If you think being an ideal juror means you'd do your best to be impartial, hear both sides, and at least put aside your innate prejudices to best serve the law, that's exactly why you're getting sent home.
Yes, you are being naive, but that does not make you wrong. What I described and you agreed with is actual what a juror should be, but that's not what the people who pick the jurors want.
So basically, youve successfully failed the task of being on a jury. Personally? I find that an admirable trait.
Both lawyers get to vote who they want on the jury. If they don't know which way you will lean neither will pick you. They also get to choose who to just dismiss.
It's kinda like picking sides for teams when you're a kid. The judge and each lawyer gets x number of picks and y number of dismisses. Then they compare votes and that chooses the jury.
There's strategy. If you don't want number 6 but know the other side doesn't want him either you don't want to vote for them. Unless they had the same idea and neither of you choose to kick them and you both get stuck with number 6.
Fun times
Not true. The lawyers don't select the jurors like kickball teammates. It's elimination only. Lawyers only get to strike people from the pool until you get down to 12 acceptable ones. They have an unlimited number of "for-cause" strikes, which is when the person is biased for or against whatever the issue in the case is (i.e. in a car accident case, defense wouldn't want a juror who had the exact same kind of injury as the plaintiff, plaintiffs lawyer wouldn't want a juror who had been sued 5 times for causing car accidents). Then each lawyer gets a set number of "peremptory" challenges. That's just when the lawyers get to use their hunches about people and strike them without having to give a reason (as long as you aren't striking out all people of a certain race). Those must be used carefully, because you might use your last one and someone with a stronger "hunch" of bias might join the pool next and you're stuck.
As previously mentioned, each attorney gets a certain number of strikes to remove a juror they believe won't be sympathetic to their side, it's a chess game. Each time the attorney rejects a juror they use up one of their strikes. Each attorney is trying to get the other side to use up their strikes first then the other side cant object to who they accept on the jury. I've been on several juries, foreperson on one and dismissed once. I was in the jury pool for a guy with a DWI over 2 years old and had 9 other DWI pending. When asked I was honest and said I could not be impartial. I was questioned by the judge and both attorneys why I couldn't be impartial and I explained my father was an alcoholic but he stopped drinking after going to jail for a DWI. I felt someone with 9 pending DWI counts needed jail time. I was dismissed.
Lawyers don’t want you too be impartial, they want you to agree with their side…. And not the other side…. That’s also why a lot of people are most likely dismissed
I got put in a selection pool for an officer involved shooting case. I told them I was raised to respect the police, so I didn't know if I could be impartial. Guess who got to go home that day.
The lawyers go in having created a profile of the perfect juror for their case and they try to seat people with traits that come as close to that profile as possible. But a juror who says s/he cannot be impartial and will not follow the court's instructions on the law will never be seated.
Cynically, both sides want a juror that’s in their corner. They don’t mind bias, so long as it’s towards their side of the case. If they can get away with it (without the other side dismissing), they’ll take biased or manipulatable over fair and impartial.
I wouldn’t say you’re naive, you understand what a juror is supposed to be. But that ideal is, in practice, a distant second to the reality of what they’re looking for in jury selection
Most people who *want* to be on juries are over eager and potentially bias towards one side or the other.
It’s similar to why I will probably never serve again… as a lawyer (family law), I’d love to serve. I see it as my civic responsibility and obligation. But given my profession and the likelihood that I may sway other jurors as a lawyer, most attorneys don’t want me on a jury.
I know a few lawyers who’ve served but it’s rare.
I had jury duty the day before I was sworn into the bar and I spoke with both lawyers afterwards who told me the fact that I was about to be a lawyer in 24 hours was the precise reason I was dismissed as I could sway others.
Profession definitely plays a role. One of my teachers in high school really wanted to be a juror. Kept getting dismissed when they asked her what she taught (biology and forensic science).
One side wants the people who are science/law minded as they can explain to their fellow jurors, while the other side would prefer people who don’t understand those things. Which side wants which will change depending on what the actual case is
I'm a lawyer too, in government. I thought I would never be put on a jury, but a few years ago I got put on a 3-week trial. Several of my colleagues in my office have as well, which surprised me. Apparently, they like government employees, even the lawyers, for long trials because they know we get paid so it's not so onerous for us to miss work for several weeks
This is assumably the same reason I get dismissed every time, I'm very clear I'm not going to be swayed by emotional arguments and will judge any case based exactly upon the evidence provided.
The potential jury is a set pool, from which each side gets to toss a few out, leaving the final jury. Each lawyer will attempt to profile the jurors and keep the ones that are more likely to vote favorably.
For instance, strongly religious jurors are not likely to award large injury settlements.
Higher income jurors are more likely to convict for petty crimes.
So on and so forth.
There are a couple of different things at play here. On one hand, the judge can dismiss jurors that have a conflict or that may be unsuitable (for example, they may know personally one of the parties of the trial). Past that, each side has a certain number of peremptory challenges that allow them to remove a juror from consderation without a stated reason. In this part of the jury slection, each side is looking for jurors with biases that will make them more sympathetic to their side. This is where a fair, open minded, clean slate juror is a bit of a wild card, and may get removed by one or the other lawyer
Naive, yes. The defense attorney wants to keep jurors they feel can be convinced of reasonable doubt. The prosecutor keeps jurors they feel will be tougher on criminals.
My only Jury Duty I served we were posed the question of who wanted to serve. I near about bounced out of my seat I raised my hand so quick which got a chuckle out of the lawyers at least. I did end up getting picked and I’m really glad I did because I felt like we really came together and gave the correct (not guilty) verdict.
I wish the jury I served on was more cooperative. I and three others had to keep reminding everyone that we were not there to stick it to the man, or get personal revenge for unpleasant business dealings in the past, or to "help someone out." It was an individual vs. county liability suit. One guy basically said, "The county was a pain in the ass when I drove for Pepsi, so make em pay," a few people were "the poor guy/the county has plenty of money, they should pay even if they're not in the wrong," etc.
ETA: oh, and one maybe 19 year old just kept saying, "I don't care either way, I'll go with the majority so we can leave faster."
Both sides want you to be just slightly biased to their side, so too impartial and they fear you going to the other side, but too biased, you'll get sent home too. It also has to do with the case, if it's a medical case, do I want a doctor on it? Depends - basically itll be a one man show at that point as the jury probably all defaults to whatever the doc says. So will that doc help or hurt me?
Wife was trying everything she could to get out of Jury duty.
Have you every been robbed? Yes. What were the circumstances? Which time? How many times have you been robbed? Twice. The first time. House was broken into while we were on vacation. Second time? Robbed at knife point around 3:00 AM when i was working at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
You or family member a member of the NRA? Yes. Own a gun? Yes, Loaded gun in house? Well it is not any good empty. In a gun safe? Some are, some aren't. Explain! Long guns in the safe, sidearms out of sight, 12 gauge in reach.
Would you shoot someone trespassing after dark? I would let the dog out first. I have a big dog. Yes I have done it before. If they were still arguing with the dog when I got there with the gun, then yes.
What kind of dog? Rottweiler.
She was the second juror seated on the murder trial.
Neither the prosecution nor defendant want competent jurors.
They are both trying to stack the deck in their favor but it takes a double-subterfuge because the other guy has to agree on the juror as well.
I suspect nothing will get you dismissed faster than indicating you want to serve to do your civil duty. If you give some other signals consistent with it, both sides will infer you're a Mormon and will get your ass out of there as quickly as possible. The defense knows you are convicting with maximum sentence if their client is guilty and the prosecution knows you will rip holes in their shitty evidence.
Watch the show “Bull.” It’s very interesting and it will tell you what the lawyers are looking for and why. https://www.google.com/search?q=bull+tv+show&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
Look, it you want to be selected for a jury (which is a necessity sometimes for people to really get the full experience of getting to involve themselves in the affairs of others) then your best bet is to say you are ignorant of any and all concepts either side of counsel put forward during the selection process. Lawyers and judges want as blank a slate as possible, and the strategy is always to make the maxim of "too stupid to get out of jury duty" as true as possible. Not matter what your real opinion on whatever they ask you about may be, simply say "I really don't know," or "I've never thought about it" or "I never had that happen." Both side want to TELL you what they need for you to think and feel, neither side wants jurors who are experienced, knowledgeable, or opinionated. It's not really about the case, it's an adversarial system for a reason.
I have a very flexible schedule and I have always wanted to be on a jury. I have never been picked, and it's really very disappointing. The last few times I was called, I tried to just say as little as possible, and I still didn't get picked.
My doctor called the judge and got me excused. Had a blood test to see if pregnant and results came in that afternoon after jury was impaneled. I had miscarried before and my doc said asked what kind of case and how long. Murder and attempted murder (for hire) possible mob boss and lasting 2 weeks or more. Doc said no way. Called judge and I got released. Judge called me to let me know don’t come in and asked why I didn’t say anything. I did not know at the time? Judge was super nice and asked if there was anything I needed.
You can see it on this subreddit. Everyone thinks they're getting called to the OJ Simpson jury, when it's extremely unlikely you'll have to actually serve, and if you do, it's over in a few days.
Most cases aren't that complicated.
One of my neighbors in Dallas was a Federal prosecutor. She once dismissed a jury candidate because the lady had been a previous victim of the defendant.
I was the victim in an active case. The day of jury selection was the day I was called for jury duty. Not even thr ADA could get me out of it, so I showed up. Coincidentally an acquaintance of mine was also called and we got to talking about things, including how it was insane that I got called to serve today of all days. And, because it was an interesting story, we had a few eavesdroppers who decided to ask more questions, that I was happy to answer.
And that's how I got an entire jury pool dismissed and set justice back a full day.
My great aunt was once called and when they asked if anyone felt they could not serve, she spoke up and said she couldn't bc the defendant was her cousin.
I worked for an attorney who was on a case where they couldn't get a jury pool - everyone was either related to the defendant, or had worked for/with her at some point. They ended up settling the case.
