Jury Duty

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babyxdorkii
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Jury Duty

Post by babyxdorkii » Sep 20th, '06, 03:17

Hi guys i have to go to my first jury duty some time in November and i have no idea what you suppose to do there...have u guys been to one (in california?) can u give me some ideas of what you do that or what to expect??

thanks

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Re: Jury Duty

Post by Gir » Sep 20th, '06, 03:41

babyxdorkii wrote:Hi guys i have to go to my first jury duty some time in November and i have no idea what you suppose to do there...have u guys been to one (in california?) can u give me some ideas of what you do that or what to expect??

thanks
Not in CA, but I've been called twice. Most of what you do is sit around waiting.

The last time I only had to go in for one day, and all the trials that day were plea bargained, so I just sat in a waiting room and read a book. The other time I sat on a DUI case, where I sat and listened to hours of boring testimony, (the defence lawyer had only 2 very weak arguments {one that he guy was driving a Fiero "the worlds smallest production car" so the police car headlights blinded the defendant, so that is why his eyes were bloodshot and he couldn't walk, and that breath analyzers are not accurate) and he just keep repeating them over and over. Then we had to go into the jury room and decide if he was guilty or innocent. So all and all rather boring and simple, unless you get on something like a murder trial or such where the trial can go on for days or even weeks.

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Post by bakan3ko » Sep 20th, '06, 03:55

GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY! :thumright:

No, I think you have to make a rational judgment based on the evidence and testimony. I say to prepare watch such movies as "Jury Duty" with Pauly Shore.

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Post by Orase_Yanagi » Sep 20th, '06, 04:05

wooow ur lucky
all you have to do is listen to the arguments brought up and the judge will guide you throught :D
have fun :D:D

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Post by scott12199 » Sep 20th, '06, 04:07

it sucks to be you... you best wish he/she wish for a quick and speedy trail

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Post by kotaeshiranaihito » Sep 20th, '06, 04:11

It's simple, all you have to do is throw the letter away and pretend like you never got it. That's what I always do. Don't worry if their letters start sounding threatening (they threaten with a fine and other stuff), as long as they can't prove that you read the letter, they can't touch you.

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Post by raider73 » Sep 20th, '06, 04:20

kotaeshiranaihito wrote:It's simple, all you have to do is throw the letter away and pretend like you never got it. That's what I always do. Don't worry if their letters start sounding threatening (they threaten with a fine and other stuff), as long as they can't prove that you read the letter, they can't touch you.
It's not that bad especially if your company pays you while you're on jury duty. I was there in Aug. and most of my fellow jurors liked it. You start 9-9:30am, lunch at 12-1:30pm sometimes 2pm and go home @ 4:45pm. You get paid $15/day plus 1way mileage. Most of the people liked it because they were able to run errands during lunch because it was so long. The people that didn't like it were the ones who had suck ass bosses who still made them do work during the time they were on jury duty.
I would say if you're company pays you, jury duty is not that bad only bad if you don't get paid by your company or you still have to do work.

You're comment is very true though, that's what my friends do. The courts have no idea if you read your mail or if the mail even reached you unless they send it via certified mail or something like that.

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Post by groink » Sep 20th, '06, 04:29

I don't know why some people are against serving for jury duty. I personally believe in the whole system. I was called for duty this past May. Once there, I was picked from the pool as part of the 12 jurors. And once we were sent away for deliberation, I was chosen to serve as foreman.

I find it an honor to serve my state/country this way. I believe in the legal system, despite its problems. It's all we really have, so we must work with it rather than fight it. Whatever you do, don't attempt to get yourself out of serving. Just deal with it, and just be thankful you live in a system that has a system like this in place.

--- groink

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Post by saigo_x » Sep 20th, '06, 04:38

If it's just CA superior court then you just show up with 200 other people and sit around until groups of 20-50 are called up to a courtroom. You may not leave the jury duty waiting room at all. If you get lucky you'll get called to a courtroom and then dismissed by the judge. If you are unlucky you'll get called up dismissed by the attorneys and then have to go back down to the waiting room til you get called up again.
Oh and as to the ignoring the jury summons, I also know alot of people that do that as well. I don't mind going at all myself, but I recall the first time I went the judge ordered warrants on the 3 or so people who didn't show up hehe.

