Jury Duty

Definitely a lot of waiting around. I sat on a jury last Fall - it was my first time. If nothing else it was interesting to see an actual trial. As much as people try to get out of jury duty, I was glad to have done it.
 
FormerHangie said:
I have jury duty today. I'm still sitting in the jury assembly room. It's really boring.

That is all.
Click to expand...
Last time I was on jury duty I wasn't allowed to have any electronic devices. So at least ya got that...
 
The last time I did jury duty I was selected. The trial was short and seemed pretty cut and dried, but there was a lot of backstory that we weren't allowed to know about. I only found out after some later curiosity.
 
Last time I was called for jury duty was for a murder trial that was expected to last 1 week. It lasted 27 days.

I was glad I was not selected.
 
Last selection I went to took over ten hours. They had called in triple the normal pool for a rape case and no one was allowed to leave until they had a jury. They were about to reach my number when they selected the last juror. Guy was found not guilty.
 
Been called 6 or 7 times in 41 years. Selected twice for juries, despite threatening to have the prosecutor arrested during the voir dire part of the first one. Got out of one due to an appearance of a conflict of interest on one. That one, I was part of an organization suing some people for the same reasons, within the same jurisdiction, that was before the same court. Lots of seat time waiting on stuff to happen.
 
I have been excused.
 
I have jury duty this Thursday, ugh.
 
I have been called exactly once. It was for a medical malpractice suit, apparently the widow was accusing the doc of missing the spot. I told the judge I was a lung cancer researcher and an arrogant sob, all true in fact. He sent me home. I've lived here 20 years and never been called. I hope that means we haven't much crime where I live.
 
Well, I'm free. Apparently the jury folks call a jury pool for each courtroom that is starting a case that requires one, and if the parties come to settlement they let us leave, so I'm back at work.

There were a number of questions about insurance companies, so I gather many of these cases are civil cases brought up by the horde of personal injury attorneys that are active in the area.
 
Everskyward said:
The last time I did jury duty I was selected. The trial was short and seemed pretty cut and dried, but there was a lot of backstory that we weren't allowed to know about. I only found out after some later curiosity.
Click to expand...
Me too.

Actually, in mine, I spend a half hour or so with the prosecutor getting the details after it was all over (that was after a group meeting - many of the state judges in Colorado arrange a post-verdict meeting between the judge and lawyers and the jurors so the jurors can ask questions).
 
I have federal jury duty this month. Call in on Sunday nights to see if I need to show on Monday. Didn’t have to this week.
 
I want to get jury duty; I've been a registered voter for 45 years. I must be on everyone's blacklist.
I have been a so-called "expert witness" several times, however.
 
Just remember to end every sentence with "so says the master".

Should work out pretty well.
 
I was in the same court as Formerhangie. We were going through the pool for a robbery case. Things were looking good for me with only one open spot left. Guy sitting to my left is called on (I'm next after him). They ask him if he thinks he can be impartial. He answers that he can't because the entire US justice system is flawed, no such thing as a fair trial etc... Judge, both lawyers are trying to keep a straight face. Needless to say, Mr tinfoil didn't get picked and guess who sounded like the most impartial human in the room after him... Ended up a one week trial..
 
I was empaneled onto a rape and open murder jury... we were to start trial after lunch. Got my voicemail and it was my wife’s doc looking for her test results showed she needed to have labor induced in the morning! I ran back tears streaming down my face thinking I wud miss the birth of my first born! The judge said- “that’s why we have alternates get otta here”.
 
Court in my county requires you to call in for a month. First time I was called I told them that 2 weeks notice to be in town for a month wouldn't work. So they rescheduled it a few months out so I was able to arrange work to be in town all month. Had to go to the courthouse twice I think. My name should be coming up again soon.
 
FormerHangie said:
Well, I'm free. Apparently the jury folks call a jury pool for each courtroom that is starting a case that requires one, and if the parties come to settlement they let us leave, so I'm back at work.
Click to expand...

I've been called to serve twice, never picked in the voir dire process. Even if I had been selected, the court official in charge of managing the herd of prospective jurors told us that settlements were likely after the jury was chosen, as the defendants realized that the trial was indeed imminent.... -Skip
 
Just got excused for age, finally a benefit of being old.
 
