<p>I’ve been a registered voter for 40 years in a number of different locations and have never been called!</p>
<p>A friend of a friend was on the “preppy murder/rough sex defense” case in NYC in the early 80s. They were sequester for months, IIRC, and then deliberated for a long time, and just as they were about to bring in a verdict the defense accepted a plea and they were dismissed, after all that! They were mightily ticked off, as you can imagine.</p>
<p>To me courtrooms are one of the most depressing places on earth. I guess I would serve on a jury as a civic responsibility, but certainly not for a thrill.</p>
<p>The main problem with our Jury System is that anyone with more than a dozen brain cells figures out how to get out of it</p>
<p>My wife has been called three times now and she’s never even had to appear … do you think I’m gonna let my beautiful wife walk around the halls of the courthouse and then get followed home by some just-bailed-out rapist ?? I don’t think so!!</p>
<p>A story that illustrates this “Jury-Brain-Drain” principle =></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13038929-post16.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/13038929-post16.html</a></p>
<p>I was happy to sit on a jury and considered it civic duty. I was NOT excused, even tho I am an attorney. It is not as easy to be excused as it used to be. One of the judges who used to qualify jurors would start off by saying he made his wife sit on a jury and feels it is everyone’s civic duty.</p>
<p>When I was a student, I never served because I would always get the notice just as I was leaving the state for good. When I was a young nursing mother, I was excused due to hardship. Many solo business owners are also excused for hardship.</p>
<p>I was glad our case only lasted a week (should have only lasted one day but the judge let it be drawn out). There a LOT of delays and recesses; the jurors were mostly pretty good-natured about it. I was also glad it didn’t involve serious injury or death, only an alleged assault and battery by an older, frail Asian man against a huge, hulking young teen. Because it was not as serious, I didn’t feel I had to watch over my shoulder after we delivered the verdict, which was unanimous.</p>
<p>I would have a difficult time emotionally if it were a case of serious violence, especially domestic violence and/or death and am grateful it wasn’t such a case. H has been excused from several cases because he was a burglary victim & that was the type of case he was being considered for.</p>
<p>My sister sat once/month for a year as a grand juror & found it interesting. I believe her employer made up the difference in her pay between what she got as a juror & what she would have gotten if she had been at work. I thought that was very nice of employer. She found it an interesting change of pace.</p>
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Hmmm… then I guess my username explains why I had to sit on the jury.</p>
<p>And here I was thinking I was just a good interview.</p>
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<p>I’m sure there are times you do not want be served on a Jury, but I think civil service is an obiligate of responsible citizens. One should not intentionally make him unavilable to the judicial system.</p>
<p>My bad, in the opening post, it should be haul not “hull”…typos I cannot change. </p>
<p>In my case, lots of ppl did not want to serve on a murder trial, so, we had a lot of hardship presentations, but the judge just brush it off. I presented a hardship that I have to take care of my Alzheimer’s mom, but the judge made me sit through because I am not the only one taking care of her. A mom had two little childrens to take care of did not get dismissed, so is that sole propritor has to make bread and sell it in the flea market.</p>
<p>In that court, the only ones got dismissed is that if you have a plane/cruise ticket in hand that is taking off during the prescribed trial period or a student that has class scheduled with school documents being faxed to the court on the same day. I guess it took a LONG time to select the jurors, we are only in for the 4 alternates and even that is difficult to ascertain. The day before us, only two out of maybe 30 were selected in the same trial.</p>
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<p>That sounds pretty easy to do - just buy a plane ticket.</p>
<p>I was once called by the DA to testify - I told him that I would be out of the country for three weeks - did he want to know when I’d be back? No - he’d just work out a plea deal. I think that that’s how the vast majority of cases get worked out.</p>
<p>In NH, the court system has had huge budget cuts and the state isn’t bothering to go after offenders on fines under $200 because they don’t have the resources. I’d guess that there’s tremendous pressure by the courts on prosecutors and defenders to work out deals.</p>
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<p>I think that the particular branch of government that the court falls under should bear the expense. They were paying someone that had to take time off - they should take that money and pay someone that isn’t otherwise employed or busy. $5/day is nuts - it should have been indexed for inflation. Perhaps we should pay court clerks and judges $5/day for their work.</p>
<p>Taking time off for jury duty where they get paid essentially nothing is a hardship to many. How do courts get away with violating minimum wage laws?</p>
<p>I believe in HI state courts, you get $30 plus validated parking to serve, but it is still well below minimum wage. It is considered your civic duty and responsibility as a citizen and NOT a paid position so it doesn’t need to follow wage laws?</p>