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Post by lilswtangel » Sep 20th, '06, 05:30

Jury Duty's not that bad.

I got called for Jury Duty last summer and I all I had to do was go in to the assigned room, fill out papers, and wait until your group is called. Meanwhile, you can read your paper or do some officework during the wait. Then you go in to this small room (not the courtroom) and the two lawyers tell you about the case. You fill out some more papers and then the lawyers start asking questions around the room (about "if" and "or" situations). They're just testing to see if you're bias or anything. Then, they choose 8 people (was it 8? I don't remember) from the group to be jurors. Unluckily, I was picked....and that's probably due to my lack of involvement. Ironically, those who I thought were sure-in to be picked......were NOT picked. Afterwards, the ones that weren't picked are allowed to go home, while the ones that were picked have to stay and hear the thorough details of the case...and before the end of the day, is given a notice to go back the day after or whenever the trial starts.

Piece of advice, be adamant about your beliefs! This way, you have a higher chance of not being picked. Wells, at least in Brooklyn anyway.

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Post by nikochanr3 » Sep 20th, '06, 13:24

kotaeshiranaihito wrote:It's simple, all you have to do is throw the letter away and pretend like you never got it. That's what I always do. Don't worry if their letters start sounding threatening (they threaten with a fine and other stuff), as long as they can't prove that you read the letter, they can't touch you.
They can also withhold other city benefits, and the burden of proof is on you, not them to prove you did not get it. Will you ge tin trouble? No... Will they torture you endlessly by making you sit around? Yes...

Just go, and answer the questions in a way that gets you kicked off. Once you get called in to choose for a jury one time and get rejected, you go home. No muss, no fuss, no breaking laws.... Once every few years i take a day off from work, sit there and play gameboy, get called in, get rejected (or more likely the case is settled) and go home.

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Post by nikochanr3 » Sep 20th, '06, 13:26

lilswtangel wrote:Jury Duty's not that bad.

I got called for Jury Duty last summer and I all I had to do was go in to the assigned room, fill out papers, and wait until your group is called. Meanwhile, you can read your paper or do some officework during the wait. Then you go in to this small room (not the courtroom) and the two lawyers tell you about the case. You fill out some more papers and then the lawyers start asking questions around the room (about "if" and "or" situations). They're just testing to see if you're bias or anything. Then, they choose 8 people (was it 8? I don't remember) from the group to be jurors. Unluckily, I was picked....and that's probably due to my lack of involvement. Ironically, those who I thought were sure-in to be picked......were NOT picked. Afterwards, the ones that weren't picked are allowed to go home, while the ones that were picked have to stay and hear the thorough details of the case...and before the end of the day, is given a notice to go back the day after or whenever the trial starts.

Piece of advice, be adamant about your beliefs! This way, you have a higher chance of not being picked. Wells, at least in Brooklyn anyway.
At lunch time if you're in brooklyn you can use the break to take the R quick over to chinatown and grab lunch. :cheers: At least thats what i did. Day off, Noodles, studied my japanese. Not bad...BUT i didnt get picked.

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Post by GhstDreamer » Sep 20th, '06, 22:33

You can pretend you don't know English...lol...that's what my parents used to do and since it's just a big hassle to get a Cantonese language interpreter where we live, they're usually turned away anyways.

I always wanted to be part of a jury but I have never received a letter. Last year, my brother-in-law was picked to be one of the jurors for a big murder case in our city. He loved the time he spent there (especially since his company paid him)...the case took a long time...

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Post by jholic » Sep 21st, '06, 01:06

never been picked for jury duty myself. the one time i got close, they sent me a short questionnaire about the details of the case. unfortunately, it was one of those high-profile ones that was all over tv. (for hawaii residents like groink, it was about tyke the elephant rampaging through the streets.)

i guess i answered that questionnaire a little too well... :rofl:

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Post by Psygnius » Sep 21st, '06, 02:09

It's scary that most court verdicts are determined by 12 people who aren't even smart enough to get out of jury duty.

