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Just got my jury duty letter in the mail

R

raildogg

Lifer
Tell me what happens when you go there. The whole procedure and what you have to do, what you have to say. I will have to go there next month.

Is there any way out?
 
There is a way out, though it's probably not the most ethical. When they interview you mention something about how this is finally your chance to put some scumbag away and you won't get swayed by a slick defense lawyer.
 
I have never gotten past the initial "staging" area. You go with hundreds of other people. If they call your name, you may sit in on a trial. If they don't call your name, you go home.
 
You know every single time I see one of these posts I know one question is always going to be asked by the op. Is there any way I can get out of it? For crying out loud just go on your appointed day and serve. It's fairly likely that you won't even be called and will be dismissed from jury duty. Or if it's really such a hardship ask for a deferment.
 
Well I am fairly young, took this semester off, work full time currently. I hope that means they won't pick me 😀.

I'll call the day before and make sure I'm needed.

Comments?

Originally posted by: Evadman
In Iowa by any chance? 😛
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Only a couple hundred, or a thousand miles away 😎
 
well, you can get out if it'll cause financial hardship. by which they mean if you miss work for a while, you lose your house, stuff, and life. you can also be rejected if you have already formed an opinion, or if you have severe medical problems.

however, Jury Duty is one of those things that you must do because you live in a democratic, free, and just society. i think it's well worth the price. watch "runaway jury" 😛
 
jury duty is awesome. Many employers do pay you the whole day when you go to jury duty. This doesnt apply if all you get is like 50 bucks of course.
 
I kinda want to do it just for the experience. What age do they start giving out the summons? I'm 20 now, and I haven't got any.
 
Originally posted by: virtualgames0
I kinda want to do it just for the experience. What age do they start giving out the summons? I'm 20 now, and I haven't got any.
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I think 18 is the age limit, and i also believe that in Michigan it's tied to your driver's license.... so once you get your license (and you reach 18) you're fair game.

I've been called to jury duty twice, well actually 3 times, but I got out of that one because it fell during finals week.

The first time I got summonsed I called the number and was told I was on a sitting jury (there was no screening). This was for a local court, and a non-criminal case.

I arrived on the appointed day, the judge sat us in his "audience" and we watched a video and got a lecture from the judge. At that point we were shuffled into the jury room, where we sat for 3 hours. The Bailif (?) finally came in and told us that the parties settled and we were put back in the audience and the judgs told us what happened and let us go.

The Second time, I got summonsed, I got called to the county court. It went more like I had learned it would:
- Call # the night before to make sure you're still needed
- Arrive early to sit with a large group and watch the intro video
- sit and read a book until you're called, or sent home.

I got called as part of a group of about 30 to go up to a courtroom for selection.

We went up to the room, and by random drawing they filled the jury box.

Then one at a time the judge had each person tell their name, where they lived, what they did, who they worked for etc. and let the two lawyers ask questions etc. This is when the lawyers can dismiss you if they don't like you....for whatever reason.

Once a person was dismissed, another random individual was put in place and questioned.

This continued until they lawyers were happy or out of "dismissals".

The ones not picked or dismissed were sent back downstairs to the pool in case they were needed later that day.

I got to serve on that jury...woo hoo... It was an interesting experience... it took 3 days for the entire process, most of which we spent in the jury room.

Although the experience wasn't bad, I hope its a few more years before I have to do it again. lol 🙂
 
I'm 22 and been called only once (they contacted me from a state I had used to live in, so I was unable to go). I figure it is about time again.
 
I think I got the Jury Summons like twice and I ignored them both times.

I don't think you can be accountable for this because it is not certified mail.
I would just say I moved if it ever comes up.
 
Originally posted by: nsafreak
You know every single time I see one of these posts I know one question is always going to be asked by the op. Is there any way I can get out of it? For crying out loud just go on your appointed day and serve. It's fairly likely that you won't even be called and will be dismissed from jury duty. Or if it's really such a hardship ask for a deferment.
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Thats fine for those who can afford to miss work, but what about those such as me? I haven't been called to jury duty, if I did I would not be able to afford going. I would have NO problem whatsoever if I was paid my regular salary, but I am pretty sure my employer doesn't. I assume they allow some to not attend in circumstances such as mine right?
 
i have only been summoned once, and it was basically the same experience as everybody else. i was called from the large pool into the 30 where you get to be picked by a lawyer. they said they just needed 12, and that they had 14 (dismissals i guess 7 per lawyer) and they just went down the line from the first one. they had said that they had never gone as far as the 26 th person, cuz that would mean the judge would have to have dismissed some of them. i was the 26th person and oh my gosh the last person they picked was the 25th person. i was so scared!!! it was a trial about a lady that fell in a wallmart.


cliffs....

long rant not making much sense.
 
I just got done serving on a jury last Thursday and Friday. It was a child sex assault case. Very pleasant. Not.

What they do is call you in to a waiting room. The number of potential jurors may vary depending on the jury pool, how many they summon, etc. After that, they take the whole lot of you into the court room. They'll ask you to summarize a lot of basic questions (name, age, occupation, hobbies, where you get the news from, spouse/SO, etc). You stand up, one by one, and do that. After that, the judge starts asking questions specific to the case. In my case, questions like do you know anybody who has been sexually assaulted, etc. After the questions, the judge sends everybody back to the waiting room while the lawyers argue it out on who they DON'T want. Everybody get's summoned back in, the clerk basically reads the names from the people left that were randomly drawn. I was the last name read. 🙁

Everybody says you can get out of jury duty by saying something prejudicial (not prejudicial in the racial sense, but something that will show bias on your part). That's bull$hit. Don't. You think the judge hasn't heard it all? And remember, contempt of court is an easy charge the judge can slap on you for basically anything the judge thinks you're doing that he doesn't agree with. Not to mention, once you're in the courtroom and have been sworn in there's an overpowering sense to tell the truth.

I didn't love doing it, but hate to sound corny, but it was my civic duty....btw, we found the guy guilty.
 
Originally posted by: Runes911
Originally posted by: nsafreak
You know every single time I see one of these posts I know one question is always going to be asked by the op. Is there any way I can get out of it? For crying out loud just go on your appointed day and serve. It's fairly likely that you won't even be called and will be dismissed from jury duty. Or if it's really such a hardship ask for a deferment.
Click to expand...

Thats fine for those who can afford to miss work, but what about those such as me? I haven't been called to jury duty, if I did I would not be able to afford going. I would have NO problem whatsoever if I was paid my regular salary, but I am pretty sure my employer doesn't. I assume they allow some to not attend in circumstances such as mine right?
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QFT. I know someone who was a juror for a lengthy child abuse case. His work didn't pay his regular salary while he was away. Jury duty doesn't pay jack. Lucky for him he is a saver and had some money stashed away he could dip into until he was back to work.

I know my company pays my regular salary so I wouldn't have to worry about that.
 
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