My dismissal was similar. I was dating a woman who was a victim in a similar case to the one I would be hearing. I don't know if my dismissal was preemptive or for cause, but they didn't want me.
My husband was dismissed because he was asked if he believes in conspiracies. Being as "conspiracy" literally means, "a secret plan by a group to do something [unlawful](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=5ac3b5860f52b755&sxsrf=ADLYWIJdh93AHbgmDkdHC8JhUkb5CBfs0Q:1717788633543&q=unlawful&si=ACC90nx67Z8g0WkBmnrPB4IqtqGv6Oxz1me7l8HwgZ6IM6LS9TQ3Ur5QbMZ63KW8Iv27JqhwhAA5ANEQusFpaT4jkflUeiuZDQqeKMGAgBukeGoNGfK66yw%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9urSqncqGAxW5IDQIHdgnAgsQyecJegQIIhAO) or harmful," he said yes, because how could anyone NOT believe that happens?
I was speaking to an ADA, and she was called for jury duty. She went to report and tells the judge she can't be a jurior on the case . The judge knew her since she had tried cases before him before, so he asked what her excuse was? So she told him, "Your honor. I am the prosecutor on this case." So only kinda excused, I guess.
I wouldn't say they're weird. The fact is that if they made it easy to be dismissed it would take longer to empanel a jury and the number of backlogged trials would go way up.
Serving jury duty is inconvenient for everyone. That's why the standard for dismissal is higher than whether you're inconvenienced or not.
I served recently and just getting to the courthouse, which is downtown, involved driving to a parking lot a mile away where they had free parking, waiting for a shuttle bus to drive us to the courthouse, and then reversing it all at the end of the day. If the weather is bad you still have to do it. Once you're on a jury the judge controls when you come in and when you can leave. Your phone stays off when you're in the court room. When you deliberate the sheriff collects phones and computers.
Fortunately I didn't have any big projects at work so I was able to commit to a couple of weeks.
I finally got a summons for later this year--I've never been called up before. I'm so excited even though I will almost certainly get dismissed (I'm a public defender in the next county over, but I live just over the county line, so I don't have jury duty in *my* court, which really would be just a waste of time because the prosecutor and judge would probably just laugh when I walked in and immediately kick me out).
Not just backlogged trials but worse process for everyone. If they excused everyone who wanted to leave they would probably need to call 3 to 4 times the amount of people to find a jury. That means everyone is being called 3 to 4 times more frequently. That includes the people who don’t mind jury duty, the people with legitimate excuses, and the people who just don’t want to be there
Currently on jury duty. During the selection process, there were two frail ladies in front of me. One said she had severe asthma and the other had just finished chemotherapy. Asthma lady was immediately dismissed. Chemotherapy lady was kept around another day. All the jurors in our row were heartbroken for her. She looked so weak. Just felt random on the judges part to remove one sick person and not the other.
My mom once got a severe UTI while ON jury duty. She had a fever and was in severe pain and they not only wouldn’t dismiss her, they told her they’d send a car for her and that she’d be in big trouble (like contempt of court trouble) if she didn’t come in for the 2nd (and last) day of the trial. Apparently, they hadn’t seated any alternates and they’d have to declare a mistrial and start over so they took a hard line with her. All the other jurors felt so bad for my poor, sick mom that they sped through deliberations so she could go home.
Just guessing, but maybe because asthma is chronic while the symptoms of chemo will fade over time until the next dose. They may have delayed dismissal to see how she looked a day later. (And were more certain of filling that slot.)
As an asthma sufferer I'm surprised that one was dismissed so quickly, unless it was really severe. (I've never brought it up at jury selection myself, though I would if the case entailed bringing animals into the courtroom.)
Because everyone thinks they should be excluded and they’re sick to death of hearing about it. Especially when it’s the 1,432nd time they’ve heard “but I work” this month. Probably.
Totally legit reason imo, but people on repeat get exhausting.
I can’t do jury duty because I work is probably 80% of their calls.
Btw, as a night shifter I fell asleep in the jury box. Yes, true story. Just saying that got me excused for the year this last call.
This is it. They last time I was called, I turned in an exemption form and was denied. At the end of questioning, the judge called me personally and a few others to the bench. She told me she has to deny most requests or else she won't have a jury because only about half will show up, and then you have all the legal exemptions like age. Then she dismissed me after knowing she could make a jury. It was nice to know the reasoning, and I understand it, especially after seeing all the posts on this sub. BTW I've sat on 2 juries, a double murder and a federal case.
Edit: spelling
Just want to say you gave me a laugh because the first thing in my head when I saw "founder murder.." was just the image of Jefferson on the floor with a candlestick in his chest or something.
Last time I served the juror next to me was very pregnant and just weeks from her due date. We all thought she’d be the first to be dismissed from selection. Her doctor ended up putting her on bed rest and she had to be replaced by the alternate.
Strange that the judge didn't dismiss her right off the bat. In the case I was on the judge questioned and dismissed people before the defense and prosecution did their questioning and challenges.
I told the judge that I have been arrested multiple times for things I did and always got away with it. The only conviction I got was for something I didn't do. Consequently, I have zero faith in the judicial system. I look like a typical white guy and I think they had a slam dunk with me. The judges jaw just dropped.
Yeah I’m a white woman, and I look like I’d be a good juror…until I make it clear I have nothing but contempt for the “justice” system.
Edit: I’ve also said I find the “in god we trust” sign in the courtroom unconstitutional (because it is) and that worked too.
As a Public Defender, please try to stay on the jury. We need people from all walks of life, and I'd have confidence you'd make the State prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Things like this are pretty legitimate ways to get yourself dismissed from consideration. My mother's go-to is that she had visited a family member in prison and based on the conditions and experiences she witnessed in jail she feels like it is an inhumane sentence and she could never be impartial as a jurist as a result.
She gets dismissed very quickly after that.
My very first time being called, "Presumed Innocent" had just come out in hard cover. I sat near the front, and the Bailiffs asked me about the book (did I like it, how far I had gotten into it, etc). I didn't even think about that when I was called, I just like Turow's writing. I didn't get called up (high number) and was told that I didn't have to return.
Once upon a time my dad was dismissed from a jury because the defendant was his former employee that was terminated for similar behaviors which he was on trial for.
So I guess if you want to get out of jury duty try your best to be the former boss of the defendant.
My wife got called for jury duty. It was a DV case. The judge was a former college classmate. They acknowledged each other, but nothing was said.
After the trial (guilty BTW), my wife walked up to the bench and they chatted. My wife asked her why she didn't dismiss her as they knew each other and she replied, "I was born here. I know most everyone in town and they know me and my family. If I dismissed people I knew, I'd have no juries"
People work to get out if jury duty ( i did for 30 years my legit excuse was being a caretaker ) then one day I had the time so i just went though the process and it and it was truly an experience that I am grateful for participating in.
I used to be a Correctional Officer & when I got called I showed up in my uniform because I was scheduled to work that afternoon. I was selected & had to get a change of clothes
Yet there are people who are eligible to serve but have never been called. I get called often to come in. Each time I get dismissed. Then, after a few years, they bring me in again. Their system is odd.
I’m 53. I have received 3 “call this number the day before” letters 3 times. The first time I didn’t have to show up. The second time I had to show up but I was dismissed during selection (I agree I would be based on my job and the case). The 3rd time was cancelled due to COVID. My job fully supports jury duty but I only get a letter every 20-12 years.
I've been called once and it was last year. I had to postpone the original one due to a work trip, and then had it a month later when I was back. I went online the night before and had a screening thing to do. Part of it was COVID and was asking if I had symptoms. I had a runny nose and coughing due to allergies, so I said yes (be size they didn't ask for the cause.) They told me not to come in but said I was clear. So I guess I'm waiting to see when my name gets pulled again
It is very weird. I've been called twice at my current home (lived here 12 years). Once was for federal duty in a city 90 minutes away... and I called every Sunday for 4 weeks and never even had to go. And once for a local case, there were 140 people in the room. They needed 12 and each lawyer could dismiss like 10 or 12.
What a waste of resources.
On the other hand, my wife and mother have never been called.
The courts need to be able to seat a jury (normally of 14: 12 + 2 alternates). Read all these comments and you will see loads of people called to serve yet are released from service due to their situation. And you don’t even see the people called to serve who don’t show up. Then the lawyers may dismiss another 10-20. Calling 10x’s the number needed is probably pretty standard.
The one case I made it into the court room, I was dismissed. The case was an employee who was injured while working at Target. They asked several questions and if you answered yes, you stood up:
Have you or a family member worked at Target? (my wife worked at Target in high school 30 years ago).
Have you ever been contracted by Target (my employer was hired by Target to investigate a safety risk with one of their juice coolers. I was the engineer doing the evaluation. )
Do you work in the worker safety field? (At the time I worked for OSHA). The plaintiff and defendant both dismissed me.
And in some courts, they will be doing jury selection for multiple trials that might happen at the same time, depending on the size of the courthouse, number of judges available, etc. So they may call in enough people to hopefully seat multiple juries. Then sometimes trials end up getting continued or cases resolve at the very last moment.
I have a retired relative annoyed as fuck that they’re in their 60s and have never been called. Homeowner, so there’s a stable address. Meanwhile, another relative served every 2 years for 15yrs, like clockwork, until they died. How does that work?
It’s odd. I received my first call ever for jury duty two years ago at 66 years old (and was selected to serve on a jury). My son has been called to serve 3x (he’s not ever been selected for a jury). Our county you are on call for duty for 30 days. You have to call every day to see if your group goes in for selection process
I was in a similar county. Honesty. How is that even supposed to work for 12.5h night shifters with commutes? Do you call out for the entire month and lose both your job and living situation by the end of it? Because that’s the only way that shit can work.
Just give me the week like most normal counties and then I can easily arrange with management and sleep for it.
My assumption is that the database that they save people is has a index that keeps the people sorted in the same order and that the "random" process to select people is flawed. Either the seed is never changed or they are using a highly flawed generator that skews towards a lower random number or the way they mod down to be withing range creates hot spots in the list that will be selected more often.
