Jury Summons

I am furious. I have been summoned for jury duty, my employer wont pay for this, which is bad enough. The court does not care any more regarding this. On top of that they are sending me 16 miles away to Beverly Hills. For those of you who dont live in LA, this means 45 minuted to an hour on a good day on the freeway, each way. I told them my car is broken, they told me to take the bus. Ayyyyy, I am thinking of different ways to commit suicide, just to make a point. Any suggestions how to kill myself. Needs to be painless....Ayyy

Can't you get out of it? Don't they have to screen you first? A few lines like 'fry him!' or 'I don't know, I just think he's guilty, I can tell by looking at him' or 'I'm a stalker' should work.

I dont know, I guess I could. You know what gets me is the fact that people in BH dont have to go, maybe they have a lot of money and they get out of it. And I have to go instead of them. By the way the courthouse in this area is 10 min away if not less.

You could just throw the summons away and not show up or call. Since they just send it by regular mail they have no proof that you received it. They would have to send the letter by Return Receipt or Registered Mail to have proof of delivery. A close friend of mine received this information from a cop he knew.

It sounds like you're stuck now because you spoke to the court already.

The simplest way to get off jury duty is just to be honest during voir dire (when the lawyers question the jurors about various things).

Just be honest. For example, during my last jury duty, a lawyer asked all of us: "any one have a problem with a chiropractor giving expert medical testimony?

I raised my hand. Lawyer huffily demanded to know why I didn't think a chiro. was a medical expert. "Because he didn't go to medical school," I said.

Needless to say, I wasn't called.

Ayyy dont tell me there was a way and I did not know it. I am afraid of deportation.

I am not paying a frickin small due, it is costing me 100's a day. and hours of anguish on the frickin fwy. Is this not soppose to be a positive experience?

OK I am trying to calm down, you are right this is my duty and I will do it and hope for the best.

and furthermore maybe this is not a good day to die.(Little big man).

Just tell them.."they're all guilty of something, they wouldn't be here otherwise"...works every time!!!

Hiltiki-be grateful you live in a society that gives us our judicial system.When I lived in SoCal,I had jury duty,and had to take the bus to Compton from Manhattan Beach six days straight.Remember,this too,shall pass.

On 2004-07-19 07:17, docwoods wrote:
Hiltiki-be grateful you live in a society that gives us our judicial system.When I lived in SoCal,I had jury duty,and had to take the bus to Compton from Manhattan Beach six days straight.Remember,this too,shall pass.

I served jury duty back before the "one day, one trial" thing went into effect and had to spend EVERY DAY of my winter break, including BOTH Christmas Eve AND New Years Eve, waiting to get on a trial. I never did, simply because I was unable to stay for the duration of any trial they 'paneled' me for. However, speaking from experience, the Compton courthouse is by far the best courthouse in the South Bay! The neighborhood surrounding it is absolutely fine, the "waiting" rooms are large and clean, with plush, comfortable couches and many T.V.s and shelves of reading material to help bide your time. But best of all, the have a gourmet cafeteria with excellent food and great views of the city (I actually had poached salmon when I was there!) To contrast, the courthouse in Torrance sucks! Their waiting room is simply a bunch of metal folding chairs and flickering flourescent lights - and that's about it! If I ever get summoned again (now that my school disctrict has opted to pay us for jury service), I'd try to get back into the Compton courthouse in a flash!

You do know that you can ask to be excused if your employer doesn't pay you for Jury Duty? You have to ask HR for a note stating that they don't pay for jury duty, you fill out the Financial Hardship portion of why you should be excused on the back of your summons & mail it to the court.

On 2004-07-19 08:51, Johnny Dollar wrote:

?????????????

When is the date of summons? The earlier you send in a letter requesting a postponement the better - you can raise several hardship issues regarding the commute (say you don't have a car); the employment problems (say you could be fired; no chance to be away), etc.

I got out of several jury duty summons during law school, when I really couldn't spare the time. The trick is to send in your letter as early as possible; they release people but if you wait too long they have no wiggle room to release anybody more and say "so sorry - show up."

then, there is a good possibility the trial will be postponed or settled the day before; but you won't know until then.

last, depending on whether its a criminal trial or civil, the line "I've dated a cop/Im an attorney/I've dated an attorney/I've worked for an attorney/My friends are attornies/I hate cops/I hate attorneys/I hate the judicial system because I was falsely accused the drugs were not mine man" etc etc. will enable you to be booted off during voir dire - you'll be free by lunchtime.
All of the above disqualifiers apply to me except for one.

Hope this helps!

JH, Esq.
Barbarian at Law

From what I understand financial hardship is no longer considered for grounds of dismissal. Or, at the very least, it is very difficult to get. You have to have like 15 dependants, make a buck fifty an hour, beg for food on a daily basis, etc. etc. Good luck with it. I hope you manage on getting out of it somehow.

