Is this weird??

[mjr]

I was telling my wife the other day that I actually kinda want to get a "Jury Duty" letter. I've been voting for years, and I've lived in the same house for nearly a decade.

I don't know that I'd necessarily want to serve on a jury, but I think it'd be interesting to go through the process...

My wife served on one shortly after we got married. It was a civil case.

I was thinking about this the other day when I was watching "Fresh Off The Boat", and Jessica got picked for Jury Duty, and she wanted to be "Jury Boss" (i.e. jury foreperson).

So, is that weird??

[Pixelated]

I'd be inclined to say "Yes, it's weird" but one of my beats on that small-town weekly was court ... so that pretty much did away with any inclination I ever had to sit through any more trials.

OTOH, congratulations on being willing to sit on a jury. A lot of people will go to amazing lengths to avoid it.

[Argabarga]

I've been picked three times, it's not what you'd think in a lot of ways, but still interesting.

[csquared]

I was commenting to The Wife about a month ago that it had been a long time since I served on a jury. Picked twice in the 21 years that I have lived in this hours.

Guess what I was doing this week?

Cases were settled out of court and we were dismissed after one day.

[raw1989]

Ive done it twice but they go off your ID now. I was picked and sat on one for 5 or so days only to be told I was the alternate the latest one I was picked for we get up to the court room and they had decided to try and work it out so I wasted all day doing nothing.

[Pixelated]

I've never even been called to turn up for possible jury selection. Wonder if the fact I've moved a LOT has anything to do with that ... nobody can find me.

My last editor at the weekly said it was unlikely that I would ever be selected to be on a jury because of my journalism background. It was probably true while i was still in the profession; not sure it's true now, since I've been out of it for a couple of decades.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I've been called for jury duty three times, I think. The first time was in Florida back in the 70s. More recently twice in Virginia. My county waits at least 5 years before called you again. It's been ove 5 years since I was last called, so it could happen again any time.

A funny story one of the judges told was about jury selection. There was a high profile case being tried. A group of attorneys came in from California. When the jury selection started they informed the judge that they should have the jury vetted and selected within two weeks. The informed them that this wasn't California and that the jury would be selected before lunch.

[MoonCat]

It's not weird. A lot of people feel that jury duty is a civic responsibility. I've been called twice but always ended up being rejected, probably because I work for the newspaper.

Who knows how long that will apply...

[Kittish]

I haven't been summoned for jury duty since I moved to this state. Boyfriend has gotten two or three summons, though, which is funny because he's automatically disqualified in this county because of his job.

[mjr]

This might be a little TMI, but IIRC, we actually conceived our son during my wife's jury duty time. She got selected to sit on a jury, and well, we were newlyweds (and we know how that goes)...

[Rosco the Iroc]

This might be a little TMI, but IIRC, we actually conceived our son during my wife's jury duty time. She got selected to sit on a jury, and well, we were newlyweds (and we know how that goes)...

I'm confused who got to bang the gavel?


Weird is I got called up 4 times in 6 years when I was active duty, I said I would come home for it if they wanted to still pay mileage but they came back with no thanks.

Been out 7 years got called once the 1st year back and didn't have to go in and haven't heard anything since.

[Crossbow]

I'm actually a bit surprised that I haven't been called in years. Last time was when I was in college, 20+ years ago.

[taxguykarl]

I was summoned for jury duty last summer and got bounced. I guess the lawyers thought I would be too much of a wild card for their taste.
Mrs. TGK was a juror for this case. she served for about three weeks before they settled the case. Mrs TGK told me that she would not have been inclined to award that amount.

[smfrazier]

we actually conceived our son during my wife's jury duty time.

They let you do that in the courtroom?

[Argabarga]

Funny thing was I always let the attorneys know I'm ex-law enforcement, and they still usually keep me, you'd think that'd be a big red flag or something, at the end of it all, I only ever served once on a full-blown start-to-finish trial with verdict and everything. All the other ones settled/plead out or I got tossed before they seated a jury they liked.

So far, my record is.

- DUI - pled out before trial
- DUI - pled out before trial
- Theft by Deception/Receiving Stolen Property - THIS was the one that went the whole way, six counts each for what amounted to $300,000 over 3 years.... convicted on 5 counts each, never looked into what they got as a sentence, but it was going to be at least a decade of state time by the minimums...
- Possession With Intent to Deliver - Tossed when I said I used to be a student auxiliary officer in college, the questions kinda hinted they were going to try a "the cops planted it" defense. Because, well, do you really think I'd be stupid enough to try and smuggle weed into the jail for my buddy? (Yes, I do)
-Reckless Discharge of a Firearm - Pled out before trial, too bad, because I really wanted to hear all the juicy details, the defendant managed to shoot himself in the process.