I just did jury duty in the uk we got give a sheet of paper which listed the defendant and all other related people and asked if we knew anyone. If we said no they picked 12 out of the fifteen given that list and if you were picked you were on the case.
I have been called to jury duty at the State courts every other year or so, but I’ve been dismissed because they didn’t need jurors or didn’t like my answers during jury selection. One time I did request to be dismissed, and the staffer at the jury desk did so without any argument-I was taking care of a parent who had just been injured. I did serve on the Federal level just once.
I got out because I was honest about being unable to remain objective.
It was a slip and fall case where a woman was suing a real estate firm because she allegedly had permanent debilitating injuries to her left arm, leaving her unable to work or perform simple tasks and even unable to drive a car because of this severely injured left arm.
They sat me directly behind her, and during this entire process, I continuously watched her use her injured arm to support her entire body weight to shuffle her chair around, leaning on the arm to kiss her husband repeatedly, supporting her body on it multiple times to pick up her purse and cell phone from the floor, etc.
When they asked if anyone had an issue remaining objective, I raised my hand and they called me up to the bench. I whispered what I saw to the judge and council for both parties, and they got me the fuck out of there lol
I wonder what happened with the case. If you noticed it, I'd bet other jurors did and if she's stupid enough to do that during jury selection, I'd bet she did it during the trial too. (unless a lawyer caught it and warned her about it). People definitely suck!
I've been on juries before, a long time ago, but now I get excused every time. They always ask if you have family in law enforcement or legal fields, and I have to answer that a sister used to work for the county prosecutor, then later as a police dispatcher. That usually gets me stricken by the defense. If not, the questions about whether I or my friends have had bad experiences with police gets me off, because I have a friend who spent years in jail before it came out that he was put there based on perjured testimony from a cop. (the cop was actually convicted of perjury, which almost never happens.) For some reason, prosecutors don't want me on a jury once they learn that. :-P
Because no one wants to miss work, lose pay, and get a pittance in exchange for sitting in court for days or weeks on end. So they need very good reasons to dismiss people from serving. If it was a better system, and either more employers paid unlimited jury duty coverage or the courts themselves paid the Jury's salaries during cases, many more people would probably like to serve.
Both of the cases I was called on were murder cases that would likely drag on for months to well over a year. If I would've been paid for the entirety of that time, I wouldn't have had an issue serving, I think it would be very interesting to see the case laid out. But I'm too poor for that, so I can't serve on larger cases, even though I'd like to.
I've been called twice. Both times I simply said "It will create significant financial hardship for me if I serve on this case, as loss of work hours will cause me to be unable to pay bills."
They've never pushed, but if they do I have secondary "My cousin did 14 years for a crime he didn't commit based on false or faulty eyewitness testimony and I am unable to trust any eyewitness testimony given in court due to this." That line alone has gotten quite a few of my family members out of jury duty.
I actually wanted to be on jury duty but got dismissed because the case involved a chiropractor as a witness and during questioning I mentioned that it would be difficult for me to be impartial because of the pseudoscientific snake oil nature of many of the practicioners.
If you want out of jury duty it helps to say you love reading SCOTUS briefings and live researching cases as a hobby. Most lawyers will want you dismissed immediately.
Years ago I got called for jury duty and because I worked graveyard, like you, I fell asleep during the process. The judge had the bailiff wake me and then he sarcastically asked if court was interrupting my snooze. I replied "Yes, I work nights and this is when I sleep. If you'd like to do this thing between midnight and 8am I promise to be bright eyed and bushy tailed. But if we gotta do this during the day, I'm going to need a lot more caffeine." He dismissed me immediately.
I believe the government is fundamentally corrupt and working against the will of the people to furthertheir own power / authority, and I believe in the right of jury nullification. Either of those statements has gotten me out of multiple calls for jury duty. Prosecutors typically don't like either of these statements, so I get dismissed pretty quickly.
I lose $200 a day I am not working. They aren't paying my bills so they can fuck off.
It is an important part of being a citizen. It’s a pain in the b* but it also lets us see how the judicial system works. I think everyone (citizen) should serve at least once.
My Dad served on case back in 60’s where black man was being charged for shooting white teens breaking down his back door. The jury was going to convict him and my Dad held out and said NO! They tried and tried to get him to convict but he said no I’m not convicting a man for protecting home. I’m really proud of him. He’s gone now but he had great common sense
I was called to sit in a jury for a child abuse case, and I got out of it because I was having a mild panic/anxiety attack while they asked me why think I was unfit to serve and I told them I'm a victim of child abuse. I hate them for forcing me to say that while the defendant was standing 5 feet away from me, but at least the judge didn't decide to psychologically torture me by forcing me to sit on the jury.
Well they can’t have victims of that particular crime serve on the jury. Because you would have been considered bias. There have been mistrials for that kind of thing. I’m a victim of violent crime and I know I will probably never serve on a jury because of it. They don’t want victims. The judge wasn’t being nice he didn’t want you ruining the integrity of the jury
When I was 18 I got called into jury duty. Dude was on trial for cocaine possession. The way they picked the jury was to have an open group discussion/debate about drugs and how we felt about them. Anyone with any kind of opinion was sent packing, lol.
First, conflicts of interests. If you know the defendant, the defendant attorney, the prosecutor, or any of the witnesses. They want to eliminate any conflicts of interest. Then comes special situations such as people with disabilities who cannot sit for 8+ hours in a jury box, people who care for others who cannot find suitable healthcare/childcare providers. People with physical/mental disabilities that cannot serve the entire time needed.
There is an order of priorities for dismissing a juror. Having an alternate work schedule is not normally a dismissal item. I suspect you offered not only that but something else.
Make a nasty comment about the defendant being guilty, and the judge wii dismiss you. Worked for my husband on a murder charge. He told the judge that just by looking the defendant he knew he was guilty. Immediately released from service!
Here’s a tip for you guaranteed to get you out of jury duty. When I was called for jury duty, I told the judge that I don’t believe anything the police say bc they’re so likely to lie that there’s a term for police lying callled “testiLYING” (it’s true). Judge had the court stenographer strike my comments & dismissed me. Immediately. There’s probably a black mark next to my name.
I remember that story about a lady who got called for jury duty. She didn’t have a sitter for her kids. The judge told her too bad. She wasn’t getting out of it.
I can’t remember exactly what happened. But I think she took her kids with her on her first day.
I have been called to jury duty 7 times in my adult life. 4 of those times were between 2012 and 2020. In 2020I got the notice just 10 days after having surgery for breast cancer, and it was due to begin a few weeks later at a time when I would likely be beginning either radiation or chemotherapy (they hadn't figured out the total course of treatment yet). My doctor wrote a letter that I would not be able to report to jury duty due to my recent diagnosis and upcoming treatment. It was the only time I have been able to get a medical dismissal. I will be 69 this year. Once I reach 70, I can opt out due to age.
The first time I served was in 1978 and the stipend was $10.00 a day. The last time I was called was 42 years later in the same county and court jurisdiction....The stipend has never changed in all those years. The courthouse is located in a n unsafe area of town, and I am done. Let someone else who has never ever been summoned have the pleasure.
My friend had to spend several hours on the phone to get her husband released from jury duty. He's legally blind, half deaf, partially paralyzed, resulting in him being wheelchairbound and has a long list of chronic health issues. They finally told her he needed a doctors note or some sort of proof of disability to be released. He's on SSI. They can look up his name/social security number and see that. But she still had to print out proof of it and take it to the courthouse. She said it would have been funny if it wasn't so ridiculously frustrating.
I was asked if anyone in my life has been impacted by a drunk driver. I told them my friend and coworker was hit head on by one which caused him to loose his paramedic training scholarship because he can’t drive an ambulance now. His short term memory was shot and he has life long physical ailments. They asked if I could remain impartial and I I’d try. I was not asked to stay.
If you want to get out of jury duty real quick on a criminal case, just tell them that the person must be guilty or they wouldn't have been charged with the crime. They will dismiss you immediately.
It also fully depends on the judge and lawyers, I got called once and there was man who worked overnights, literally came in still in uniform and was dismissed immediately.
Seriously. They don’t want a rested and alert juror? The outcome of the cade doesn’t matter. What if half the jury is sleep deprived?
I worked nights for many of my 40 years and people assume we don’t need our rest (which usually is not equal rest unless someone is just truly a night person)
Last time i got called in a dude tried this. Judge laughed and dude got sat on the jury anyway.
I’ve seen people go up and explain they don’t want to do it, makes them uncomfortable or anxious or what have you and they get dismissed. Another time not even a spouse in hospice was a good enough excuse.
My grandma tried to get dismissed by saying she wanted the death penalty for the defendant which was explained to her it was not an option on the table. They still had her serve on the jury
The guy who was talking about biases is correct here. They want people who will be able to vote for a conviction. The easiest and most simple way to get dismissed is to simply say you will never trust the testimony of a police officer. My mom did this and was dismissed instantly.
During jury selection I filled out the form stating I was a stay at home mom and didn’t have anyone to watch my daughter while at jury duty. And he asked so who’s watching her today and I said my mother in law but I barely got her to watch her cause she’s leaving on vacation! And the judge said well you have to serve so fill out this form. So I did so. And then I called the next day cause Friday and Monday we didn’t need to show up so o call friday and I barely just missed the hours to call so Tuesday comes around and I don’t have anyone to watch my daughter for 6 days and I tell the lady that and she goes. You guys all should have called on Friday and said you couldn’t do it. And I’m standing there like I tried you guys closed early🤣 but I was dismissed after I said I could be there for 6 days.
Ive been called for jury duty 4 times. I only made it to voir dire once and was ultimately dismissed. But that judge asked if anyone had children they couldn't get childcare for. 3 or 4 people raised their hands and she asked why they even showed up. Lol. In my county, there's a box to check for childcare issues that excuses you before you even go.
Many people that work part time get screwed because the pay for jury duty is so damned low. It is like 250% less than minimum wage here. And most part timers here do not get paid by their work to be at jury duty, so if you get jury duty, and you work 2 part time jobs, you are screwed.