What bothers me a little is that the phrase, "Too stupid to get out of jury duty" is becoming rather common and I'm in the same boat (Not becomming rather common, but not being able to avoid jury duty. I used to get out because I'm a teacher or by saying I'm a student when I took a class or two. I postponed my last one because I couldn't get out of it (they've changed the rules) and then like a dope forgot to call in on the last or second to last day so it didn't count. They gave me a new date and I've postponed that till November. If I blow it this time I think I have to go to jail or something. I guess I'm even stupider than the other folks.

I suppose it's better to have rational more or less well adjusted people on a jurty rather than the hard-core unemployable, but it still stinks if your employer doesn't pay for it. Then, like me you have to schedule it during a vacation...which means it's no longer a vacation...and as mentioned above, you're trapped at home having to call each night to find out your fate. It bites ass.

I just got through serving a one day jury duty in Long Beach - the waiting room sucked, but there was a beautiful big balcony overlooking downtown long beach and the harbor (even the Queen Mary!). I'm all about balconies.

I was told by a friend (who actually went through this process) that after throwing away summons for years, he was assigned a court date to show up and give reasons as to why he NEVER RESPONDED to the summons. Basically, the judge said he had to pay a fine, or serve jury service the following week. He served jury.
That got me thinking, because I've been tossing these things in the trash for years, then making excuses to postpone it. I just went, brought a book, waited around all day, never got interviewed and I was released at the end of the day. And if I do ever get interviewed again for a trial - make up some cocameme excuse so you can go home.

"Hey, at least I'm housebroken."

[ Edited by: Polynesiac on 2004-07-20 21:03 ]

the way I've gotten out of jury doody is this:

Say it's against my religous beliefs (it's not)

I believe in the death penalty (i'm indifferent on the subject)

I'm racist (i'm not)

or wink at the lawyer...alot

Then I have the rest of the day to tiki hunt.

JURY SUMMONS PART II. THE SAGA CONTINUES...................... Well I did go early in the morning.I made sure I wore my tiki neckless, and my cute Hawaiian dress. Afterall there was a dress code. It took me exactly one hour and twenty two minutes. It was 16 miles away. No there are no excuses, at least not in LA. Unless you are retarded, cant speak English, or you are rich, you are not getting out. After, 6 hours, I was jurer # 13. However, I told the judge and the lawers exactly how I feel, which they called agressive behavior, they told me to leave.YEAHHHHHHH. You know what the best part was. I got to go to The Galley, on Main Street in Santa Monica. Nice and dark and tropical. After two bad mai tai life was wonderful again. And to think I was going to commit suecide. Maybe next time.

I've been summoned 3 times in 8 years.
First time I was just starting back in college after 9 years off and wouldn't you know I get selected. The trial turns out to be for a double homicide. I was really nervous but I got through it and it was a real eye opener for me to experience the real thing. It is nothing like you see on tv.
Second time I get selected AGAIN. This time it's a 9 day ordeal with 2 business partners suing each other after a company break up.
Third time I finally got lucky and wasn't even put on a panel. Got to leave about 2pm and fortunately my company pays us whenever we can prove we were really serving on jury duty. I would sum it up by saying it was not fun but I think is something we all should be willing to do occasionally as a citizen.
If I was ever on trial trying to prove I wasn't guilty of a charge, I would want a capable bunch of folks in that jury box to hear the facts.

I might have complined to you all, but I called and I went. Lets not forget that.

[ Edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:07 ]

i have heard of the financial hardship thing too... i think you should have no problem getting out of it from that angle.

and unless they took your name and # down when you called them about getting out of - just go ahead and forget about it - like the jab said, they don't send it registered mail. they absolutely can't prove you ever got the notice. i know numerous people who have excaped jury duty this way with no ramifications.

Your employer has to pay you for jury duty up to 5 days. My wife just went through this situation. The clerck of courts explained the law and my wife's employers were forced to pay her for the days she was in jury duty.

When I was a kid (age

You should meet Mr. Doodie...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mrdoodiehallofame/
although, I'm partial to Dookie myself...

[ Edited by: sweetpea on 2004-07-21 09:42 ]

And how many remember Mr. Doody from the Doody Home Centers?

Or how 'bout Alison Doody, the blonde actress who starred opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga on 2004-07-21 12:58 ]

Both times I've done jury duty, I've seen a number of people get out of it by claiming to be Jehovahs Witness. Something to do with them needing more than two witnesses to the crime or some such hooey.

I've been empaneled on one jury for a robbery/murder/attempted robbery/ car jacking/ case.

And was very close to being put on a rape case.

TG

Unga Now Jehovah!

On 2004-07-22 16:44, Unga Bunga wrote:
Unga Now Jehovah!

not a great choice, Unga ~ theres some pesky rule about not drinking alcohol to excess.

but i suppose, it depends who's defining excess :drink:

elicia

"You know what the best part was. I got to go to The Galley, on Main Street in Santa Monica. Nice and dark and tropical. After two bad mai tai life was wonderful again."

Did your employer pay you for getting drunk and driving. Maybe you could have been pulled over and arrested and then you could have a bunch of winey ass complainers trying to get off your jury. Can't wait for that thread.
How do I get out of this FIVE-O-TWO?

Baxdog, got to live.