I have only been called once, maybe three years ago, and I was selected. The trial lasted about a day and a half. Then when it was time for deliberation, the jury selected me as Foreman. I always thought I didn't want to do it, but it was educational and I enjoyed it. But once was enough.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
I want to get jury duty; I've been a registered voter for 45 years. I must be on everyone's blacklist.
I have been a so-called "expert witness" several times, however.
Click to expand...
I was over 50 when I got selected my one and only time.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
I want to get jury duty; I've been a registered voter for 45 years. I must be on everyone's blacklist.
I have been a so-called "expert witness" several times, however.
Click to expand...
That shouldn't exclude you from being called. But it happens more in some states than others. Is your "one-day-one-trial" or a month of service. The one-day-one-trial states tend to have no automatic exclusions. Weirdest one I ever saw was a judge sitting on a DUI jury in his regular courtroom. I remember walking by the courtroom that day and doing a double-take.
 
Three days after I turned 18, I got a card in the mail for County court jury duty. I was selected.

I was notified three more times in three years and was not selected for a Federal case and two local courts...

Since escaping Kalifornistan, I have been called twice for a County court, but was called by phone to not come, due to either cancellation of the case or alternate non-selection...
 
I've been called 3 times, selected once, lasted a week. It was a personal injury case from a car accident, typical ambulance chaser lawyer with a whiny client looking for future wages, pain and suffering, etc. She claimed she could barely walk, then the defense lawyer asked her how she managed to walk the three blocks to a restaurant at lunchtime that day in high heels... oops. We awarded her the medical expenses already incurred and the equivalent of a big bottle of tylenol per month for the next year. The judge was trying real hard not to crack a smile as the verdict was read.
 
In the small town I live in, the citizens take turns for jury duty. Those who are in the line to be a juror get put in groups and assigned a color, red, yellow, blue or green. Then the groups are assigned trial dates. Each potential juror is assigned 4 weeks of service and may be assigned to 1 to 3 trials. Then the potential juror is supposed to call the pre-recorded phone number the day before the trial to see if the trial will be held. Also each potential juror is supposed to call in after 5pm on Friday through Sunday to see if any additional trials have been assigned.

I forgot to call in once. Fortunately no new trials came up so I was off the hook. I could have been fined up to $100.00 or one week in jail.

I don't see how it is possible to get a fair trial in a small town where practically everyone knows each other.
 
Last edited:
This is one of the last places in our government where citizens have real power to do what is right and restrain government overreach. https://fija.org/

If called, I hope people will go and vote for what is just, even if that requires nullification.
 
I wish it was possible to volunteer for jury duty.

I’ve never been called, but I would like to serve once, in an actual trial.
 
My plan is to tell them I own a piston twin and a rag & tube taildragger.
I figure I'll be off the hook as totally lacking objective good judgement (not to mention common sense).
 
Only time I had jury duty was in my 20s and got an 'invitation' in the mail just a week ago for the week of March 23.
 
Wear a shirt that says 'guilty as charged'. You'll never get picked.
 
NoHeat said:
I wish it was possible to volunteer for jury duty.

I’ve never been called, but I would like to serve once, in an actual trial.
Click to expand...

I've been called in about five times in the 40 years I've been an adult. The first time I got called I was in my late 20's, and back then you served for an entire week. I got put on a jury for an armed robbery trial that probably shouldn't have gone to trial. I think there were 8 witnesses that identified the accused as the man who robbed them, plus his accomplice testified as well. Ever since then, I've been asked questions and had to stand outside of a courtroom, but never gotten to a jury.

I get the impression from the questions we were asked yesterday that most of the trials were torts, not criminal. We have an astounding number of personal injury attorneys in the area, so many that it makes me wonder if private equity money is bankrolling some of them. They sure do spend a lot of money on advertising. I can't think there are all that many injury cases that would be worth an attorney's time.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Weirdest one I ever saw was a judge sitting on a DUI jury in his regular courtroom. I remember walking by the courtroom that day and doing a double-take.
Click to expand...

The Chief Justice of our Supreme Court was selected as a juror while he was still on the bench. He wasn't even selected foreman of the jury.
 
Sorry, but I gotta tell this story. When I was actively praciin criminal law, I got alled for jury duty.
PPC1052 said:
The Chief Justice of our Supreme Court was selected as a juror while he was still on the bench. He wasn't even selected foreman of the jury.
Click to expand...
i suspect not being selected foreman is common when lawyers and judges end up on juries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top