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<p>^^ The arrangements must be done prior to entering the court, if you buy it after you have left the court, you might be cited for in contempt…</p>
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<p>Well, a Judge can boss his wife around … but You are an ATTORNEY and you couldn’t figure out how to avoid having to appear ??? </p>
<p>Remind me never to retain YOU !!</p>
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<p>One of my sisters once agreed to serve on a jury in a rural county in Ohio … she even got elected as ‘foreman’ of the group … and Thank Goodness for the Defendant that she was there , because the defense attorney committed Legal Malpractice – IMHO </p>
<p>The case was a criminal matter where the defendant was accused of embezzling a large amount of money over a long period of time from a business firm where she was a financial officer</p>
<p>In retrospect, the defendant had what’s called an “Affirmative Defense” — in this case , an alibi … she was out on maternity leave for a period of time when money kept disappearing from the company</p>
<p>But the Defense Counsel never even mentioned this … Super-Sister! was the one who brought up – during deliberations – that there was undisputed testimony of the maternity leave during the trial … but when was she out ??</p>
<p>The Jury sent a question about the dates to the Judge. But he replied that because there was no testimony on this during the trial, he couldn’t answer … he could only answer questions like: definitions of legal terms or what the law said in plain english</p>
<p>So my sister worked backwards from trial testimony. The defendant had mentioned her child’s age during testimony, so the jury themselves calculated the range of dates that she must have been out on maternity leave</p>
<p>Lo & Behold !! Sums of money had vanished from the company during those dates … so the defendant was declared NOT GUILTY !!</p>
<p>This ‘Perry Mason’ - like story almost makes me want to serve on a Jury. but then again , NO! … the $15 / day that Jury Duty pays won’t even cover the cost of parking in this state !!</p>
<p>^ If I am on trial, I want decent, clear thinking jurors serving so I don’t end up wrongly parked in a state prison.</p>
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<p>Well, I assume that they notify you by mail so plenty of time to buy a ticket.</p>
<p>How do you try and stay on a jury? I thought once you are cut you are cut? Isn’t it illegal to “get yourself on a jury”?</p>
<p>I’ve been a juror on several cases and I really enjoyed them. They were all theft type cases, never a murder but I would definitely want to do one if selected. I was nervous on one of the cases where I was the jury foreman and we found him guilty and the judge said “Have you reached a verdict, Mrs. mylastname?” but no one came after me. Then I was interviewed for a dui case and didn’t get selected, but saw the defendant, and the next week I was at my son’s band concert and there she was, wearing the very same dress. That kind of freaked me out but she didn’t recognize me. The first time I was called to jury duty, I got excused because I showed up with my baby and toddler so I think there would be some money in renting out your little kids to potential jurors.</p>
<p>Oh, and I got out of jury duty another time because I already had a plane ticket, but they made me pick another time when I could be there so it doesn’t really get you out of it.</p>
<p>I have been called once. H is called almost yearly. He has served on several juries. In our area the judges do not like to let people off. H served on a murder trial that lasted several months. Being the sole owner of his business did not excuse him. The judge told everyone that court did not start till 10 am, they had a 90 minute lunch and finished by 5 pm, plus no court on Friday. The judge felt that almost everyone could make that work.
Also in our area if you have a trip planned they will reschedule you when you return.</p>
<p>What do they do if you move out of the state?</p>
<p>I served on a murder case jury in NJ, for two weeks. The first three days of jury duty, we made $5 a day, and after that it was $40 a day. Those who work for a city/county/state government entity have to turn the money back. Parking was free. </p>
<p>It was a fascinating experience, and the attorneys did a good job choosing a jury, lots of good, infinitely reasonable people on the jury. We did not hear everything we thought we should have been told, but we were able to piece the scenario together by rehearing several sets of testimony. It was very dramatic to watch the defense attorney while the verdicts were read. </p>
<p>I was recently sent a questionnaire for federal jury service. The document said I could be called any time in the next two years, for a trial or grand jury. It would be more inconvenient, would require travel 1-2 hours each way every day…that I would dread.</p>
<p>Rightly the government workers shouldn’t get money for serving on jury; they get their regular paycheck uninterrupted from their government job while serving on jury! Otherwise they’d be double dipping.</p>
<p>All four in my family have been called over the past two months. None have actually served. I’ve been called for federal and state cases and never served.
Not all of us are registered to vote.
I am always so incredibly inspired by the judges’ remarks to the large jury pool - even before voir dire occurs.
I feel it’s an honor to live in a society in which this occurs — and it’s a responsibility to do the best you can.</p>