Members Phantasm Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 You can't serve on the jury if you are a convicted felon. Tell her to hurry up and rob a bank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigPigPeaches Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 If they would put as much effort into their careers as they do in trying to get out of jury duty, they'd likely not miss the lost wages. I work on hourly wages. I also make more in an hour than the government would pay me for one day of jury duty. I also have a job in which the well-being of my patients (aka your beloved pets) requires my almost-constant attention and physical presence. Might want to stop while you are horribly behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 I work on hourly wages. I also make more in an hour than the government would pay me for one day of jury duty. I also have a job in which the well-being of my patients (aka your beloved pets) requires my almost-constant attention and physical presence. Might want to stop while you are horribly behind. My, you're really special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BigPigPeaches Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 My, you're really special. Good God, how old ARE you? And are you really in charge of educating other people? You wanted a valid reason for trying to get out of jury duty: supporting a family seems to ring no bells with you, nor does dedication to your profession. I will also remind you that you have yourself, on occasion, requested my assistance with regards to this profession. And you have received it, free of charge. Next time I'll just let you know that I can't help you because I have jury duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 If they would put as much effort into their careers as they do in trying to get out of jury duty, they'd likely not miss the lost wages. Beyond BPP's comments (which seem to be hitting the nail squarely on the head), you seem to assume that if people aren't making a lot of money, then they "haven't put effort into their careers" (and this is far from the first time you've bluntly defined "success" as nothing more than "money")... There are plenty of people who have chosen careers that reward them in ways apart from material success...However, that doesn't mean that bills don't still need to be paid... "Anyone trying to get out of jury duty is a lazy {censored}er in their career", which is the extension of your statement, whether you intend it or not (and I think given the way you phrased it, you very much intended to say what you did), is a statement that does little more than make you seem narrow-minded and materialistic... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 My, you're really special. By the way, this comment reminded me of no one more than Oldivor... All you need is an internet meme picture from 4chan with some anime girl on it and you'd be set... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zamfir Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 Best advice from a TV show: "Go, don't go...but if you don't go, you don't get to complain about the O.J. verdict." I'd gone back to school (as it turned out, temporarily) when I got summoned a couple years ago. Warned my instructors ASAP. All of them were happy to make accommodations if needed. (And if they hadn't, a quick trip by me to the dean would have reminded them they have to. ) I called in every day as required to see if I was actually paneled. Never did get paneled. Would've happily gone if I had, even though I was taking 19 grad semester hours. Got my next summons a few months later, and check the box for them to blow me as per the law because they can't summon me more than once in three years, and I was going overseas to work. But dang, it's her civic duty to be part of the community she's chosen to live in. If she doesn't qualify for being out of state at the time of the duty, she should suck it up and learn about government institutions and the people that go through them while giving the parties a fair trial. That's hardly too much to ask in 99% of summonses. She should be glad there's still a functioning judiciary in this country making her life as nice as it is - and a system that doesn't function too well without citizens stepping up to the plate to keep it going. Try living in a country where the judiciary and the rule of law are feeble and subordinated to the executive, where citizens don't have any input or power over the process, and then maybe she'll realize how valuable those things are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 I haven't read through the entire thread (yet), so maybe someone has already talked about this. Here's my advice, if you can't get excused from showing up for the selection process -- which would take at most a day -- then what you have to do is make yourself unappealing to one side or the other during the jury pool interviews. Usually, this means saying something that will make you an unattractive juror to the defendant's lawyer in a civil lawsuit (usually an insurance company). Here's what I've done for years (mind you, I'm always telling the truth). Usually the judge or one of the lawyers will ask a question like: "Is there anyone here who may have had some kind of personal exposure to anything related to this case? For example, have you ever been involved in a car accident or do you know anyone who has been in a car accident?" I raise my hand and smile. The defense lawyer, from