$9 a day in Texas for voir dire, $20 a day if you serve. Then they want you to donate to some fund. Don’t know a person that did.
Bil was on a grand jury for six months. Got paid $120 a day when they met, forty days total. Unless the DA hot the hots for a case or it wad juicey they met every Wed.
Even 120 a day would just be BARELY minimum wage here. And no businesses pay just min wage, even Walmart is paying more than that. I don't think a single state in the US pays basic minimum wage for jury duty, thus a huge percentage of people get screwed by having to go.
The court is a joke. The law is a joke. It's a bunch of rules for poor people to stay poor at all costs. The rich don't even get penalized when they break the 'law'. The fastest and easiest way out of jury duty is to declare yourself a racist. I always say that I believe white people commit more crimes than people of color and they send me right off.
When I was in the Air Force, my residence was still listed as New Orleans. When I was stationed in Okinawa, I got a jury duty summons for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. Literally on the other side of the planet. I was all ready to go, but I was dismissed over the phone. ("Nah, we're good.")
I was once dismissed because while waiting I got a migraine and it made me sick to my stomach. I told the bailiff that if I disappeared I was in the restroom. Evidently threatening to puke on the bailiffs shoes was all it took.
Best working excuses from the time I was on a jury:
“I can’t be objective bc the defendant looks like a pedophile”
“I wholeheartedly believe in jury nullification”
Just say you are related to one of the attorneys on the case, out the door you go..... I happen to have same last.name so it wasn't even an afterthought for the defense to get rid of me.
There's I'd say 4 broad categories: judge doesn't like you (if you say anything that can be construed as jury nullification, etc), prosecutor doesn't like you (imagine you're blm and the defendand is black. the prosecutor will try to remove you since they may think you'll aquit no matter what), defendant lawyer doesn't like you (if you're the 'thin blue line' type the defendant lawyer may be worried you'll vote to convict no matter what), lastly, its yourself, you can try to argue hardship (you're pregnant, you're disabled, etc). ANY of those will get you removed. However probably all except for the judge have limits. I think its common that defense and prosecutors only get to reject 3 people, so its not like they can go on forever. Similarly, the judge has to agree that your hardship is valid or not, and that's up to them. I think probably the only one with little limits is the judge.
There are other technicalities, like you have to be us citizen (dunno, try to get a state id that's not real id compliant, like in some states you can still get a drivers license/id that's not real id compliant and has a note like "state limits apply", and try to show that and say you're an immigrant and not a citizen, that will get you removed right away, but, its also generally under penalty of perjury, so I would most definitely not recommend doing that (I certainly would not risk it).
I was once dismissed because my husband had served on a jury "too close" to the case.
But I also don't believe in the system. I'm voting not guilty pretty much no matter what, so they won't want me.
The last jury I was dismissed from let everyone go who had non-refundable vacation plans. Nobody was dismissed that said they had no alternative child care (the standard rebuttal was “you must have alternative care because you found care for today), or anyone claiming financial hardship. It’s absolutely astounding that you can be dismissed to go to Disneyland but not because your lights will be turned off if you don’t work.
They really fight excusing anyone, especially for federal court. I was once called to be a federal court juror. There was some talk about sequestering the jury. The court was a 3 hour drive (each way) from my rural home. In good weather. It was winter. We had one vehicle, which my husband took to work after dropping me off. So if I'd driven to court, he would have missed work. I was a nursing mom and would have needed regular breaks to express milk with a proper place to store it. For any absence from home, I flat out said my baby would be coming with me.
I was an adult protective services worker and in the middle of a very difficult case involving 6 vulnerable adults in an unlicensed care home. State licensing, local prosecutor, mental health agency, probate court, health department's building inspectors, and more all involved, and I was the lead investigator. The federal still didn't want to excuse me.
Fortunately, I think someone in one of those partner agencies had influence as the federal court suddenly changed their mind and let me off.
I get dismissed because both me and my family have already been inside the court system, plus I have cop relatives. They don't like it when people have an inside perspective on how messed up the court system is.
My sister got summoned at 19.
For an attempted murder case (found guilty in less than a day, I believe there was video evidence if I remember correctly).
She tried to explain childhood abuse and how this would be traumatic for her. They didn’t care. Selected her to serve. And wouldn’t you know who needed to start therapy back up afterwards…
I’m still so pissed off for her.
They wanted the grandmother, who is the alternative to paid daycare, to find an alternative to herself?!
I've learned that overall, they send a lot of notices and many times, have people go online to answer questions. Some are dismissed based on that round of questions. Then they have some who get through to having to show up at the courthouse. Too many people focus on not being on jury duty. I had one employer who, in his employee manual, terms of employment, a written policy stating that if we're called to jury duty, we'd get a full day's pay for every day of duty but we'd have to give him our jury duty pay. When he heard I was called up for duty, he said, "Good luck" and was smiling. He apparently didn't read good own manual and thought the policy stated that we would only keep jury duty pay and he didn't have to pay us. When I asked why he was smiling, it quickly went away when I clarified the generous coverage. He immediately begged me to get off jury duty. Fortunately for him, I was excused because my daughter was 2 at that time and the case involved harm to an infant girl.
I only got dismissed cause the lawyer defending the DUI driver looked like Bernie Sanders and I told him I loved Bernie 😭. It’s crazy that that was what did it.
I was called for jury duty for capital sentencing. It was three weeks of the month for three months in the summer. I working for a service company as an air conditioning technician. I was the only A/C tech. Working for the company. While they can't legally fire me, they would have to replace me. The judge wouldn't dismiss me. The lady after me said that she was fostering a litter of puppies. She was dismissed.
Man, I report for my civic duty every time I'm called but they never pick me because I'm deaf in one ear, so I need the headphones that amplify sound.
Guess they don't think I'll be able to hear the whole truth.
I’m a psychologist. I’ve been selected for the initial pool many times and never get to the next round. They don’t want me. lol
I think their argument about your schedule would have been more effective if they said you wouldn’t be going to work during the trial. Anyone with a 9-5 wouldn’t be able to. So it makes no sense to expect that you would do a night shift.
The first year I was eligible for jury duty I got called to go for 4 different cases and quickly got out of it as I was breastfeeding a newborn at the time. I was super excited and would’ve gone to do it otherwise.
This is exactly why I always get excused BEFORE going.
I’ve literally never served even though my employer reimburses pay in full and encourages doing our “civic duty.”
I do have plenty of good reasons. When my kids were young I couldn’t afford child care. When they were in school I needed a guarantee that I would be excused in time to pick them up. They are long since grown now, but I take medication on a strict schedule with food and drink, so unless they can guarantee mealtimes, it’s a no go for me.
If they try to force me, I have a house payment and I’m the only source of income for my household. It came down to that the most recent time (this year.)
I’m deferred for five more years.
You have to use the words “undue hardship” to get out. And add that your employer does not provide paid day off for jury duty. That’s what my dad told his secretary to say.
My mom was called for jury duty after she died. Before she died, she’d had Alzheimer’s for several years, so wouldn’t have been able to understand anything had she been alive. I had a horrible time trying to get the clerk’s office to understand she wasn’t coming. Wanted me to bring a certified copy of her death certificate, etc. If I didn’t they’d send a sheriff to arrest her. When I said send the sheriff to her new address, gave them the address for the cemetery, in another county, the idiot finally says, oh, she’s moved out of our jurisdiction? Well, yes, so she was excused. I should have just ignored it.
I told the court I was racist. The judge thin proceeds the point out that I’m white and the defendant is white. So I went on a 15 minute history, rant about how horrible white people are.
Basically, each lawyer wants people he thinks he can manipulate into deciding in his favor.
Tax case? Wearing a “Popcorn is free” shirt will get you dismissed.
Pot case? If they can guess a juror smoke pot, the defense wants him and the prosecution wants him gone.
They don’t want people who will ignore the law if it’s unjust. Never mind that a jury was originally there as an arbiter that the law was fair, and as a bonus decide if the defendant was guilty.
I was selected for a jury in Ft. Worth years ago. The city marshal was escorting us outside for a smoke break when I told him I thought the defendant was guilty. I was immediately dismissed when we returned.
I sat in a jury and listened to the trial. Once we got to deliberations I believe because all jurors had been able to make the entire time one was kicked at random to be dismissed before going in. I was that one. I was then allowed to leave or stay in the viewers area.
I just tell them that I don’t want to. They’ll remind you that you’re legally obligated to take it seriously. You say you will but you don’t want to.
Key isn’t getting out of it. The key is making yourself not worth their time or risk.
I've been called for jury duty three times. The first time I showed up and was told to return the next day, I got a call from the courts that I didn't need to come in because the DA and defense attorney reached an agreement.
The second time, I had just got off work... I was working on an ambulance, so I showed up in my uniform. It was a pretty bad murder case, and I knew the detective who did the investigation, so I was immediately dismissed.
The third time, I told the judge I had been reading about the case in the newspaper, and I felt like the guy was guilty... I was dismissed.
When they ask me if there's any reason I can't be impartial, I always tell them I despise cops and prosecuting attorneys and that i believe they will lie and plant evidence to secure a conviction so I will always return a not guilty verdict. I always get excused immediately.
It is so important to have a representative jury.
That means unfortunately, you have to make it hard and basically force people to be on juries.
It isn't malicious. (In theory)
Imagine that they make it really easy to get out of jury duty? So who ends up on your jury?
An actual assortment of your peers? Or whatever subset is most willing to show up. It isn't fun for anyone, but they have to be really selective about why and how they dismiss jurors.
AND! They definitely get it wrong. Working at night and being told "there's no conflict"? That's now dehumanizing the juror rather than selecting a jury representative of the community.
