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what really happens if you ignore a jury duty notice?

B

bleuless

Senior member
so i used to live in alameda county, CA. but i had moved and went to DMV to change my address. I received a jury duty letter one time, then i responded that i no longer live there, and was waived. 6 months later, I got notified AGAIN by the wrong county that I need to serve (a brand new notice), this time I lost the letter...

what can/should I do now? I went to DMV's website to file for change of address again (i trust computers more than human this time, last time I filed personally)

anyone with this area expertise?
 
Heh, funny story. I was forwarded a jury duty notice about a week after I got out of BMT. 😛

Needless to say, I was waived.
 
I ignored a summons back around the end of the winter... I was just in serious financial straights and couldn't afford to miss multiple days of work (not to mention having to pay $20/day for parking by the courthouse) and exceptions to JD could only be made in-person in front of a judge (which would have involved missing work, which I couldn't afford to do in the first place).

so far, nothing's happened to me.
 
I served two weeks ago. The people that didn't show up were escorted to the courthouse in the back of a Deputy's car. You cannot be required to serve in a county in which you do not reside (unless its a regional/state court). Contact the county clerk's office and state that you do not live there and have already been excused once from them for the same issue.
 
I heard in the news that in the future they may seek penalties/fines for people giving Untrue excuses that try to get out of Jury Duty.
 
Heh, I just had jury duty this past monday. I love having a criminal justice degree, I get up there, the judge asks me a few questions one of which is "have you studied any law". I said I had a criminal justice degree. 1 minute later the defense attorney is excusing me 🙂.

I don't get to use the degree for anything else (I'm a sys admin).

OP, a bench warrant can be issued for ignoring jury duty. At least let them know you moved so that doesn't happen.
 
Originally posted by: bunker
Heh, I just had jury duty this past monday. I love having a criminal justice degree, I get up there, the judge asks me a few questions one of which is "have you studied any law". I said I had a criminal justice degree. 1 minute later the defense attorney is excusing me 🙂.

I don't get to use the degree for anything else (I'm a sys admin).

OP, a bench warrant can be issued for ignoring jury duty. At least let them know you moved so that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

so if you know the law, they want nothing to do with you?
 
Originally posted by: axelfox
Bench warrant.
Click to expand...

Since I am probably the only here who does not know what a bench warrant is, from Wiki:

A bench warrant is a variant of an arrest warrant, which authorizes the immediate on-sight arrest of the individual subject to the bench warrant. Typically, judges issue bench warrants for persons deemed to be in contempt of court ? possibly as a result of that person's failure to appear at the appointed time and date for a mandated court appearance. Bench warrants are issued in either criminal or civil court proceedings.

Commonly (but not always), the person who is subject to a bench warrant has intentionally avoided a court appearance to escape the perceived consequences of being found guilty of a crime. If a person was on bail awaiting criminal trial when the non-appearance took place, the court usually forfeits bail and may set a higher bail amount to be paid when the subject is re-arrested, but normally the suspect is held in custody without bail. If a person is found to have a bench warrant against him or her when stopped by a law enforcement officer, the person is immediately taken into custody by authorities, rejailed and a hearing is held at which time new bail amount and conditions are set and a new court appearance date is scheduled. Often, if a person is arrested on a bench warrant, that person is held without bail until he or she can appear in court for whatever incident it was that he or she failed to appear to address originally. Such a person is referred to as a "flight risk", meaning that there is a high likelihood that he or she will flee and not appear for the assigned court date (for a second time).

Bench warrants are traditionally issued by sitting judges or magistrates
 
Originally posted by: loki8481
I ignored a summons back around the end of the winter... I was just in serious financial straights and couldn't afford to miss multiple days of work (not to mention having to pay $20/day for parking by the courthouse) and exceptions to JD could only be made in-person in front of a judge (which would have involved missing work, which I couldn't afford to do in the first place).

so far, nothing's happened to me.
Click to expand...

so if you get arrested, you won't miss any work??
 
