Jury Duty

[Incognito]

My exact experience.

I received a letter and I decided not to try and skip it for two reasons:

a) I didn't want to potentially get caught and fined/arrested for it.
b) I was genuinely curious of what the case was going to be. I was hoping for a murder trial.

Anyways, I skipped breakfast (huge mistake) and went into a 'holding room.' It was just a large room where chairs were set up for us (about 300+ of us) to wait till our ticket was called (we each got one as we entered according to the jury duty sheet we got in the mail). If you didn't get called, you had to come back the next day and the next and the next until you did. If you did get called, you get moved into the appropriate court room.

I was there for a good four hours before my ticket got called (bring a book). All those with the same ticket, we get moved into the court room and we sit on the benches according to how we were in line. The defendant and plaintiff are there along with their lawyers (if they have any). My case was an insurance case. It was a male and two lawyers for the defense and only a representative for the plaintiff's (the insurance company). If I can remember correctly, I think it was a pretty serious case having to do with fraud with auto insurance; the defense were claiming the plaintiff's, the insurance company, was shafting them on some fees and over-charging, denying compensation, etc. It's been a while, so I cannot remember exactly.

Anyways, each side takes turns asking every single person that got called in various questions that may relate to the case. Since ours was an auto insurance case, we got asked things like:

"Have you ever been in an accident?"
"Have you ever had to file a claim and if so, for what?"
"What is your educational background?"
"Do you believe in civilian's rights over that of authorities across the board?"
etc.

By this time, I am fucking dying. My stomach is eating itself and I'm getting headaches and rubbing my hands. From the lawyers and judge's perspective, I must look like a meth head who didn't get his hit that day (I figure this would work in my favor of me not getting picked).

The judge asks us is there any one of us that feel they cannot be impartial. The guy next to me says he cannot because the insurance company is just bringing a representative and there's no "physical being" to account for possible blame. He told me this at break time though. When you say no, you have to approach the bench and speak to the lawyers and the judge privately in a huddle.

So, we have a break time to get something to eat and let each side decide if they want to ask particular potential jurors any further questions or if they have made their mind up.

We get called back in, they ask a few more questions of some possible jurors and then finally confirm to the judge, "Jurors number 9, number 21, number ...." until they have their twelve. Those jurors are forced to come back on a scheduled date so the case can be heard and each side can began deliberations. The rest of us go home. I went home, gorged my face, and passed out feeling like shit.

So, in short, eat a big meal. It's gonna be a long day.

BTW, even if you do not serve as a juror, you still get paid for the days you are at the court, even if you are waiting day after day to be called. $30/day is chump change though.

[Station]

Also, read up on Jury Nullification and bring it up if at all possible, especially if they ask you about finding a verdict based solely on the facts. They hate that.

[lizsquiz]

I have never tried it, but I have heard that agoraphobia or claustrophobia a is a good excuse. You'd be uncomfortable and start getting panicky having to sit in close quarters with strangers and therefore are worried you wouldn't be able to pay proper attention during proceedings and might freak out.

I think the Australian system works differently, but I've gotten out of jury duty for medical reasons in the past as well, when I had a back injury so I couldn't be sitting for long periods. But you need a medical certificate etc.

[chickensandwich]

I got a summons last year for federal court. The judge was an ass and only let a few half-dead old people go. So of course I got pick for the jury. The court house had a huge power failure and there were no lights or A/C. Its was the middle of summer in the south and hot as fuck. (I can't make this shit up) The only good thing is that it was a stupid case and we heard the case and were done that very afternoon.
But because I was on the list for 6 months or whatever the time period is, I still had to show up a month later when another case was coming to trial. He let everyone go that served on the last jury. Turned out to be really good because it was the Tony Alamo kid touchin' case. I think it lasted 3 or 4 weeks, I can't remember now.
So although it sucked and could have been alot worse.

[pala]

Honestly you have to be careful about the "outrageous" excuses. I just had jury duty a little over a month ago and the judge held 2 people in contempt for coming up with crazy stories as to why they couldn't be on a jury. He was a true dick. They finally fessed up to their shenanigans and were not selected but just the fact that they can do that shows you need to be as honest as possible, or at least don't make up something that you can't prove in some way.

If it's a comp or civil case most likely they'll want to know your opinions on settlement limits, and whether you have ever been in an accident yourself, just questions of that nature. I've served on 3 jury's and honestly the questions are all around the same thing, all 3 cases were civil.

I don't mind jury duty cause I work for the government and get paid my full salary for however long I'm on jury duty, so I answer the questions as honestly as possible, and being a fairly unbiased person I tend to get picked. Also, once you've been selected once, you tend to be selected again strangely. Although you aren't required to serve more than once in a 12 month time span.