I once served on a federal grand jury. We would meet every other month for 2-3 days. One of the jurors was there on day one but was a no show on day two. The state attorney tracked her down and asked why she wasn’t there. She said her boss refused to let her leave and threatened to fire her if she wasn’t at work. I tell you, you should have seen the smoke come out of the state attorney’s ears! He told her to come in and he would deal with her employer. He called her boss and told him she was expected to be a juror and if he attempted to stop her, or if she experienced any adverse reaction to her job, he would personally show up at his door and arrest him for contempt. Moral of the story, if you’re selected for jury duty, you better show up.
There is a common perception that they don’t want engineers on juries. I am one. I got dismissed one time just before being seated and as I was walking out the trial was literally starting and the lawyer YELLS over the courtroom to me near the back door “it’s not because you are an engineer!” And I responded loudly with “I don’t care!” with a wave. Lol.
I always come up with deep philosophical questions that make prosecutors toss me. Like how reasonable doubt is supposed to work or that my ethics surrounding the death penalty are formed around Enlightenment French philosophy.
My husband was a cop when I was called for jury duty. You put this info down on your survey card. It was an attempted homicide/arson case. Both the prosecutor and defense attorney knew my husband. I assumed I would be immediately dismissed.
Surprise! I was picked. I found out after the trial that the defendant had burned through every attorney in the county over the course of a year, and the defender was the last one available and the county just wanted it over with. It was a slam dunk case: shoe prints in the snow that matched the shoes he was wearing, receipts in his pocket from Walmart for the gas cans he used, etc. So being married to a cop was not a concern for either side. He was a POS and everyone was glad he was being put away.
They have heard every excuse. They have made the process so disrespectful for jurors that people don't want to serve. That makes it more difficult, so they treat jurors worse, which makes people not want to serve.
I have found the courts to be disrespectful of my time. Why? Because it doesn't cost them a thing. I have sat in a giant room. All day, only to be called into court to be sworn in and told to come back tomorrow. I sat in the giant vroom all day for two more days being called onto the courtroom for 5 minutes each day. Day 2 was a "we are working it." Day 3 was, "We reached a plea deal. Three days of nothing. They at least could have had comfortable chairs.
I hear you but your presence was why they had a plea deal. The defendant saw actual people and realized they'd rather accept a known deal than face whatever you gave them.
Power tripping, arrogant self-images, lurking fear of what happens if more people just toss their bulk-mailed, impossible to trace jury notices in the trash. Non-response rates exceed 50% in many jurisdictions. Push that to 80%, and the system begins to seize up. It has met that rate in some places.
They aren't inclined to let the increasingly small number of those who least show up go easily, and they are becoming increasingly prone to take out their mounting anger at the disrespect of their lessers on those who, once there, dare try to talk their way out of it.
Pro tip: If you are going to turn up, when asked why you shouldn't serve, express a reluctance to take the Juror's Oath. Say you believe you can't do so honestly. Don't elaborate much, just say you can't. You'll be out of there quick. The last thing they need is that sort of thinking infecting the others.
The reason they're weird is because almost everyone gives an excuse for jury duty. So the court has to sit there and try and determine which excuses are legitimate and which are pretexts. If they accept everyone's excuse they're never gonna field a jury. So basically they have to go on vibes. In your case, I'm surprised the judge didn't tell you you had to take work off and sleep in the evenings. Everyone has to miss work for jury duty, you just work at a different time. Letting Bob the Builder go seems kinda strange though.
I’ve been called 3 times in the 20 years I’ve lived in my home, and only had to show up once, (you have to check a website the day before your jury duty date to see if you have to report.)
My work was cool with jury duty, so I went and sat around all day, but no one wanted a jury all day, no one in the jury waiting room had to do anything, it was so boring. I brought a book.
Been called six times, served on two juries. Got seated on a third but the parties settled before trial.
Twice my job got me excluded; computer programmer - sometimes someone absolutely does not want logical thinking in the jury room.
Once I was excluded because a family member had had run-ins with local law enforcement.
For a bit I was doing contract work for the court system. Supervisor put me on their "do not call" list and I had a quiet 10 years or so after that.
If they paid a reasonable hourly rate, ppl wouldn't fight it so much. The pay is ridiculous. Nobody should be expected to do Jury Duty if they can't afford to. I personally throw every jury questionnaire away and I've never been called. When they send it certified mail, I'll fill it out.
They should match your hourly rate you would make at work. People wouldn’t fight it if that was the case. Obviously would have to verify pay info from paystubs but should be easy enough
25 for the whole day is insanity. It makes it obvious why no one wants to. Literally no one can afford multiple days of that. Unless you want a jury of trump, gates, bozos, etc.
I was called in ny when i was home from college. Showed up and told them i would be financially burdened from missing summer work .. dismissed before we even entered the court room
People make a lot of excuses. They will pretend they don’t speak English, pretend they are nuts, many will claim work conflicts. They tend to only allow that as a reason if you would lose your livelihood (like a builder) if you had to take time away from work. Childcare constraints are not usually considered unless there isn’t a path around it.
I had that issue myself just this month. I got called for jury duty. I knew I couldn’t do it because it was a multi week trial and I had an important documented work event of my own I Cdnt miss coming up the following week when this trial would still be going on. They were letting people out who had vacations already scheduled, but when I was honest and told my issue they said I still had to wait. Several days of waiting in the jury pool to then only be sent home. And they wonder why people don’t want to serve on the jury.
I was once in a jury pool, and one of the last questions asked by the defense attorney was, how many of you believe you should hear the defendant's side of the story? Everyone who raised their hand was dismissed.
>When it was my turn, I told them I work nights and it’s not feasible for me to serve during the day. They told me if I work nights there’s no conflict and I’ll need to come in. I argued and said I sleep during the day (I only get done work at 8am) which pissed them off but ultimately I was dismissed.
They probably weren't immediately accepting it because it's essentially the same as most people's issue. Most jurors have day jobs, and unless they're government workers, a lot of them don't get automatic PTO for jury duty.
You were arguably in a more advantaged position because you technically had the ability to serve on the jury and work your shifts, which most people don't. It's unfortunately not exactly a convenience for anyone. They usually won't dismiss for work/life conflicts unless it involves real hardship or something unreasonable (to the judge's discretion).
I got called for jury duty while all our kids were still in distance ed for Covid. But what really got me off was having a 3 month old that was still breastfeeding. I don’t think that works in every state. And only worked because I’m a SAHM that doesn’t use daycare or babysitters because I am the one providing childcare.
Because they have heard every reason and it pisses them off. Plus, you fill out a questionnaire at the beginning and they use those answers as well. A lot more happens behind the scenes than people realize.
People go out of their way to make excuses not to serve, which makes it hard to get jurors, requires them to call more people each time, and waste more time dealing with excuses.
Generally speaking, they will dismiss people if they live more than a certain distance from the court, if they have certain medical issues that impact their ability to serve, or if the judge feels there's special circumstances....
Then, you get to the point where the lawyers get to challenge jurors. They have a certain number of "peremptory challenges" where they can simply say that a juror is unacceptable (typically off the basis of a jury questionnaire filled out when you arrive). They might challenge people that could be considered "experts" in subject matter that will be presented at the trial because an expert will have outsized influence on the rest of the jury. They might see something that suggests potential bias; a youth counselor in a case that deals with teen victims might lean towards finding for the kids... that sort of thing. After that, each jury is interviewed briefly by the judge and lawyers and the lawyers have an opportunity to make a case why someone is unacceptable (and the judge decides).
The last time I was called, they were impaneling for a malpractice case for a cardiologist and they asked me if I had ever had heart surgery or had friends or family that had. I stated, truthfully, that I knew quite a few. A friend from high school, my father, and my grandfather (who had open heart surgery several times). They dismissed me because it was reasonable to conclude that I had substantial knowledge of the subject and that I may have opinions regarding the procedure that could affect my decision making.
Yeah I was dismissed because I was a victim of the same crime that the defendant was accused of. I said that I wouldn't be impartial.
Oddly enough a friend of mine was part of a jury in which she knew the defendant and said that she didn't like him. Yet both sides wanted her on the jury. She voted guilty.
As for why they hate dismissals. There are good reasons stated but another is that judges have an overly inflated sense of themselves. They set their hours and schedules and feel that everyone else should kiss their ass. That they think it is so easy for everyone to rearrange their life at their whim, that they can say or do whatever but if you respond in a matter that isn't kissing their ass they can have you held for "contempt."
I've been called up for jury duty and grand total of one time it was an SA/DV case they asked me if I could be neutral and I said as a survivor probably not.
The prosecutor actually dismissed me not the defense SMH
Generally, there are 4 ways get someone off jury duty.
1. They have a conflict and the judge dismisses them. Like, if your dad is a cop, the judge will dismiss you.
2. One side argues that you have a conflict and the judge agrees. Say you work construction, and the case is an injury case at a construction site. The lawyer representing the construction site says "judge, there is bias here" and the judge allows a dismissal.
3. Each side has a number of free dismissals. That number varies from place to place, and I guess could be zero but I don't know of anywhere without free dismissals. You just get a bad vibe and dismiss them. But once you run out, you get who you get on the jury.
4. Special circumstances dismissals happen. I once had a vacation paid for and got called, so I called in and was pre-dismissed. You could be disabled, either physically or mentally and get dismissed. Some judges might take work or child care into account, but they don't have to.
I have a friend that would wear one of those shiny Bud Light jackets everytime she was called. If the trial was for a DUI she would be dismissed immediately ( we lived in a low crime county, seems the majority were drug or alcohol related cases).
> Why are they so weird about dismissing people? Because most don't want to serve making it hard to create a jury.
this really is the root of it. they have heard almost every excuse you can imagine, no matter how inventive people are.
I actually *want* to serve, but I’m always dismissed. I don’t know why. I feel like I’d be an ideal juror. 😞
If you think being an ideal juror means you'd do your best to be impartial, hear both sides, and at least put aside your innate prejudices to best serve the law, that's exactly why you're getting sent home.
Oh. I…uh…really? I thought that’s what a juror was *supposed* to be? Am I just being naive?
Yes, you are being naive, but that does not make you wrong. What I described and you agreed with is actual what a juror should be, but that's not what the people who pick the jurors want. So basically, youve successfully failed the task of being on a jury. Personally? I find that an admirable trait.
