Jury Duty

That right there would be cause for MD to issue an arrest warrant. I hope NC is somewhat more forgiving!

John, post: 381976, member: 791 wrote: That right there would be cause for MD to issue an arrest warrant. I hope NC is somewhat more forgiving!

My wife called them soon as she found the paper, they said it was okay and they would reschedule it. I keep looking down road for the deputy.

Adam, post: 381982, member: 8900 wrote: My wife called them soon as she found the paper, they said it was okay and they would reschedule it. I keep looking down road for the deputy.

Adam,
I was called one time and during the interview process I had worked with all the attorneys, so I was excused.
Ed

They DO take it seriously. Even when they know that you cannot serve. All three of my daughters and I have all received jury duty notices for the county we do not live in, so we cannot serve. Our old mailing address was on a rural route that started at a city in their county but ran out to our house in the neighboring county. To serve, we would have had to actually lived within the borders of their county. The court clerk and I were in high school together for a couple of years. Two of her daughters were in the same class as two of my daughters. She knew that we could not serve, but sent the notices anyway because she must send them to everyone whose names come up in the random drafting process. There would be several hundred potential jurors just like us who could not serve for the same reason.

The Register of Deeds in my home county never worries about jury duty for basically the same reason. Her home mailing address is for a city in a different adjoining county. She has been notified more than once but for the wrong county.

Holy Cow, post: 382016, member: 50 wrote: They DO take it seriously

In Florida too. They will even send someone to deliver you to and from the courthouse.

Heck, I drove right by the courthouse twice yesterday and it never dawned on me that I was pose to be there.

I got a letter for jury duty once. When it came I thought it was my monthly invoice for copies so I set it with the bills. When I went to pay bills and opened it I was like oh *****. Luckily for me they canceled jury call that month.

I have lived in the same county for nearly 40 years and have been called for jury duty once (never placed on a jury). My Mother-in-Law is a naturalized citizen (born and raised on England) and has served on at least 6 criminal juries, 2 Grand Juries and 1 Federal jury. I guess they just like her better than me.

Andy

I served on a Sacramento County Superior Court Jury panel; it was a criminal trial. We convicted two defendants of 2nd Degree Murder and found the third defendant not guilty. The Sheriff's diagrams were laughable to a Surveyor. They two taped across a room from either side of a door frame. But the exact spatial relationships in the building were not very critical to the case. The two found guilty have filed Appeals with the California Third District Court of Appeals so I activated the email notifications so I can follow that.

It was an interesting experience, I recommend it if the opportunity arises.

Before she passed away my mother called me up all in a tizzy. My (deceased) father had been called upon for jury duty. I told her don't worry about it.

Three or four weeks later she calls me back...and they had mailed a bench warrant for my father to the address. I called the court clerk and told her "good luck" in apprehending the guilty "desperado". The phone call took care of it.

I was summoned for jury duty recently.

Hoping to be challenged for being too conservative, I wore suit & tie.

I ended up as foreman...

I came I saw. Got picked as an alternate. Same commitment. But, the other alt and I played cards in a room upstairs when they went to deliberate. I did not think it was a worthy investment of my time.

Adam, post: 382055, member: 8900 wrote: Heck, I drove right by the courthouse twice yesterday and it never dawned on me that I was pose to be there.

Nice, Adam. Mom always said ignorance is blis.

[USER=93]@jim.cox[/USER]

Now that really made me laugh. A surveyor getting all gussied up like a penguin for jury duty selection!!!!! If you had worn your standard day-to-day fightin' through the backwoods attire they would have recognized you as an overly opinionated surveyor and let you go free.

By writing a letter to the judge, I have been excused a few times of local petit jury duty. The last time, I was advised that there would be less acceptance in the future.
Fed jury duty was pretty much in their control. I know one single mom with a long commute that was excused but it took almost a month.

In California we get regular summons but you only have to be available one day per year. If you aren't in a Courtroom at the end of the day then you are excused. Once you are in a Courtroom then the Judge owns you until she excuses you. Our Judge only excused one person, he was the sole breadwinner in his household. Everyone else, sorry you have to serve. I don't have an excuse because my job pays me while I am on Jury Duty. One time a boss told me to tear up and throw away my summons because they can't prove I got. I said you're crazy, I work for the State, no way I'm lying to some Judge especially since I have no excuse because I get paid any way.

I had a coworker get empaneled. He said the first thing the Judge said was, "all you government employees, I don't want to hear how understaffed your office is, you get paid so you are serving, don't ask to be excused."

I sat on a jury for the first time about a year ago. I was surprised how well the jurors were treated. Everyone was very polite and offered to do anything they could for us. The defendant, by the way was found guilty and later sentenced to 30 years.

As Davie Karoly said, California is one day/one trial. They can have you show up, but then decide you need to come back in the afternoon, or tell you not to show up on your scheduled day but the next day.

I had already delayed once and had set the date for end of May. I ended up in a courtroom which is only the 2nd time in over 20 years. The judge announced: criminal case, expected to last at least into July. We all groaned. He continued--I know it's summer, people will have vacations, schools are out, and so on. I want to hear about any conflicts.

He polled the entire room. Some people were told to check with their work on how much work would pay when we took a break.

There were a lot of people with conflicts. When we came back from break, the judge dismissed just about everyone who had said they had a conflict. I had claimed a conflict due to Esri having a big conference at the end of June.