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Post by lilswtangel » Sep 21st, '06, 02:19

Psygnius wrote:It's scary that most court verdicts are determined by 12 people who aren't even smart enough to get out of jury duty.
gee thanks. but lols, that was a good one. Actually, my friends advised me to say something along the lines of "I'm racist" but the truth is, I'm not. But I should have made some bogus statements instead of being so inactive.

If only I could use the "Me no speak En-gl-ish" exuse, hmms...would the "born in America but homeschooled in Chinese" excuse work? :P

and jholic: that's something. elephants rampaging through the streets?? why was there an elephant on the streets in the first place?

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Post by GhstDreamer » Sep 21st, '06, 03:03

Psygnius wrote:It's scary that most court verdicts are determined by 12 people who aren't even smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Not necessarily...my brother-in-law loved serving jury duty. He really wanted to be one of the jurors. He even became friends with most of the jurors and even during the murder trial, they had a blast. They were partying. He had a lot of fun even though it really wasn't the most appropriate time to have fun. :lol

lilswtangel: My parents do the really loud voice - "WHAT?" and "HUH?" and then, they shake their heads and look blank. This has gotten them out of many situations - my dad got out of being sued one time for putting on this act.

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Post by Psygnius » Sep 21st, '06, 03:12

Not necessarily...my brother-in-law loved serving jury duty. He really wanted to be one of the jurors. He even became friends with most of the jurors and even during the murder trial, they had a blast. They were partying. He had a lot of fun even though it really wasn't the most appropriate time to have fun. Laugh
My comment was a joke, not to be taken seriously. Heh... but I guess that's why I said "most court verdicts", just to cover my butt from the people that actually TRY to join the jury.

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Post by lilswtangel » Sep 21st, '06, 03:17

GhstDreamer wrote: lilswtangel: My parents do the really loud voice - "WHAT?" and "HUH?" and then, they shake their heads and look blank. This has gotten them out of many situations - my dad got out of being sued one time for putting on this act.
:lol :lol :lol :lol sounds like something my parents would do, too. Too bad that doesn't come in handy when given a ticket by a police officer. :whistling:

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Post by GhstDreamer » Sep 21st, '06, 03:18

Psygnius: I knew you weren't serious - though in a way, I've always been kind of scared of jurors making a verdict as to whether the accused is guilty or not. I always think are they intelligent enough to make that decision? :blink

My brother-in-law certainly is very smart but he told us after the trial was over (they found the guy guilty), he said he purposely held up the decision and played devil's advocate just for the hell of it. He was just having too much fun which is totally wrong :roll

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Post by lilswtangel » Sep 21st, '06, 03:27

GhstDreamer wrote:Psygnius: I knew you weren't serious - though in a way, I've always been kind of scared of jurors making a verdict as to whether the accused is guilty or not. I always think are they intelligent enough to make that decision? :blink

My brother-in-law certainly is very smart but he told us after the trial was over (they found the guy guilty), he said he purposely held up the decision and played devil's advocate just for the hell of it. He was just having too much fun which is totally wrong :roll
:crazy: that is just sooo wrong! The poor jurors.....I would have gone ballistic if I had been a juror for that trial. And here I thought jurors were stuck-in-the-muds who played by the book. Murder trial, eh? I was stuck with a stupid civil court trial about some dumb car accident vs. biker which took place a few years back. All I can say about it was that it was a really boring case that ended up being settled. but hey, at least I earned that $80 check($40 each day for the 2 days I served) by doing nothing but listen and wait. :P

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Post by pokute » Sep 21st, '06, 03:36

The idea of deciding somebody else's fate based on the lies of witnesses, the lies of the police, and the lies of lawyers appals me. Some people here might remember the story I told about my friend Lenny, who was arrested, beaten, jailed, and murdered by the guards in prison... The criminal justice system in California is a travesty. I am up for Jury duty in one week. I am going to really enjoy my chance to tell anybody and everybody how they killed my friend with their justice. I expect I will be bounced outta there in 15 minutes.