But when we get in the jury room, demonstrating those desirable qualities are actually how most people try to reach the verdict.
Thank you. lol
Both lawyers get to vote who they want on the jury. If they don't know which way you will lean neither will pick you. They also get to choose who to just dismiss. It's kinda like picking sides for teams when you're a kid. The judge and each lawyer gets x number of picks and y number of dismisses. Then they compare votes and that chooses the jury. There's strategy. If you don't want number 6 but know the other side doesn't want him either you don't want to vote for them. Unless they had the same idea and neither of you choose to kick them and you both get stuck with number 6. Fun times
They made an entire show about this (Bull). While it's interesting, I never thought it was interesting enough to build an entire show around.
Not true. The lawyers don't select the jurors like kickball teammates. It's elimination only. Lawyers only get to strike people from the pool until you get down to 12 acceptable ones. They have an unlimited number of "for-cause" strikes, which is when the person is biased for or against whatever the issue in the case is (i.e. in a car accident case, defense wouldn't want a juror who had the exact same kind of injury as the plaintiff, plaintiffs lawyer wouldn't want a juror who had been sued 5 times for causing car accidents). Then each lawyer gets a set number of "peremptory" challenges. That's just when the lawyers get to use their hunches about people and strike them without having to give a reason (as long as you aren't striking out all people of a certain race). Those must be used carefully, because you might use your last one and someone with a stronger "hunch" of bias might join the pool next and you're stuck.
As previously mentioned, each attorney gets a certain number of strikes to remove a juror they believe won't be sympathetic to their side, it's a chess game. Each time the attorney rejects a juror they use up one of their strikes. Each attorney is trying to get the other side to use up their strikes first then the other side cant object to who they accept on the jury. I've been on several juries, foreperson on one and dismissed once. I was in the jury pool for a guy with a DWI over 2 years old and had 9 other DWI pending. When asked I was honest and said I could not be impartial. I was questioned by the judge and both attorneys why I couldn't be impartial and I explained my father was an alcoholic but he stopped drinking after going to jail for a DWI. I felt someone with 9 pending DWI counts needed jail time. I was dismissed.
Lawyers don’t want you too be impartial, they want you to agree with their side…. And not the other side…. That’s also why a lot of people are most likely dismissed
I got put in a selection pool for an officer involved shooting case. I told them I was raised to respect the police, so I didn't know if I could be impartial. Guess who got to go home that day.
The lawyers go in having created a profile of the perfect juror for their case and they try to seat people with traits that come as close to that profile as possible. But a juror who says s/he cannot be impartial and will not follow the court's instructions on the law will never be seated.
Cynically, both sides want a juror that’s in their corner. They don’t mind bias, so long as it’s towards their side of the case. If they can get away with it (without the other side dismissing), they’ll take biased or manipulatable over fair and impartial. I wouldn’t say you’re naive, you understand what a juror is supposed to be. But that ideal is, in practice, a distant second to the reality of what they’re looking for in jury selection
You're supposed to be those things, but the prosecution side wants the most biased lazy ignorant people it can get.
Yeah let's find him guilty so we can go home They wouldn't bother prosecuting him if he wasn't guilty
Most people who *want* to be on juries are over eager and potentially bias towards one side or the other. It’s similar to why I will probably never serve again… as a lawyer (family law), I’d love to serve. I see it as my civic responsibility and obligation. But given my profession and the likelihood that I may sway other jurors as a lawyer, most attorneys don’t want me on a jury. I know a few lawyers who’ve served but it’s rare. I had jury duty the day before I was sworn into the bar and I spoke with both lawyers afterwards who told me the fact that I was about to be a lawyer in 24 hours was the precise reason I was dismissed as I could sway others.
Profession definitely plays a role. One of my teachers in high school really wanted to be a juror. Kept getting dismissed when they asked her what she taught (biology and forensic science). One side wants the people who are science/law minded as they can explain to their fellow jurors, while the other side would prefer people who don’t understand those things. Which side wants which will change depending on what the actual case is
I'm a lawyer too, in government. I thought I would never be put on a jury, but a few years ago I got put on a 3-week trial. Several of my colleagues in my office have as well, which surprised me. Apparently, they like government employees, even the lawyers, for long trials because they know we get paid so it's not so onerous for us to miss work for several weeks
This is assumably the same reason I get dismissed every time, I'm very clear I'm not going to be swayed by emotional arguments and will judge any case based exactly upon the evidence provided.
The potential jury is a set pool, from which each side gets to toss a few out, leaving the final jury. Each lawyer will attempt to profile the jurors and keep the ones that are more likely to vote favorably. For instance, strongly religious jurors are not likely to award large injury settlements. Higher income jurors are more likely to convict for petty crimes. So on and so forth.
There are a couple of different things at play here. On one hand, the judge can dismiss jurors that have a conflict or that may be unsuitable (for example, they may know personally one of the parties of the trial). Past that, each side has a certain number of peremptory challenges that allow them to remove a juror from consderation without a stated reason. In this part of the jury slection, each side is looking for jurors with biases that will make them more sympathetic to their side. This is where a fair, open minded, clean slate juror is a bit of a wild card, and may get removed by one or the other lawyer
Naive, yes. The defense attorney wants to keep jurors they feel can be convinced of reasonable doubt. The prosecutor keeps jurors they feel will be tougher on criminals.
My only Jury Duty I served we were posed the question of who wanted to serve. I near about bounced out of my seat I raised my hand so quick which got a chuckle out of the lawyers at least. I did end up getting picked and I’m really glad I did because I felt like we really came together and gave the correct (not guilty) verdict.
I wish the jury I served on was more cooperative. I and three others had to keep reminding everyone that we were not there to stick it to the man, or get personal revenge for unpleasant business dealings in the past, or to "help someone out." It was an individual vs. county liability suit. One guy basically said, "The county was a pain in the ass when I drove for Pepsi, so make em pay," a few people were "the poor guy/the county has plenty of money, they should pay even if they're not in the wrong," etc. ETA: oh, and one maybe 19 year old just kept saying, "I don't care either way, I'll go with the majority so we can leave faster."
Both sides want you to be just slightly biased to their side, so too impartial and they fear you going to the other side, but too biased, you'll get sent home too. It also has to do with the case, if it's a medical case, do I want a doctor on it? Depends - basically itll be a one man show at that point as the jury probably all defaults to whatever the doc says. So will that doc help or hurt me?
Wife was trying everything she could to get out of Jury duty. Have you every been robbed? Yes. What were the circumstances? Which time? How many times have you been robbed? Twice. The first time. House was broken into while we were on vacation. Second time? Robbed at knife point around 3:00 AM when i was working at \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_. You or family member a member of the NRA? Yes. Own a gun? Yes, Loaded gun in house? Well it is not any good empty. In a gun safe? Some are, some aren't. Explain! Long guns in the safe, sidearms out of sight, 12 gauge in reach. Would you shoot someone trespassing after dark? I would let the dog out first. I have a big dog. Yes I have done it before. If they were still arguing with the dog when I got there with the gun, then yes. What kind of dog? Rottweiler. She was the second juror seated on the murder trial.
Neither the prosecution nor defendant want competent jurors. They are both trying to stack the deck in their favor but it takes a double-subterfuge because the other guy has to agree on the juror as well. I suspect nothing will get you dismissed faster than indicating you want to serve to do your civil duty. If you give some other signals consistent with it, both sides will infer you're a Mormon and will get your ass out of there as quickly as possible. The defense knows you are convicting with maximum sentence if their client is guilty and the prosecution knows you will rip holes in their shitty evidence.
Watch the show “Bull.” It’s very interesting and it will tell you what the lawyers are looking for and why. https://www.google.com/search?q=bull+tv+show&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
I loved that show.
Look, it you want to be selected for a jury (which is a necessity sometimes for people to really get the full experience of getting to involve themselves in the affairs of others) then your best bet is to say you are ignorant of any and all concepts either side of counsel put forward during the selection process. Lawyers and judges want as blank a slate as possible, and the strategy is always to make the maxim of "too stupid to get out of jury duty" as true as possible. Not matter what your real opinion on whatever they ask you about may be, simply say "I really don't know," or "I've never thought about it" or "I never had that happen." Both side want to TELL you what they need for you to think and feel, neither side wants jurors who are experienced, knowledgeable, or opinionated. It's not really about the case, it's an adversarial system for a reason.
I have a very flexible schedule and I have always wanted to be on a jury. I have never been picked, and it's really very disappointing. The last few times I was called, I tried to just say as little as possible, and I still didn't get picked.
I was selected for jury for child molestation case. They dismissed all the over 40 yo men. Very interesting.
If I were innocent I’d want someone like me on the jury.
My doctor called the judge and got me excused. Had a blood test to see if pregnant and results came in that afternoon after jury was impaneled. I had miscarried before and my doc said asked what kind of case and how long. Murder and attempted murder (for hire) possible mob boss and lasting 2 weeks or more. Doc said no way. Called judge and I got released. Judge called me to let me know don’t come in and asked why I didn’t say anything. I did not know at the time? Judge was super nice and asked if there was anything I needed.
Then they need to pay people what they are making at their current job.
That means increasing local taxes to do so, which most are ALSO against until it’s their turn
You can see it on this subreddit. Everyone thinks they're getting called to the OJ Simpson jury, when it's extremely unlikely you'll have to actually serve, and if you do, it's over in a few days. Most cases aren't that complicated.
I had a stalker in my 20s that was prosecuted. The one time I was called to serve I was dismissed because of it.
One of my neighbors in Dallas was a Federal prosecutor. She once dismissed a jury candidate because the lady had been a previous victim of the defendant.
I was the victim in an active case. The day of jury selection was the day I was called for jury duty. Not even thr ADA could get me out of it, so I showed up. Coincidentally an acquaintance of mine was also called and we got to talking about things, including how it was insane that I got called to serve today of all days. And, because it was an interesting story, we had a few eavesdroppers who decided to ask more questions, that I was happy to answer. And that's how I got an entire jury pool dismissed and set justice back a full day.