the Acme Insurance Company calls on me. "Mr. Armchair Bronco. You raised your hand. Why?" I say: "Well, my dad was a trial attorney. His specialty was personal injury, and he spent his entire career taking on insurance companies. So because of that exposure growing up, I think I have a unique insight into the litigation system." He says: "I see. Do you think that this would prejudice you in any way if you served on the jury?" I say: "Of course not! I can be totally objective and put aside all of the horrible things my dad said about insurance companies. But in fairness to you and your client, I thought it only fair to acknowledge this, even though I refuse to let my dad's prejudices cloud my objectivity." He says: "Your honor, the defense would like to excuse Mr. Armchair Bronco from the jury pool." The judge says: "Thank you, Mr. Armchair Bronco, for appearing today. You are excused and may leave. Have a nice day!" *** So, you need to be honest about your life experiences, but you spin them in such a way as to make it too risky for one side or the other to keep you in the pool. All the while, you keep maintaining that you CAN be objective, and that you'd like to serve on the pool. Works every time for civil cases...except for the one time I got roped into a murder trial (seriously)...so this doesn't work for criminal cases... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 Stuff about honestly getting excused (snipped to save space) I always hoped to get called for Jury Duty when I was doing undergrad, since for most of that time I was pre-law and planning to become a district attorney. I was looking forward to answering the career question with "I plan to be come a prosecuting attorney" and having the defense dismiss me 2 seconds later Never happened... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 I always hoped to get called for Jury Duty when I was doing undergrad, since for most of that time I was pre-law and planning to become a district attorney. I was looking forward to answering the career question with "I plan to be come a prosecuting attorney" and having the defense dismiss me 2 seconds later Never happened... My Civil Defense tactic has worked twice! But in the Criminal case I referred to, which involved a crime-of-opportunity robbery that took place during a murder at a construction job site, I made a football anology that I was sure would get me off the hook. Instead, I ended up getting selected for a 3-day trial. The DA asked me to compare a crime-of-opportunity robbery to a premeditated one. I said: "Well, in the crime of opportunity case, a guy walks around the corner and sees an overturned Wells Fargo truck that has crashed into a tree. Both drivers are unconscious and the doors to the truck are open. Smoke is coming from the engine. Without thinking, this guy grabs a bag of money and runs down the street." He says: "OK. Now, is that guy guilty of robbery?" I said: "Yes, he's guilty of a crime of opportunity. But he's committed a crime all the same." He says: "Should he be punished?" I said: "Well, it's a little bit like football. Let's say a player gets punched in the face, but the refs miss the punch. The guy is mad, and without thinking, he punches the other dude in the face in retaliation. Unfortunately, the refs see him and penalize him 15 yards for Unsportsmen-Like Conduct. You could argue that his punch was justified. However he got caught, so he deserves the penalty." I was sure that the court-appointed defense attorney would dismiss me immediately, but she didn't. And in the end, I and another woman on the jury were the key members in convincing the other jurors to come up with a guilty verdict. I'll tell you one thing: trial attorneys have no idea what goes on in a jury room. The judge can give whatever instructions he wants, but jurors will come up with their own set of rules. The dynamics in a jury room are very interesting: someone should make a movie about it. Maybe call it "12 Angry Men" or something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Goofball Jones Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 The only time I was ever called I got out of. Of course, I didn't "get out" of it as I was working nights, my wife worked during the day and I had to watch our 3 year old son while she worked. Living in Illinois at the time, our closest family was in michigan...so my wife would have had to take off work...with no pay...while I went in. I wrote back to the Cook County clerks office (or wherever I had to write into...I forget) and explained it and they let me go. But this wasn't a "made up" excuse and they easily could have checked it all out. That was the last time. If I get called again, I'd go. But then again, I have nothing better to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members King Kashue Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 The judge can give whatever instructions he wants, but jurors will come up with their own set of rules. The dynamics in a jury room are very interesting: someone should make a movie about it. Maybe call it "12 Angry Men" or something... Which is bull{censored}. I had a friend on a jury last year, he told me that at one point, one of the other jurors actually said (speaking of the defendant) "Well who are we to judge him?... Morons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members willsellout Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 Well when you get em in Cali, you just toss em. They can't prove you received it. Don't call, don't do anything just ignore it. Then the second notice that comes ignore that too. Keep ignoring it until they call you and tell you to show up:D. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armchair Bronco Posted January 12, 2008 Members Share Posted January 12, 2008 Which is bull{censored}.I had a friend on a jury last year, he told me that at one point, one of the other jurors actually said (speaking of the defendant) "Well who are we to judge him?...Morons... In our case, the defendant was at a job site when a co-worker brutally murdered the foreman with a 2x4. The defendant witnessed the whole thing, then he and the murder took off after grabbing some power tools at the site. They made their way to a restaurant/bar, and convinced someone inside to give them a ride to the local hospital. The murderer claimed that his wife was having a baby and he needed to get to the hospital right away. So this good samaritan drove the 2 guys to Harborview Hospital in Seattle! There was video footage of the defendant walking around in the hospital with a stolen nail gun in his hands. He was being accused of receiving stolen property, and that's what the jury had to decide on. The defense attorney claimed that her guy was only carrying the nail gun because he feared for his life (rightly so), so he was prepared to do anything his mudering friend told him to do. At first, all but two of us wanted to acquit. And on the face of it, it was a flimsy case. But the other woman and I figured out that the DA was trying to get our guy to testify against the murderer, and they were using the robbery accusation as leverage. So I told the rest of the jurors: "We need to decide whether to convict this guy so that the DA can try to put a brutal murderer behind bars by forcing our guy to testify..." (Of course, none of this was told to us. We had to figure it out for ourselves.) It took the 2 of us a day of hard work, but in the end all of the other jurors lined up behind us. After the trial, we had a chance to talk to both attorneys, and it turned out that we were 100% correct about the "unspoken" facts of the case. The defendant was prepared to testify against the murderer, but only if he was given a new identity. Unfortunately, this was not a federal case, so that wasn't an option. Anyway, we ensured that that he'd get another three months or so in jail to think about cooperating. I'm still ambivalent about my role in that case... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members :love::freak: Posted January 20, 2008 Members Share Posted January 20, 2008 Tell them she can't make it due to a Klan meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 21, 2008 CMS Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 I've been called twice, and both times I wanted to get on a jury. Hell, I've blown a day to get there, so why not be able to see the show? But my brother's a cop, and they always ask if you have family in law enforcement, and that always results in an immediate pass by the defence attorney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 lots of beer and amphetamines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lokidecat Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 I like the mighty here who want her to "just go" and do her civil duty. Well to hell with them. If she doesn't want to go. She can voice that opinion. During jury selection when she shows up, let her act malcontent and voice that she doesn't want to be there. Hell the whole, "I'm voting with everyone else because last thing I want is a hung jury." might work. You have to go, but you don't have to show up with a smile on your face.. .. or wearing deodorant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members J. Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 She should tell the truth. If she gets jury duty, then she gets jury duty. If she gets off, she gets off. My mom was called in for jury duty for a drug case. The judge was an old timer who really reamed people about doing their civic duty when they tried to weasel out of it by claiming some sort of hardship. My mom said she thought drug dealers should be executed. The judge kindly dismissed her after she disclosed that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rippin' Robin Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Tell them she can't make it due to a Klan meeting. Damnit, I was gonna post that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NeonVomit Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 Over here you get paid leave for serving jury duty. The government subsidises your employer (or you, if self employed) for the duration of the trial. And usually, they won't take it out of your annual leave. They do this to ensure that not only old people/the unemployed/housewives/the mega rich/students on break serve on juries. I have yet to serve, because you need to be over 18, and I was serving in the military for 2 years (military personnel are exempt) and since I'm still (technically) a student studying abroad (taking a year off and I start my MA in september hopefully) I've yet to be called. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members allan grossman Posted January 21, 2008 Members Share Posted January 21, 2008 With all of the priveleges that come with living in this country I don't think it's too much to ask to do this one small thing. Exactly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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