Jury Duty - Page 3

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
I have never been summoned in my 50-something year old life!....and I would LOVE to serve on a jury. Go figure!

No one seems to be able to tell me how prospective jurors are summoned. I've been told it's from voter registration, the town tax roll, drivers licenses, etc.

When I was working I was never summoned. Since I've retired I've been called numerous times. (in 2 different communities) I've served on several juries, one in particular was an interesting trial. Deliberations have always been frustrating. There has always been 1 or 2 jurors who think they are smarter than everyone else. There have been a few who simply did not grasp the concept you base your verdict only on what has been presented. You cannot bring in something you've seen on a TV show or read in a book. Your verdict has nothing to do with whether or not you liked the prosecutor or defense lawyer. At times it's like banging your head against a wall.

redbird · ‎03-24-2010

I have been called once which was in late January of this year. I was excused with cause as I had formed an opinion in a murder case which had gotten a large amount of press here as well as in People magazine. Despite the trial ending in a hung jury, the case was featured on 48 Hours a few weeks ago and Dateline plans to do a feature after the retrial. I was very happy not to have to be involved in all of that.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
I have never been summoned in my 50-something year old life!....and I would LOVE to serve on a jury. Go figure!

Be careful of what you wish for, you might just get it. I always thought being a on a jury would be interesting. I got a chance maybe ten years or so ago. The case was a simple theft case, but it stretched out for three long days. The thing stolen was a VCR (and it wasn't really stolen) and by the end of the trial one of the women jurors, said, "I swear to God if I ever hear the word VCR again I'll scream." We went back after that break and sure enough the first witness mentioned VCR and we all turned and looked to the juror who'd said she would scream and smiled. She didn't scream though.

You may be wondering how a VCR can be stolen but not be stolen? In this case an older couple was renting a house to their daughter, son-in-law, and their two kids. The son-in-law decided he wanted to go to Atlanta to learn how to become a professional wrestler and he and his wife flew south for him to pursue his dream. The kids stayed back here with the grandparents. The daughter and son-in-law had left a checkbook with multiple blank signed checks to cover the rent and any other expenses while they were in Atlanta. the father had experience with these two though and didn't trust them. He checked with the bank before he wrote a check and found out that the couple had emptied the checking account and taken the money to Atlanta with them. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for the relationship with the homeowners. They moved the daughter's and son-in-law's stuff into a storage shed and rented the house out to someone else.

When the aspiring wrestler and his wife came back north (I believe it was three months later) the wrestler threatened to kill the older couple for renting out the house. The father then got a restraining order preventing the son-in-law from getting within a few hundred feet of him. The couple reclaimed their property from the storage shed and realized the VCR was missing. The older couple had taken the VCR and were using it to entertain the kids (who were still in their care.) The wrestler showed up at the father-in-law's door and demanded the VCR back. The father-in-law called the police and the guy was sent away. He then filed theft charges, which for some reason the DA agreed with, arguing that his father-in-law had not immediately surrendered the VCR to him therefore it was theft. (They got the VCR back a few days later when a third party went and got it from the father-in-law.)

This case went on forever. Three long, long days of listening to idiots arguing about a VCR that wasn't really stolen. We (the jury) were all about ready to kill everyone involved by the time the whole thing finally wrapped up. This case never should have gone to trial. There was no real crime committed. It was just torture to be on the jury for that trial. Every five minutes there was a recess. It was just brutal. It cured me of ever wanting to be on a jury.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

I have been called twice - the first time it was a medical malpractice case so I was quickly eliminated because I'm a nurse, the second time it was a DUI and I asked to not have to do it because of my parents being killed by a drunk driver. They immediately let me go.

riley1 · ‎03-10-2010

Ha - never got called in my many years - got called in October 2015 was excused as DH was having surgery, they called me again in February 2016 put everyone in the court room and started calling numbers - whew, I'm glad I wasn't called!

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Goldengate8361 wrote:
I have never been summoned in my 50-something year old life!....and I would LOVE to serve on a jury. Go figure!

Are you registered to vote? That is where they get the names they pick.

VanSleepy · ‎10-05-2010

@gardenman between the nonpayment of rent, bad checks, putting things in storage, stolen VCR...sounds like a few episodes of Judge Judy rolled into one lol

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

I'm sick of receiving them. I fill out the form & that's the end of that. I'm not doing it. Last one went in the trash as I left for Fl the next morning & was not dealing with it.

Mothertrucker · ‎01-30-2015

I have been called for jury duty 11 times..never served on an actual jury once..Been selected, done voir dire many times, never selected.

Just did it in Sept..yes it's a hassle, but it's my duty to go..yes they seem to call me a lot..oh well.

it is nearly I impossible to get out of in in LA County..financial hardship won't do it..being a student won't do,it..not speaking English usually doesn't even do it any more!....you can get off if you served within the last year..

Used to be you had to register to vote to be called but I do not think that is the case anymore...

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

@Frosted Cake

I was called for Jury Duty 3 different times. Twice my name was drawn from registered voters, and once from the drivers license pool.

I sat on 9 different trials and was the Foreman on 6 of them. These were County Jury Trials, both Civil and Criminal Cases. We served for 2 weeks, or more if a trial had not ended by the Friday of your 2nd week.

I enjoyed it immensely and have said here many times, I would love to be a Professional Jurist, if there were such a thing. One thing I know in our County. You DO NOT get out of serving because you have a job. Sure, some jobs were exempt, but very few. You either served or YOU Would be Served.

hckynut(john)