Jury Duty Summons

[Shades Coolray]

Okay, before you guys freak out, the axis of evil (RIAA, MPAA, M$) didn't catch me and I'm not going to prison (yet).

With that said: I got a summons to be on jury duty. Now, I'm a college student and I work part-time, so can I get out of it? Input from 'getting out of jury duty' experts will be much appreciated. Also, this is for the state of California.

[Fister]

hey, its your constitutional duty to go to jury duty, dont fink out on it... ha ha, just kidding

tell the judge that you cant because you are in school and that you will fail your classes etc etc and that unless the state of cali wants to pay for your school that you flunk and also the loss of future earnings of .5 year because you will have ,5 of a year less before you retire then you cant do it


hey, you might be a kobe juror, wait no thats in Co...

[Carrie]

Let me get this straight, you have a legit reason to miss school, a reason to miss work, Neither of which can legaly hold it against you, and you are trying to get out of it? are you crazy?

It has been 10 yrs or better since I have had to do jury duty, but if I remember right, my job not only had to let me go, they also had to pay me my regular wages for being gone. thaings may be different from state to state and laws change all the time. Something to check into:)

[Roadblock]

I was called to serve on Federal District Court jury duty, then right after that, I was called for local Circuit Court jury duty. My boss nearly freaked, but he couldn't do a thing. I told the judge of my predicament, and he said "Just have him call me, I'll explain it to him" with a wink.

It's not a bad gig at all. The only bad time comes if you end up in a locked jury, those are tough. Most judges don't buy phoney excuses, they are pretty bright despite popular opinion. (lol) I had one that got to know me by name becasue once we had lunch in the same restaurant. I couldn't have got out if I tried after that. One thing though, most judges go out of their way to make all jurors as comfortable as possible. They treat the lawyers like dirt sometimes, and that is a lot of fun to watch. :D

If you don't serve this time, they will get you next time. Best to go ahead and get it done. Like I said, it isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. ;)

[Shades Coolray]

Originally posted by feenies-wife
Let me get this straight, you have a legit reason to miss school, a reason to miss work, Neither of which can legaly hold it against you, and you are trying to get out of it? are you crazy?

I'm a college student working part-time and you have to actually ask if I'm crazy? Don't you know the combination of those two things inherently make people crazy? Anyway, I'm also a huge nerd that can't stand not making straight A's, so missing school is bad for me. I'm still going to try to get out of it, so I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Seriously though, I doubt I will get out of it because California is evil! (anyone that lives or has lived here will know what I mean.)

[Thedirtysailor]

:confused:
I was chosen for jury duty twice , The first time my call was cancelled for some unknown reason, the second I was chosen even though I was quite vocal while being questioned by the lawyers during selection about my low opinions of people that prey on others, and even sneering at the defense lawyer when he was asking what I considered to be stupid questions. I think they will choose you not only for the answers you give during direct questioning about your opinions on certain issues, but also your background, certain interests you may have, and I'm quite certain your ethnicity may even play a part in certain selections( although any good lawyer would vehemently deny this). I think if you told the judge prior to selection that you believe jury duty would adversely affect your marks in school that he would let you pass, but I think you just go back in the barrel for another selection sometime down the road. In case anyones interested the case I was chosen for was an aggravared burglary and assault, and unlawful flight and after hours of selection and waiting for the case to begin the accused decided to plead guilty to a lesser charge after he realized that almost his entire crime was preserved in great detail on videotape.




"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right." - Henry Ford

[Roadblock]

I actually was picked for and sat as a juror on 4 trials, 3 federal and 1 local.

The first was an open and shut case about a man growing Marijuana. He plead guilty on that count, but they found guns in his house, which is is a felony if found to be in relation to the drugs. It was obvious to all of us that the man had guns all his life, not related to the MJ. We found him not guilty after about 1 hour.

The second one, was invloving a man with bad business practices. After hearing testimony for a week, I was totally suprised to find that all but myself and 1 other juror thought he was guilty. Well, I thought he may have been guilty, but they proved nothing in the trial. His lawyer rested when it came for their turn. In criminal cases you need, as they say, to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and to a moral certainty. We delibereated for over 3 days. (the deliberation extended over Thanksgiving holiday, but they dismissed us for that) We really thought we would have a hung jury for a while, as none of us would budge. We finally won them over, and found him not guilty.

The third was another open and shut case where a guy's own first cousin testified against him and another guy in a drug trial, for gorwing and selling MJ again. (KY grows great pot I hear. :rolleyes: Right before the case was to come to us, they plea bargained. They were so guilty is was funny. The infomant had worn a bug, and there was one part where he went outside to take a leak and you could hear it! (lol) The judge couldn't even keep a straight face. That trial was actually enjoyable at times.

The last one was an open and shut major drug case about a local guy in our county. We found him gulity on all counts, on our first vote.

[Carrie]

Wow now thats interesting RB!!

The case I had to sit in for was not as exciting!! It was all over this elderly gentalmen who had gotten in an accident from running a red light. He insisted on being his own lawyer and proceded to convence us why he WAS GUILTY. It was quite sad really:(

[LPDad]

Shades. I am in the same boat as you...I received a jury-duty summons also. (CA)
In my case they have always excused me, for reasons that are not relevent here.

In your case...you need to state that it would be a severe financial hardship. 1. you are your sole source of income and your job does not pay you for jury duty and 2. you cannot miss school.
you need to submit supporting evidence of the above 2 statements.