[tempfoot]

I guarantee that you will be excused from the summons if you are incarcerated on the return date.

[Paraquat]

I got called in once.

I showed the letter to my boss and requested the day off. She handed it back to me and I assumed everything was cool. That week there was a slight dip in my pay so I kindly pointed out that:

"If you are employed full time, your employer must pay you your regular wages for the first five days of jury service.*"

and

"Full time employment is anything more than 30 hours per week.*"

I also jokingly added that

"Employers who fire or threaten to fire employees because of jury service may be fined up to $500 or imprisoned up to thirty days or both if convicted of this charge.* "

but I neglected to mention

"Employers may ask to be excused from paying an employee for jury service by submitting a written application to the judge in the case.* "

I sat in a room and also skipped breakfast. It was really boring. There was a TV on the local 24 hr news channel but it was muted with no closed captioning. It was around lunch time, when I was so hungry I was about to eat the guy next to me, that some dude came in and said the case was settled and we could go. I believe they comp'd my parking.
So yea, eat something.

* I quoted those from Jury Duty Frequently Asked Questions.

I assume "KC, MO" is Kansas City in Missouri (WTF?)
Jury FAQs - Western District of Missouri

They say your employer doesn't have to pay you but you are paid an attendance fee of 40 dollars per day unless you're a fed.

[Medium Brumski]

I just got back to work after my two days of jury duty, let me tell you how it went.

Sat in a room with about 120 other people from 8:00 to like 10:30. I was in the first group that got called, there were 43 of us that then filed into a courtroom. The case was about an automobile accident, where the plaintiff had some neck injuries and was seeking compensation for medical bills, so then they just asked the whole group if they'd ever been in a lawsuit, a major car accident, had spinal issues of their own or knew anyone else in the courtroom. Well I didn't have anything to say about any of those, so I didn't. I could have made something up, because they had already told us early in the morning that quiet people usually get picked, but they had already said this particular trial would only take a day, and I was curious, so I just let it ride. So I got picked, and at the end of the next day awarded the plaintiff some money. I was even the foreman, mostly to expedite things cause no one else wanted it. We spent most of our 20-30 minutes of deliberation deciding on an amount.

Couple of interesting tidbits, Missouri jurors get paid $6 a day, plus 7 cents per mile, I got a check for $16 dollars at the end of the two days. The pay for jurors in Missouri hasn't been increased since 1957, and it's one of very few states that doesn't require employers to compensate. Most employers, however, will give you your regular salary if you sign over your hefty check to them.

Not a bad experience, but boring and I lost a couple hundred dollars from not working for two days.

[Aquavelvis]

I've done it twice. I'm sure every county does it differently but here when you're called for jury duty it's a 3 week run. Usually you go every other day unless you're actually selected for a trial. The rest of the time you report in the morning then sit in a room with all the other potential jurors. When they need a jury they call names, you file into the courtroom and the lawyers select 12 and an alternate. If you're not selected, back to the room to sit.

Most days after lunch they come in and tell you they don't need anyone else and send you home. They did pay you, $8 a day at the time, which usually didn't quite cover what I had to pay to park in downtown Cincinnati. The second time I was called my employer, who is required to pay me same as if I'd been at work, made me give them the money I was paid by the court so I actually lost a little money.

Got a lot of reading done, though. Also on the one case for which I did sit on the jury was a drug possession charge so we got to pass a bag of crack around during deliberation. No doggy bag, alas.

[thepetek]

I get jury duty consistently every two years or so. In fact, I'm due. It was more fun back in the day when they went more by name rather than ssn, and my Dad and I could decide who wanted to go. There was a time where I went, was in school and would be 8 hrs away when the trial took place and got it put off for 2 years (I took summer classes) and then he went. He then TRIED to get on the jury. He was not retired back then so he was a federal agent who had testified for the prosecution and the defense in trials involving high ranking members of one of these 5 or so families who had a lot of influence in the NYC area. Granted, he got full pay plus the whatever dollar stipend, and his job often involved sitting around listening to criminals on tape, so for him, it was gravy.

Took them 2 weeks to kick him. He was very proud, in the end, that the only people left of his original pool were 'him and the Chinese guy'.

I've never made it past one day. Sometimes I've even had that thing where you call in to see if you have to go in and I don't even have to go in. But yeah, snacks and books. Some kind of electronic entertainment, maybe, but it depends on the venue. I've had courts check my cel phone for a hidden gun.

I've found the best way to get out of jury duty is to try to get jury duty. Tell them you feel it's your civic duty to stand in judgment of your peers. You'll seem like a whacko.