in the process. Some of the same people getting out of jury all the same who applaud our military for their service. Do the right thing here.
 

Sleepy

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Just tell them you passionately hate all minorities and you will get out of it.
 
J

joeybagadonuts

Guest
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Why not just do your duty as a US citizen? You might learn something in the process. Some of the same people getting out of jury all the same who applaud our military for their service. Do the right thing here.

The other problem with everyone trying to get out of jury duty is that the people who do do it end up being either old people or unemployed dummies who don't bother getting out of it.

I have been called a bunch of times and finally decided to serve as I figured it was better than going to work. I made it jury selection but was dismissed when the defense attorney didn't like one of my answers.

I did find the whole process interesting but also very disturbing.

A friend of mine was on the jury for a local murder trial. She has some very telling observations about how jury selection works and how its really obvious what the defense lawyers are looking to do when selecting the jury. Not to mention the term 'jury of your peers' is a joke in most cases. Depending on who you are, getting people who would be essentially considered your 'peers' would be basically impossible.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Going to jury is the best way to win. I had about a dozen charges against me, I took all but one to a jury and was acquitted of all of them. The one I had to plead to was something I didnt do but they had something worse that I did do that I thought they could prove so I pleaded guilty to something with a lesser penalty to escape something I did do with a more sever penalty. That's the beauty of the American Justice System.

I faced four juries. The best one was when I actually admitted on the stand (I took the stand in all four) to something, and then my dummy lawyer opens up a lesser but included possibility when he screwed up. But I still got found not guilty of that even though I had basically admitted to doing it. I think it was mostly confusion as that trial had 4 main counts then they added 3 lesser counts to it. So they had 7 possible things to consider. I openly admitted to one of them but it was the least of them all, still a felony but I think they thought it was over the top and maybe took some pity on me.

Either way if guys didnt take deals and actually went to trial there wouldnt be nearly as many convictions, but that is also why they have these ridiculous penalties for some things because most guys arent willing to gamble on 20 years of their life if theyre being offered 5 with a probability of doing less than 3.

In my case it was a no brainer, best offer was 15 years. I was 27 never had any run in at all with the law, not even a speeding ticket and I made a nice defendant, and I beat the system, more or less.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Going to jury is the best way to win. I had about a dozen charges against me, I took all but one to a jury and was acquitted of all of them. The one I had to plead to was something I didnt do but they had something worse that I did do that I thought they could prove so I pleaded guilty to something with a lesser penalty to escape something I did do with a more sever penalty. That's the beauty of the American Justice System.

I faced four juries. The best one was when I actually admitted on the stand (I took the stand in all four) to something, and then my dummy lawyer opens up a lesser but included possibility when he screwed up. But I still got found not guilty of that even though I had basically admitted to doing it. I think it was mostly confusion as that trial had 4 main counts then they added 3 lesser counts to it. So they had 7 possible things to consider. I openly admitted to one of them but it was the least of them all, still a felony but I think they thought it was over the top and maybe took some pity on me.

Either way if guys didnt take deals and actually went to trial there wouldnt be nearly as many convictions, but that is also why they have these ridiculous penalties for some things because most guys arent willing to gamble on 20 years of their life if theyre being offered 5 with a probability of doing less than 3.

In my case it was a no brainer, best offer was 15 years. I was 27 never had any run in at all with the law, not even a speeding ticket and I made a nice defendant, and I beat the system, more or less.
Talk about gambling. I can never understand why people don't take the deals offered to them when it's along the lines of what you mentioned. For those wondering, that timeframe is not an exaggeration by any means. Guys facing 20+ years are oftentimes offered 5 year plea deals. Of course, any deal has to be approved by the judge, but most are.
 

Chuck Sims

EOG Dedicated
Re: Jury Duty Questions

If you use the I did not receive it in the mail excuse, you'll be sorry. The next letter you will receive will be a summons to appear before the judge. And he's heard every excuse and you may find yourself with a hefty fine.
 
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Why not just do your duty as a US citizen? You might learn something in the process. Some of the same people getting out of jury all the same who applaud our military for their service. Do the right thing here.

Stop being rational. It's un-American.
 

Mr. Smith

EOG Master
Re: Jury Duty Questions

Show up to jury duty wearing a toga and tell the judge you are fuckin A ready to hand out some justice.
 
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