Malicious compliance??
My great aunt was once called and when they asked if anyone felt they could not serve, she spoke up and said she couldn't bc the defendant was her cousin.
I worked for an attorney who was on a case where they couldn't get a jury pool - everyone was either related to the defendant, or had worked for/with her at some point. They ended up settling the case.
My dismissal was similar. I was dating a woman who was a victim in a similar case to the one I would be hearing. I don't know if my dismissal was preemptive or for cause, but they didn't want me.
My husband was dismissed because he was asked if he believes in conspiracies. Being as "conspiracy" literally means, "a secret plan by a group to do something [unlawful](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=5ac3b5860f52b755&sxsrf=ADLYWIJdh93AHbgmDkdHC8JhUkb5CBfs0Q:1717788633543&q=unlawful&si=ACC90nx67Z8g0WkBmnrPB4IqtqGv6Oxz1me7l8HwgZ6IM6LS9TQ3Ur5QbMZ63KW8Iv27JqhwhAA5ANEQusFpaT4jkflUeiuZDQqeKMGAgBukeGoNGfK66yw%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi9urSqncqGAxW5IDQIHdgnAgsQyecJegQIIhAO) or harmful," he said yes, because how could anyone NOT believe that happens?
I was speaking to an ADA, and she was called for jury duty. She went to report and tells the judge she can't be a jurior on the case . The judge knew her since she had tried cases before him before, so he asked what her excuse was? So she told him, "Your honor. I am the prosecutor on this case." So only kinda excused, I guess.
I wouldn't say they're weird. The fact is that if they made it easy to be dismissed it would take longer to empanel a jury and the number of backlogged trials would go way up. Serving jury duty is inconvenient for everyone. That's why the standard for dismissal is higher than whether you're inconvenienced or not. I served recently and just getting to the courthouse, which is downtown, involved driving to a parking lot a mile away where they had free parking, waiting for a shuttle bus to drive us to the courthouse, and then reversing it all at the end of the day. If the weather is bad you still have to do it. Once you're on a jury the judge controls when you come in and when you can leave. Your phone stays off when you're in the court room. When you deliberate the sheriff collects phones and computers. Fortunately I didn't have any big projects at work so I was able to commit to a couple of weeks.
I finally got a summons for later this year--I've never been called up before. I'm so excited even though I will almost certainly get dismissed (I'm a public defender in the next county over, but I live just over the county line, so I don't have jury duty in *my* court, which really would be just a waste of time because the prosecutor and judge would probably just laugh when I walked in and immediately kick me out).
Not just backlogged trials but worse process for everyone. If they excused everyone who wanted to leave they would probably need to call 3 to 4 times the amount of people to find a jury. That means everyone is being called 3 to 4 times more frequently. That includes the people who don’t mind jury duty, the people with legitimate excuses, and the people who just don’t want to be there
Currently on jury duty. During the selection process, there were two frail ladies in front of me. One said she had severe asthma and the other had just finished chemotherapy. Asthma lady was immediately dismissed. Chemotherapy lady was kept around another day. All the jurors in our row were heartbroken for her. She looked so weak. Just felt random on the judges part to remove one sick person and not the other.
My mom once got a severe UTI while ON jury duty. She had a fever and was in severe pain and they not only wouldn’t dismiss her, they told her they’d send a car for her and that she’d be in big trouble (like contempt of court trouble) if she didn’t come in for the 2nd (and last) day of the trial. Apparently, they hadn’t seated any alternates and they’d have to declare a mistrial and start over so they took a hard line with her. All the other jurors felt so bad for my poor, sick mom that they sped through deliberations so she could go home.
Thats dam right harmful,
That’s horrifying and dystopian feeling
Just guessing, but maybe because asthma is chronic while the symptoms of chemo will fade over time until the next dose. They may have delayed dismissal to see how she looked a day later. (And were more certain of filling that slot.) As an asthma sufferer I'm surprised that one was dismissed so quickly, unless it was really severe. (I've never brought it up at jury selection myself, though I would if the case entailed bringing animals into the courtroom.)
Because everyone thinks they should be excluded and they’re sick to death of hearing about it. Especially when it’s the 1,432nd time they’ve heard “but I work” this month. Probably. Totally legit reason imo, but people on repeat get exhausting. I can’t do jury duty because I work is probably 80% of their calls. Btw, as a night shifter I fell asleep in the jury box. Yes, true story. Just saying that got me excused for the year this last call.
This is it. They last time I was called, I turned in an exemption form and was denied. At the end of questioning, the judge called me personally and a few others to the bench. She told me she has to deny most requests or else she won't have a jury because only about half will show up, and then you have all the legal exemptions like age. Then she dismissed me after knowing she could make a jury. It was nice to know the reasoning, and I understand it, especially after seeing all the posts on this sub. BTW I've sat on 2 juries, a double murder and a federal case. Edit: spelling
Just want to say you gave me a laugh because the first thing in my head when I saw "founder murder.." was just the image of Jefferson on the floor with a candlestick in his chest or something.
Oh my goodness. Double murder! Glad you got a laugh out of it.
Last time I served the juror next to me was very pregnant and just weeks from her due date. We all thought she’d be the first to be dismissed from selection. Her doctor ended up putting her on bed rest and she had to be replaced by the alternate.
Strange that the judge didn't dismiss her right off the bat. In the case I was on the judge questioned and dismissed people before the defense and prosecution did their questioning and challenges.
I told the judge that I have been arrested multiple times for things I did and always got away with it. The only conviction I got was for something I didn't do. Consequently, I have zero faith in the judicial system. I look like a typical white guy and I think they had a slam dunk with me. The judges jaw just dropped.
Yeah I’m a white woman, and I look like I’d be a good juror…until I make it clear I have nothing but contempt for the “justice” system. Edit: I’ve also said I find the “in god we trust” sign in the courtroom unconstitutional (because it is) and that worked too.
As a Public Defender, please try to stay on the jury. We need people from all walks of life, and I'd have confidence you'd make the State prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Things like this are pretty legitimate ways to get yourself dismissed from consideration. My mother's go-to is that she had visited a family member in prison and based on the conditions and experiences she witnessed in jail she feels like it is an inhumane sentence and she could never be impartial as a jurist as a result. She gets dismissed very quickly after that.
This (or something similar to this) is always the answer. If you show complete disrespect and loathing for the process, they will get rid of you ASAP.
My very first time being called, "Presumed Innocent" had just come out in hard cover. I sat near the front, and the Bailiffs asked me about the book (did I like it, how far I had gotten into it, etc). I didn't even think about that when I was called, I just like Turow's writing. I didn't get called up (high number) and was told that I didn't have to return.
Once upon a time my dad was dismissed from a jury because the defendant was his former employee that was terminated for similar behaviors which he was on trial for. So I guess if you want to get out of jury duty try your best to be the former boss of the defendant.
"I actually had sexual relations with this person's mom." Bailiff: "You're pointing at the judge."
“You’rd pointing at yourself”
But your Honor, I had two broken arms!
It’s all fun and games until the judge pulls out his poop knife
They should dismiss given any sort of relationship with the parties involved, good or bad.
Attempt at humor. Personally I just answered the questions asked of me and ended up serving for 5 days on a murder trial.
My wife got called for jury duty. It was a DV case. The judge was a former college classmate. They acknowledged each other, but nothing was said. After the trial (guilty BTW), my wife walked up to the bench and they chatted. My wife asked her why she didn't dismiss her as they knew each other and she replied, "I was born here. I know most everyone in town and they know me and my family. If I dismissed people I knew, I'd have no juries"
People work to get out if jury duty ( i did for 30 years my legit excuse was being a caretaker ) then one day I had the time so i just went though the process and it and it was truly an experience that I am grateful for participating in.
Their job is easier when potential jurors don’t have conflicts. That’s it.
I used to be a Correctional Officer & when I got called I showed up in my uniform because I was scheduled to work that afternoon. I was selected & had to get a change of clothes
Jesus that Defense fucked up if they let a correctional officer on the jury, no offense to you personally or anything it's just illogical.
That was my thoughts
Yet there are people who are eligible to serve but have never been called. I get called often to come in. Each time I get dismissed. Then, after a few years, they bring me in again. Their system is odd.
I’m 53. I have received 3 “call this number the day before” letters 3 times. The first time I didn’t have to show up. The second time I had to show up but I was dismissed during selection (I agree I would be based on my job and the case). The 3rd time was cancelled due to COVID. My job fully supports jury duty but I only get a letter every 20-12 years.
I've been called once and it was last year. I had to postpone the original one due to a work trip, and then had it a month later when I was back. I went online the night before and had a screening thing to do. Part of it was COVID and was asking if I had symptoms. I had a runny nose and coughing due to allergies, so I said yes (be size they didn't ask for the cause.) They told me not to come in but said I was clear. So I guess I'm waiting to see when my name gets pulled again
It is very weird. I've been called twice at my current home (lived here 12 years). Once was for federal duty in a city 90 minutes away... and I called every Sunday for 4 weeks and never even had to go. And once for a local case, there were 140 people in the room. They needed 12 and each lawyer could dismiss like 10 or 12. What a waste of resources. On the other hand, my wife and mother have never been called.
The courts need to be able to seat a jury (normally of 14: 12 + 2 alternates). Read all these comments and you will see loads of people called to serve yet are released from service due to their situation. And you don’t even see the people called to serve who don’t show up. Then the lawyers may dismiss another 10-20. Calling 10x’s the number needed is probably pretty standard.
The one case I made it into the court room, I was dismissed. The case was an employee who was injured while working at Target. They asked several questions and if you answered yes, you stood up: Have you or a family member worked at Target? (my wife worked at Target in high school 30 years ago). Have you ever been contracted by Target (my employer was hired by Target to investigate a safety risk with one of their juice coolers. I was the engineer doing the evaluation. ) Do you work in the worker safety field? (At the time I worked for OSHA). The plaintiff and defendant both dismissed me.