Originally posted by: orakle
Originally posted by: bunker
Heh, I just had jury duty this past monday. I love having a criminal justice degree, I get up there, the judge asks me a few questions one of which is "have you studied any law". I said I had a criminal justice degree. 1 minute later the defense attorney is excusing me 🙂.

I don't get to use the degree for anything else (I'm a sys admin).

OP, a bench warrant can be issued for ignoring jury duty. At least let them know you moved so that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

so if you know the law, they want nothing to do with you?
Click to expand...

I would say thats pretty accurate.
 
i received a jury duty for sept 8th but that time i'll be at college (6 hours away.) 😕

i mailed back saying i won't be here to serve as a petit juror due to school. the result awaits.
 
What happens if you ignore a jury duty notice?

You eventually have to attend court, but this time, there's a jury already waiting for you.
 
You really should contact them at least. Otherwise they'll issue a bench warrant for contempt of court and the next time a police officer runs your license for whatever reason (traffic stop, renewing your driver's license, etc.) you'll be arrested on the spot and taken to jail to pay the fine.

Also, most courts won't make an exception for economic hardship unless you're damn convincing, but it's still cheaper (and a lot easier) than going to jail over it.
 
Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
Originally posted by: orakle
Originally posted by: bunker
Heh, I just had jury duty this past monday. I love having a criminal justice degree, I get up there, the judge asks me a few questions one of which is "have you studied any law". I said I had a criminal justice degree. 1 minute later the defense attorney is excusing me 🙂.

I don't get to use the degree for anything else (I'm a sys admin).

OP, a bench warrant can be issued for ignoring jury duty. At least let them know you moved so that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

so if you know the law, they want nothing to do with you?
Click to expand...

I would say thats pretty accurate.
Click to expand...

why? because you might know about jury nullification?
 
Originally posted by: orakle
Originally posted by: Mxylplyx
Originally posted by: orakle
Originally posted by: bunker
Heh, I just had jury duty this past monday. I love having a criminal justice degree, I get up there, the judge asks me a few questions one of which is "have you studied any law". I said I had a criminal justice degree. 1 minute later the defense attorney is excusing me 🙂.

I don't get to use the degree for anything else (I'm a sys admin).

OP, a bench warrant can be issued for ignoring jury duty. At least let them know you moved so that doesn't happen.
Click to expand...

so if you know the law, they want nothing to do with you?
Click to expand...

I would say thats pretty accurate.
Click to expand...

why? because you might know about jury nullification?
Click to expand...

someone who has a criminal justice degree is probably sympathetic to the cops and against the perps to begin with. no defense attorney wants that guy in the jury. it's not about jury nullification.

an appellate judge i talked to while serving as a venireman said that he has seen law students and lawyers serve on juries before.
 
Originally posted by: spacejamz
Originally posted by: loki8481
I ignored a summons back around the end of the winter... I was just in serious financial straights and couldn't afford to miss multiple days of work (not to mention having to pay $20/day for parking by the courthouse) and exceptions to JD could only be made in-person in front of a judge (which would have involved missing work, which I couldn't afford to do in the first place).

so far, nothing's happened to me.
Click to expand...

so if you get arrested, you won't miss any work??
Click to expand...

I can afford the fine/jail better now than I could the jury term at the time.

guess I'll find out when I renew my license next week 🙁
 
Originally posted by: loki8481
Originally posted by: spacejamz
Originally posted by: loki8481
I ignored a summons back around the end of the winter... I was just in serious financial straights and couldn't afford to miss multiple days of work (not to mention having to pay $20/day for parking by the courthouse) and exceptions to JD could only be made in-person in front of a judge (which would have involved missing work, which I couldn't afford to do in the first place).

so far, nothing's happened to me.
Click to expand...

so if you get arrested, you won't miss any work??
Click to expand...

I can afford the fine/jail better now than I could the jury term at the time.

guess I'll find out when I renew my license next week 🙁
Click to expand...

renewed my license today and I was not, in fact, arrested 😛

I'm actually looking forward to my next summons now that I've moved. the court house down here in south jersey is a lot nicer.
 
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