The worst case is that they will reschedule you for a time when your school is on vacation.

Usually they will just excuse you and catch you later.

[FrYGuY]

You do realize that something like 4 out of 5 people who get summons don't even show up to ask to be excused, right?

I mean, I know you would NEVER simply skip out, but those 80% of people can't be prosecuted in any way, as the summons are sent via unregistered mail, so there is no way to prove they actually recieved it.

Food for thought.

[Princess623]

Hmm...I go to school every night of the week so I wouldn't get out of any classes, but if my employer has to PAY me for time I'm not there...BRING ON THE JURY DUTY! Don't get me wrong, I just LOVE my job *drip*sarcasm*drip*, but time off would be nice. I also do school full time ( 14 credit hours ) and I work 30+ hours a week. I'm a geek also, I like A's but I can catch up and the time away from everything would do me good. Do what you think is best though.

Princess

[Carrie]

That may have just been where I worked at the time. It may have not been a law, But I do know that by law they cant write you up or fire you for missing work for jury duty:)

[Shades Coolray]

FrYGuY, you're awesome dude, but like I said California is the most evil state in America, so trust me, they would certainly send me a large fine if I just skipped out.

LPDad, it would be easy for me to delay my summons to jury duty except the maximum delay is 6 months, which would be April 2004 around finals time, and I will be going to summer school too, so I'm not sure what to tell them about that.

[rastagard]

Originally posted by LPDad
Shades. I am in the same boat as you...I received a jury-duty summons also. (CA)
In my case they have always excused me, for reasons that are not relevent here.




Me pictures LP showing up fer jury duty in a pink tutu..........

[LPDad]

Originally posted by rastagard
Me pictures LP showing up fer jury duty in a pink tutu..........

What's wrong with my Tutu???

[Shades Coolray]

Just to let you guys know, I got out of my jury duty. All I had to do was use the "I'm a poor, broke, starving, part-time working, Toyota driving college student and can't do it." excuse, so that was cool. Now if I can just survive school and work I will be doing good.

[Thedirtysailor]

:clap:
:thumbsup:

"BONUS"

:coolio:

"It's always too early to quit." -Norman Vincent Peale

[rainbowdemon]

I served on a jury once. Granted, it was inconvienient. But it was interesting at the same time.

[drwtwn312]

Yeah i would think it would be halfway interesting to be in jury duty but also it would kind of suck because of all the stuff you would have to miss. I guess jsut hope for a fast try.

Good job btw shades_coolray

[taddzilla]

I've served on both county and federal juries. It is cool, but a pain in the arse at the same time.

Shades, now you'll have more time to spead in the pasture.


:dance:

[fluffyfluff1]

I would love to serve on a jury. Though never chosen...might have to do with I believe in capital punishment.

[rainbowdemon]

Originally posted by fluffyfluff1
I would love to serve on a jury. Though never chosen...might have to do with I believe in capital punishment.
The jury I served on was just a civil case. A lawsuit involving a car accident. I was not asked about my opinion on capital punishment. But I am inclined to be in favor of it in certain situations.

[Nilly_Chipples]

Originally posted by fluffyfluff1
I would love to serve on a jury. Though never chosen...might have to do with I believe in capital punishment.



Gotta LOVE Texas,....... I am with fluff here , capital punishment is a must have.

[Roadblock]

Capitol and Corporal punishment. If a few behinds were busted earlier on, it might save the need for Capitol punishment later, but that is just me. ;)

[rastagard]

I gotta say that although I am generally in favor of capital punishment, I think it would be an enormously difficult and terrible thing to have to personallyimpose on someone.


I hope I never have to face that responsibility.............

[philgorp]

i drive on sw florida roads all day and imposing capital punishment would be no problem,, of course the last couple of times i went in for jury duty i asked them "why are we having a trial when the guy plead guilty????"
and they let me go

[fluffyfluff1]

The US's prison system is deplorable. Get sentenced to death... must file an automatic appeal even if you confessed and gave every detail of said crime and ask for death penalty. What a waste of our courts' time and money. Then the prisoner sits on death row for 10-15 years, eating up yet more of our tax dollars.
Sent to prison... get 3 squares, exercise equipment, internet access, education, health & dental care, even plastic surgery my god!what else am I missing?
What pisses me off to no end.....early release programs. Grrrr. Hm you behaved well for 2 years of a lenient 20 year sentence, we are gonna let you out even though you molested 17 children.

Lethal Injection is too kind, I say get a rope and bucket.
Or let the families at em..........good ole vigilanty justice.

[rastagard]

Originally posted by fluffyfluff1
The US's prison system is deplorable. Get sentenced to death... must file an automatic appeal even if you confessed and gave every detail of said crime and ask for death penalty. What a waste of our courts' time and money. Then the prisoner sits on death row for 10-15 years, eating up yet more of our tax dollars.
Sent to prison... get 3 squares, exercise equipment, internet access, education, health & dental care, even plastic surgery my god!what else am I missing?
What pisses me off to no end.....early release programs. Grrrr. Hm you behaved well for 2 years of a lenient 20 year sentence, we are gonna let you out even though you molested 17 children.

Lethal Injection is too kind, I say get a rope and bucket.
Or let the families at em..........good ole vigilanty justice.


Thats our sweet, demure little fluffster.........LOL


a bucket enna rope.........lmao

[The Boinker]

watch the green mile.