True enough, but part of the reason people don't like doing it is because we get treated like cattle and as though our time is not important while we're there. Judicial system in this regard could use an upgrade.

At least I'm raising the average from brain-dead to idiot! Anyone who thinks sitting in jury duty is time well spent really needs to evaluate their life. Next thing you'll tell me you vote...

I forgot to go to jury duty. I showed up a week later. Didn't get hung.
Now the state is making some noise about fining no shows $1,000.
From now on I'm gonna use my legal right to extend my reporting date
by one year.

The judge may not have much to say. Jury selection is mostly in the hands of the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney. Since T shirts are okay clothing where I was serving jury duty, I'd often wear shirts with a nice design and a message that leaned one way or the other, so that the defense or the prosecution would wonder if I might be a questionable juror. One showed Gromit behind bars. Another was from Red Dwarf, referring to the man on the Grassy Knoll.

They taught me in San Diego courts that the people in the jury pool who are not chosen for jury duty also serve a purpose. They allow the attorneys to pick the best people. I'm not great a judging people and punishing them, so I help out by giving them someone to winnow out.

I did get picked once as an alternate though. They were getting down to the end and the lady before me told the judge that she believed that the police wouldn't have arrested the defendant if he weren't guilty. He thanked her and excused her. I couldn't top that.

I've sat on two juries and both times the defendant changed his plea before we got to deliberate. Maybe i'm just lazy, but I actually like to serve jury duty- it's a definite change of pace from the normal course of things.

"There's a dress code for jury duty? Wish I had known this before, I would have dressed in a gorilla costume .. anything to get out of duty! "

No need to go to all that trouble. A simple black executioner's hood will not only accomplish your goal, but add a touch of elegance to your wardrobe.*




In the summer months, a klansman's white Grand Imperial Wizard's hood can be sustituted. But remember, NOT after Labor Day.

Just say that you think that he/she just "looks" guilty and that you have a supernatural gift for seeing these things...


:roflmao2:


.

I was treated with more respect, for both my intelligence and my time, when I was on jury duty than my employer ever did. When the trial was over, the judge met with us and asked how we were treated. When I told him that I was treated better on jury duty than at work, he said that if they treat people well, with respect, and impress upon them the importance of their civic duty, they rise to the occasion.

I agree. The judge and both counsel went on and on about how much they appreciated our time and attention. Now, maybe I'm biased. I'm a lawyer but not a litigator, meaning that the only time I'm ever going to be in a courtroom is as a juror (well, hopefully not as a defendant!). And I found it fascinating.

It's true that lawyers are usually excused, but in my case there was another lawyer and a law student on the panel. We were all shocked to be kept but we all were glad that we were.

I was referring to the process that takes place up until the selection and the trial begins (including waiting around in the assembly room before you even see a court room) - I've never sat on a trial but I've been up through the final stage several times. Most recently I was one of over 400 people who were called in for a case that required 12+2... I sat through four days of BS (including listening to 300+ people try and get excused) and I was the last one to be "challenged" before they sat the final alternate. During those four days I saw dozens of ways that they could have done things faster with no loss of fairness to the defendent or the court; and I have seen it done more efficiently by other judges in other courts. If they had to pay us for our time(1) I guarantee they would have done things differently, but we're free and numerous so they don't care.

I'm not suggesting that jurors should be paid.

Around here anyway they send you a letter with a number. You call a phone number the morning of your service, and they say "anyone with a number greater than X, we don't need you, your service is considered fulfilled." So I warn my boss I might be on JD but I actually have showed up both times same as ever, they've never called me in. I'm sure they call in more than they need, but I don't think many more.

I think in most courts, jurors and witnesses get both mileage and a small amount of pay (except state government workers). I have gotten mileage for riding my bike to the court which totaled more than the days pay both as a juror and a witness.

The big rip off is Honolulu cops get paid at least 4 hours of overtime pay for just showing up and maybe spending an hour at the court.

I'm not sure that's exactly true.

Ultimately, one of the lawyers (prosecutor or defense) will probably appreciate a lawyer in the jury, and the other guy will not want a lawyer in the jury. And a lawyer would probably cause pretty strong feelings on the part of the one who doesn't want him there, and so he'd probably use one of his challenges to get him thrown out.

But either way, it's likely pretty rare that a lawyer, judge, cop or somebody similar serves on a jury.

Similarly, if the case involves cycling in any way, you're pretty likely to find that all cyclists will be excused from the jury -- one side will feel strongly about it, and since cyclists are a minority, they'll probably use their challenges to get them thrown out.

It's the same system that tends to make black people be judged by a jury of 12 white people -- if blacks are a minority, even if they're 10% of the people selected by the jury, if the defendant is black, the prosecutor tends to get the blacks thrown out. Legalized discrimination!

I contacted the asst. jury commissioner and here's her reply;

"there’s a bike rack right outside the courthouse, in the front which you’ll need a lock for your bike. You can bring in your helmet of course. I spoke to security regarding the pump and tools. If it’s sharp or big enough to be used as a weapon, they’ll ask you to take it back to your bike and you’ll have to leave it outside with your bike. I hope this helped. Have a nice weekend!"

Sounds fairly reasonable to me. Perhaps a scouting visit is wise to scope out the rack and so on. If I'm selected, maybe I can get security to hold my pump, etc.

Thanks for the attire reminder lil brown bat.

In my case, we asked the DA afterwards why he didn't kick us off. He said he knew he was dealing with a sympathetic defendant and he thought having lawyers on the panel would help him since we'd "be able to see through her story."

As it turned out, it backfired on the DA. We all saw that he hadn't established intent and once the People rested, the trial was essentially over. We didn't even have to hear her side of the story to acquit.

l
I was actually speaking to the absurd and outrageous things some people do and say to try to get out of serving on a jury. Most of the time it simply doesn't work and they end up looking rather foolish.

Most times, the quickest way to get booted off a jury, is to act like you really, really want to be on the jury. For example, Lawyers ask questions to weed out jurors that know cops or have convicted family, if the answer is yes then one of the lawyers will ask the judge to excuse you, the judge will ask if you have any problem putting aside the relationship and being unbiased. Telling the judge "No I can be completely unbiased and have no problem serving". That makes one of the lawyers really nervous and they usually boot you with one of their preemptive challenges.

Smart. I always scout out new destinations (doctors offices, courthouse etc.) for locking compatibility. I also look around for bike shops, sporting goods stores, or anywhere that someone might take a few bucks for letting me park inside a warehouse or something.