TonyVanDam said:

uh oh....

heartbeatocean said:

I've only got summoned once. I had school and asked my mom if she could send it back because I had exams that week

meow85 said:

I was chosen for a shooting case the week before school was to start in August. I still needed to set up my classroom, and I missed the beginning of Orientation meetings. And for what?
I was picked as an alternate and had to sit in a room with a crazy lady who was freaking out because she had an oral surgery appt. that she missed. She kept pacing and complaining for 3 days!

But maybe you will get something that will make your civic duty worthwhile.

Fauxie said:

It's cuz this is one of them few pics where she didn't manage to get her boobs in the pic.

HamsterHuey said:

I only just realized how much I missed this...

TonyVanDam said:

LOL.....I tried to look extremely unkempt the day of the jury selection. They called me anyway. I just knew my plan was gonna work too. I'm glad the case only lasted 2 days. It took no time to reach a decision. It was a straight forward and boring case, which is probably why it only took 2 days. A murder case would've been more interesting, but it would've taken forever.

squirrelgrease said:

I was a juror on a high profile trial for the mayor of Washington, DC back in 1991. We were sequestered for 9 weeks! The nice thing about it was that the government really tried to make us very comfortable during that time. They put us up in a hotel where each room had a steam bath/sauna/Jacuzzi; we had three hot squares a day plus snacks and cocktails; every weekend they would take us on shopping sprees or you could go home for "conjugal visits" with your spouse; however, a marshal had to escort you wherever you went. I had a cat at the time, which would bite the tip of his tail completely off. I had to take him to the vet and the marshal drove us, and had to stand there with me during the entire exam and treatment.

The bad thing about it was dealing with some folk who were just downright annoying. But it did give good insight into how the judicial system worked and how the nation perceived our verdicts.

But to answer your question about not showing up, the judge will issue a warrant for your arrest. I talked to one juror before the trial started and he said he ignored the notice to appear because he was a teacher at an upscale private boys school in the district and thought it wasn't that important for him to appear. The marshal went to his school and took him right out of class! Funny thing about it, we elected him foreman!

I thought I would not be picked because I usually kept to myself and was not very gregarious. Everyday at the "holding room" where prospective jurors would sit before being called for the voire dire, I would go to a quiet area and read. When I was called before the judge for my voire dire, he asked me if there was any reason why I would not want to serve. I said, "Your Honor, I don't mean to be facetious, but I have two cats at home, and I'm their only care giver." He said, "Oh, so you're afraid that they'd eat each other?"
Didn't work. Next thing I know, I'm sitting in the jury box with 14 other folks and the judge said, "Gentlemen, we have a jury!" One young guy behind me, the youngest of all the jurors, shouted, "OH SHIT!"
[Edited 2/9/10 7:29am]

TonyVanDam said:

That is an option but I think there is a process or two before they get to that point. They do not send out the noticies via certified mail so they have no way of proving that you received the notice or not.

Fauxie said:

it's the xbox controller hanging from her ear...

thejason said:

I knew you couldn't keep that to yourself.

JustErin said:

some things are worth sharing...

meow85 said:

I was on a jury once, and I must say I rather enjoyed the opportunity. I was the foreperson for a civil case. It was pretty interesting. We had lots of recesses and weren’t allowed to talk about the case with each other or anyone, so when they’d send us to the jury room we’d eat salt water taffy and one of the guys was teaching us how to salsa dance. The company I work for paid me for my time and we’d often get 2 hour lunch breaks, so I’d go shopping and go for long walks outside.

I'm not due for jury duty for another 4 years or so (it's a 6 year cycle here, used to be four). I've never served, but I'd like to. My partner (ex) did once. If you don't show up there, they'll immediately start hounding you via automated phone calls to reschedule, and send you bitchy letters. They'll also eventually suspend your driver's license. They ain't playin'. I don't see why the idea of jury duty is such a bad thing. How many of us yell at the television during something fake like Law & Order, or whatever, and think we have it figured out. Why not put that to good use? You never know what kind of case you could end up on. Maybe next time around, I'll make the jury.

squirrelgrease said:

That's how they do it.

JustErin said:

How did you get out of paying a fine OR serving jail time for missing jury duty?

TonyVanDam said:

I don't know about other areas but in the SF Bay Area I know several people who
missed when called for jury duty.

None of them were ever contacted or fined or served a warrant. Maybe the courts are so busy here they do not want to add to their work load and probably get enough jurors even without the ones who do not show up....just a guess.

You can get off with the first notice because you can simply say you never received it. Again, they do not send out the first notification via certified mail so they cannot prove you ever received it.

Mail service currently is very uneven and mail gets miss-delivered all the time. And often the recipient of mail delivered in error don't make the effort to get it to the right person and just throw it away.
















.
[Edited 2/9/10 9:13am]

TonyVanDam said:

I dunno... I was dead. They killed me, remember?

I'm sorry, I really have no info to share. I probably should have just stayed out of this thread.

JustErin said:

TonyVanDam said:

Don't miss jury duty.

I really don't understand why so many people want to get our of doing jury duty.

I was called for jury duty about 2 years ago and it was such a learning experience. Sure, it was tough and it definitely plays with your emotions, but it was a fantastic experience. I was on a case that involved a 27 year old woman. The charges were guns and heroin among other things. Unfortunately, she was protecting her piece of shit boyfriend and in the end she went to jail for it. He was already in jail for numerous offences and had also been deported twice before. It was very difficult and emotional, but I'm very glad I had the opportunity.

I did jury duty about 5 years ago.
Some guy was up for serious assault with a machete and we put the mother fucker dowwwwwn.
I actually saw the guy we sent to prison at the end of last year in a pub in Troon but he didn't recognise me thank feck.

I would like to get a nice long jury assignment. My job still pays me if I have jury duty and I can keep the money paid and it would save me about 2 hours drive a day. Not that I want such a crime to happen, but I would not mind being on one for a year or so.

chocolate1 said:

I get a kick out of crazy people like, so I'm sure I'd have fun if that's what I ended up encountering.

meow85 said:

She drove me NUTS!
I spent two whole days with this fool while everyone else deliberated!

CarrieMpls said:

That sounds pretty fun. Better than some actual vacations I've taken, even.

chocolate1 said:

That's when you find a way to take advantage of the situation and have fun with her.

Empress said:

Because it fucking sucks. I live in the Bronx, and it's a pain in the ass getting to the court house. Plus I hate missing work - shit costs me money.

Last time, I was going to serve on a jury until I told the lawyers mfers who file frivilous lawsuits should get hard time. Man, those sharks got me out of there so fast...

heartbeatocean said:

most of the time nothing happens, though, because I have been called time after time and not been selected to come in. So if I'd ignored it, nothing would have happened. But you take a risk.

Still we move, mail gets lost, whatever, I doubt you'd do jail time.

JustErin said:

heartbeatocean said:

But you had to actually go in? Don't you just call the # and they say "you are not needed, thank you." That's what's happened to me year after year.