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Post by lilswtangel » Sep 21st, '06, 03:49

pokute wrote:The idea of deciding somebody else's fate based on the lies of witnesses, the lies of the police, and the lies of lawyers appals me. Some people here might remember the story I told about my friend Lenny, who was arrested, beaten, jailed, and murdered by the guards in prison... The criminal justice system in California is a travesty. I am up for Jury duty in one week. I am going to really enjoy my chance to tell anybody and everybody how they killed my friend with their justice. I expect I will be bounced outta there in 15 minutes.
I'm sorry to hear about your friend, pokute. That's the first I've heard about it.......and my condolences to you, his family, and friends. Not 15 minutes - probably a bit longer, until the "group interview" is over......I'd say give or take half an hour. But yes, you'll be off the hook if you do tell your story. Let us know how it goes~ I'll be waiting for an update. :P

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Post by pokute » Sep 21st, '06, 15:26

Group interview? Wazzat?

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Post by kotaeshiranaihito » Sep 21st, '06, 15:36

lilswtangel wrote:
Psygnius wrote:It's scary that most court verdicts are determined by 12 people who aren't even smart enough to get out of jury duty.
gee thanks. but lols, that was a good one. Actually, my friends advised me to say something along the lines of "I'm racist" but the truth is, I'm not. But I should have made some bogus statements instead of being so inactive.

If only I could use the "Me no speak En-gl-ish" exuse, hmms...would the "born in America but homeschooled in Chinese" excuse work? :P

and jholic: that's something. elephants rampaging through the streets?? why was there an elephant on the streets in the first place?
next time when you come into the courtroom just pretend you have this tick, like the gov't did some kind of experiment on you and the second a lawyer or judge says even a word to you, just shout out "GUILTY". And then pretend like you didn't mean it.

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Post by anglvue » Sep 21st, '06, 20:15

lilswtangel wrote: If only I could use the "Me no speak En-gl-ish" exuse, hmms...would the "born in America but homeschooled in Chinese" excuse work? :P
hahaha...someone i know was thinking about doing that...

the best thing to do about jury duty is bring a book or something to read while you wait, and that is exactly what you'll do, wait. if you forget to bring your jury duty slip, don't worry. they usually have some handouts for you. it takes a while but if you're not selected for jury duty you're done for the rest of the year.

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Post by Gir » Sep 21st, '06, 23:31

kotaeshiranaihito wrote: next time when you come into the courtroom just pretend you have this tick, like the gov't did some kind of experiment on you and the second a lawyer or judge says even a word to you, just shout out "GUILTY". And then pretend like you didn't mean it.
Actually I had a State Trooper buddy who basically told me that, he said if you wanted to get out of jury duty just say something along the line o f" the defendant's guilty or he wouldn't be on tria"l, and they dismiss you real quick.

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Post by aNToK » Sep 22nd, '06, 00:02

I get a notice every other year. Have yet to be called, so it's been just two phone calls the night before and a little recording telling me my group wasn't picked. 23 months of no notices and counting....

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Post by GhstDreamer » Sep 22nd, '06, 00:26

lilswtangel wrote:
:crazy: that is just sooo wrong! The poor jurors.....I would have gone ballistic if I had been a juror for that trial. And here I thought jurors were stuck-in-the-muds who played by the book. Murder trial, eh? I was stuck with a stupid civil court trial about some dumb car accident vs. biker which took place a few years back. All I can say about it was that it was a really boring case that ended up being settled. but hey, at least I earned that $80 check($40 each day for the 2 days I served) by doing nothing but listen and wait. :P
This guy and this girl murdered this taxicab driver - they slit his throat with a knife...The guy had a history of behaviour difficulties with schools, authority, etc. and the sad thing was his sister who was involved with the murder was Mild Intellectually Disabled...the trial was quite big in my town since this kind of stuff doesn't happen too often. I know it sounds morbid but I would love to be part of a jury duty for a murder trial too...

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