Son of a....ARG!!!!
 

The civic duty line....
 

Well, let me tell you how I got out of it. I went into jury duty knowing I had to say something bizarre to get out of it. I was called for jury duty for a drunk driving incident-- when I appeared in court, the defendant was there, which surprised me (having never been called for jury duty I didn't know what to expect) they asked me a few questions blah blah blah -- I told the attorney "I thought the guy was guilty", he asked me why I think that, I said "I can tell just by looking at him, he looks like a drunk, so therefore he must be guilty. I have these psychic feeeeeelings about these type of things". He said "thank you very much, we won't be needing you" and dismissed me.

I know it made me look insane, it was some of the best acting of my life, but I didn't have to spend another minute in the courtroom and I was never called for jury duty again.


You may also be able to tell them that you are out of town that week. I would call the court annon to confirm if "out of town" is an excuse.

:lol: I can see myself doing something like that.

Having worked in the clerk's office for 6 years while in high school and college, yes, I was the one who sent those jury summons...I have heard every kind of excuse to get out of it. we always took the excuses and presented them to the judge who would decide. yours seems valid. I would type up why you feel you can't serve and attach copies of receipts where your trip is paid for and be sure you say it would be a hardship and loss of money, blah blah. that's the best, most honest and legal way to do it. there are, of course, more evil :lol: ways...hehe

If you aren't afraid to perjure yourself in court, when you are questioned by the various attorneys & the judge, tell them you work as a City desk reporter for the local paper.

You'll be out of the courtroom & on your way home before lunch!

Lol
 

Good luck! :eek:

Okee
 

I think jury duty is not only a civic obligation, but a fun time! I've been called 8 times by the state and twice for federal court. I've met some great people in the jury room and heard some cool cases. Kidnapping, murder, gun running...

I understand your conflict, but I would just go and see what happens. I don't know what the system is like there, but here it's only 50/50 that you'll get called out of the jury pool for a case. Once you're in the courtroom the judge will tell you when the trial will begin and how long it will last. If that conflicts with your schedule they'll let you go back to the jury pool where the odds of being sent out to another courtroom are even less. Contrary to what you see on the tube, most major trials are 1 or 2 days, even for murder. There aren't a lot of big show trials. Drug dealing and assault trials are generally a few hours.

You should go. You'll meet people, learn stuff, have an interesting change of routine, and be a good citizen.

I got a summons, too. It's been postponed several times, I guess now I just have to do it. The problem is that I just can't afford to give up1-3 or more days pay. I guess the don't care that some people live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to live on $12 a day. The week of Aug. 29th I probably won't be able to buy groceries because I have jury duty. That just isn't right. :mad: That is how badly I cannot miss work.

did you tell them that? i know when i was called...there was a paper to fill out giving general info and if you felt you couldnt serve...i filled out my reasoning and was excused...if you cant get out of it over the phone, show up the first day with the reasons you cant continue another day...good luck.

I have told them that before when I get them postponed. They keep sedning the summons though, so I guess I will just go and tell them, hey I can't afford to do this! $12 a day is ridiculous. I guess alot of people's employers pay them when they have july duty...I'm not so lucky though. :(

I have to say that that comment really surprised me, too. I can't imagine those trial would have been "cool" or "fun." Certainly not the murder case. Maybe the poster was being sarcastic and I didn't catch that.

Yeah, I was a juror for a first degree murder trial and although it was somewhat educational, I definitely wouldn't call it "cool." :shrug:

Last time I had jury duty (which I have again on Sept 1 :mad: ) I told the judge that I couldn't do it because of a hardship (I don't have a driver's license and the courthouse is out of town. I had to take a taxi to get there). But I had a backup plan. The defendant was accused of resisting arrest (among other things, obviously) and I was going to lie and say that I could not make an unbiased decision because I believe that anybody who resists arrest does so because they are guilty.

oh god i would be awful. everything is funny to me. i would ask them "hey do we get to fry this guy if we find him guilty? cause i am for the death penalty and i figure the sooner we fry him, the less tax dollars of mine will be spent to feed him in prison" and then i would laugh.

i was called once when i was 19, but i got the letter a week before i moved to another county so i was dismissed without ever having to go down there. i was kind of bummed- i would have liked to have gone and said some stupid things. then again, maybe they knew what they were doing when the voting age was 21... keep the young and goofy kids out of jury duty.

Poorly expressed. I wasn't suggesting that someone's death was "cool" or that being responsible for someone's future was "fun." In fact, those were the least pleasant aspects of the experience. Being in the courtroom with victims' families and being a part of sending a young kid off to prison has completely put me off the dramatization and sensationalization of crime that passes for news these days. Yeah, I think most of these scumbags should fry, but when the guy (or girl) is looking you in the eye, you had best be very serious in making that decision and be sure that he (or she) is, in fact, a scumbag. But I feel that everyone should participate in the system and face up to that responsibility. And overall, the experience has always been very positive (for me, anyhow).

If your future was in the hands of a jury, would you want that jury to be comprised of 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty? (I heard that somewhere, just can't remember where.)

The "cool" and "fun" part was learning how the courts really work (or don't work, at times). Why do cases sometimes go to federal courts instead of the county/state system? What are the differences between the two? What are big-time lawyers really like when they're speechifyin'? What really happens in the jury room? Are all prosecutors just waiting for their chance to run for governor? (YES!)