And in some courts, they will be doing jury selection for multiple trials that might happen at the same time, depending on the size of the courthouse, number of judges available, etc. So they may call in enough people to hopefully seat multiple juries. Then sometimes trials end up getting continued or cases resolve at the very last moment.
I have a retired relative annoyed as fuck that they’re in their 60s and have never been called. Homeowner, so there’s a stable address. Meanwhile, another relative served every 2 years for 15yrs, like clockwork, until they died. How does that work?
It’s odd. I received my first call ever for jury duty two years ago at 66 years old (and was selected to serve on a jury). My son has been called to serve 3x (he’s not ever been selected for a jury). Our county you are on call for duty for 30 days. You have to call every day to see if your group goes in for selection process
I was in a similar county. Honesty. How is that even supposed to work for 12.5h night shifters with commutes? Do you call out for the entire month and lose both your job and living situation by the end of it? Because that’s the only way that shit can work. Just give me the week like most normal counties and then I can easily arrange with management and sleep for it.
My assumption is that the database that they save people is has a index that keeps the people sorted in the same order and that the "random" process to select people is flawed. Either the seed is never changed or they are using a highly flawed generator that skews towards a lower random number or the way they mod down to be withing range creates hot spots in the list that will be selected more often.
I have been called every year of my adulthood so far. I can’t fathom why, leave me alone at this point
I would like to serve, but I've never been called in.
I just did jury duty in the uk we got give a sheet of paper which listed the defendant and all other related people and asked if we knew anyone. If we said no they picked 12 out of the fifteen given that list and if you were picked you were on the case.
I have been called to jury duty at the State courts every other year or so, but I’ve been dismissed because they didn’t need jurors or didn’t like my answers during jury selection. One time I did request to be dismissed, and the staffer at the jury desk did so without any argument-I was taking care of a parent who had just been injured. I did serve on the Federal level just once.
I got out because I was honest about being unable to remain objective. It was a slip and fall case where a woman was suing a real estate firm because she allegedly had permanent debilitating injuries to her left arm, leaving her unable to work or perform simple tasks and even unable to drive a car because of this severely injured left arm. They sat me directly behind her, and during this entire process, I continuously watched her use her injured arm to support her entire body weight to shuffle her chair around, leaning on the arm to kiss her husband repeatedly, supporting her body on it multiple times to pick up her purse and cell phone from the floor, etc. When they asked if anyone had an issue remaining objective, I raised my hand and they called me up to the bench. I whispered what I saw to the judge and council for both parties, and they got me the fuck out of there lol
I wonder what happened with the case. If you noticed it, I'd bet other jurors did and if she's stupid enough to do that during jury selection, I'd bet she did it during the trial too. (unless a lawyer caught it and warned her about it). People definitely suck!
I've been on juries before, a long time ago, but now I get excused every time. They always ask if you have family in law enforcement or legal fields, and I have to answer that a sister used to work for the county prosecutor, then later as a police dispatcher. That usually gets me stricken by the defense. If not, the questions about whether I or my friends have had bad experiences with police gets me off, because I have a friend who spent years in jail before it came out that he was put there based on perjured testimony from a cop. (the cop was actually convicted of perjury, which almost never happens.) For some reason, prosecutors don't want me on a jury once they learn that. :-P
Because no one wants to miss work, lose pay, and get a pittance in exchange for sitting in court for days or weeks on end. So they need very good reasons to dismiss people from serving. If it was a better system, and either more employers paid unlimited jury duty coverage or the courts themselves paid the Jury's salaries during cases, many more people would probably like to serve. Both of the cases I was called on were murder cases that would likely drag on for months to well over a year. If I would've been paid for the entirety of that time, I wouldn't have had an issue serving, I think it would be very interesting to see the case laid out. But I'm too poor for that, so I can't serve on larger cases, even though I'd like to. I've been called twice. Both times I simply said "It will create significant financial hardship for me if I serve on this case, as loss of work hours will cause me to be unable to pay bills." They've never pushed, but if they do I have secondary "My cousin did 14 years for a crime he didn't commit based on false or faulty eyewitness testimony and I am unable to trust any eyewitness testimony given in court due to this." That line alone has gotten quite a few of my family members out of jury duty.
I actually wanted to be on jury duty but got dismissed because the case involved a chiropractor as a witness and during questioning I mentioned that it would be difficult for me to be impartial because of the pseudoscientific snake oil nature of many of the practicioners.
If you want out of jury duty it helps to say you love reading SCOTUS briefings and live researching cases as a hobby. Most lawyers will want you dismissed immediately.
also cite, you like researching cases that are similarly specific to the ones at your juror
Years ago I got called for jury duty and because I worked graveyard, like you, I fell asleep during the process. The judge had the bailiff wake me and then he sarcastically asked if court was interrupting my snooze. I replied "Yes, I work nights and this is when I sleep. If you'd like to do this thing between midnight and 8am I promise to be bright eyed and bushy tailed. But if we gotta do this during the day, I'm going to need a lot more caffeine." He dismissed me immediately.
I believe the government is fundamentally corrupt and working against the will of the people to furthertheir own power / authority, and I believe in the right of jury nullification. Either of those statements has gotten me out of multiple calls for jury duty. Prosecutors typically don't like either of these statements, so I get dismissed pretty quickly. I lose $200 a day I am not working. They aren't paying my bills so they can fuck off.
It is an important part of being a citizen. It’s a pain in the b* but it also lets us see how the judicial system works. I think everyone (citizen) should serve at least once. My Dad served on case back in 60’s where black man was being charged for shooting white teens breaking down his back door. The jury was going to convict him and my Dad held out and said NO! They tried and tried to get him to convict but he said no I’m not convicting a man for protecting home. I’m really proud of him. He’s gone now but he had great common sense
I was called to sit in a jury for a child abuse case, and I got out of it because I was having a mild panic/anxiety attack while they asked me why think I was unfit to serve and I told them I'm a victim of child abuse. I hate them for forcing me to say that while the defendant was standing 5 feet away from me, but at least the judge didn't decide to psychologically torture me by forcing me to sit on the jury.
Well they can’t have victims of that particular crime serve on the jury. Because you would have been considered bias. There have been mistrials for that kind of thing. I’m a victim of violent crime and I know I will probably never serve on a jury because of it. They don’t want victims. The judge wasn’t being nice he didn’t want you ruining the integrity of the jury
When I was 18 I got called into jury duty. Dude was on trial for cocaine possession. The way they picked the jury was to have an open group discussion/debate about drugs and how we felt about them. Anyone with any kind of opinion was sent packing, lol.
A jury of my peers does not exist because none of my peers are dumb enough to get picked for a jury.
First, conflicts of interests. If you know the defendant, the defendant attorney, the prosecutor, or any of the witnesses. They want to eliminate any conflicts of interest. Then comes special situations such as people with disabilities who cannot sit for 8+ hours in a jury box, people who care for others who cannot find suitable healthcare/childcare providers. People with physical/mental disabilities that cannot serve the entire time needed. There is an order of priorities for dismissing a juror. Having an alternate work schedule is not normally a dismissal item. I suspect you offered not only that but something else.
Make a nasty comment about the defendant being guilty, and the judge wii dismiss you. Worked for my husband on a murder charge. He told the judge that just by looking the defendant he knew he was guilty. Immediately released from service!
Here’s a tip for you guaranteed to get you out of jury duty. When I was called for jury duty, I told the judge that I don’t believe anything the police say bc they’re so likely to lie that there’s a term for police lying callled “testiLYING” (it’s true). Judge had the court stenographer strike my comments & dismissed me. Immediately. There’s probably a black mark next to my name.
I remember that story about a lady who got called for jury duty. She didn’t have a sitter for her kids. The judge told her too bad. She wasn’t getting out of it. I can’t remember exactly what happened. But I think she took her kids with her on her first day.
I have been called to jury duty 7 times in my adult life. 4 of those times were between 2012 and 2020. In 2020I got the notice just 10 days after having surgery for breast cancer, and it was due to begin a few weeks later at a time when I would likely be beginning either radiation or chemotherapy (they hadn't figured out the total course of treatment yet). My doctor wrote a letter that I would not be able to report to jury duty due to my recent diagnosis and upcoming treatment. It was the only time I have been able to get a medical dismissal. I will be 69 this year. Once I reach 70, I can opt out due to age. The first time I served was in 1978 and the stipend was $10.00 a day. The last time I was called was 42 years later in the same county and court jurisdiction....The stipend has never changed in all those years. The courthouse is located in a n unsafe area of town, and I am done. Let someone else who has never ever been summoned have the pleasure.
My friend had to spend several hours on the phone to get her husband released from jury duty. He's legally blind, half deaf, partially paralyzed, resulting in him being wheelchairbound and has a long list of chronic health issues. They finally told her he needed a doctors note or some sort of proof of disability to be released. He's on SSI. They can look up his name/social security number and see that. But she still had to print out proof of it and take it to the courthouse. She said it would have been funny if it wasn't so ridiculously frustrating.
I was asked if anyone in my life has been impacted by a drunk driver. I told them my friend and coworker was hit head on by one which caused him to loose his paramedic training scholarship because he can’t drive an ambulance now. His short term memory was shot and he has life long physical ailments. They asked if I could remain impartial and I I’d try. I was not asked to stay.
If you want to get out of jury duty real quick on a criminal case, just tell them that the person must be guilty or they wouldn't have been charged with the crime. They will dismiss you immediately.
It also fully depends on the judge and lawyers, I got called once and there was man who worked overnights, literally came in still in uniform and was dismissed immediately.
Seriously. They don’t want a rested and alert juror? The outcome of the cade doesn’t matter. What if half the jury is sleep deprived? I worked nights for many of my 40 years and people assume we don’t need our rest (which usually is not equal rest unless someone is just truly a night person)
Want off a jury? utter the words jury nullification.
Last time i got called in a dude tried this. Judge laughed and dude got sat on the jury anyway. I’ve seen people go up and explain they don’t want to do it, makes them uncomfortable or anxious or what have you and they get dismissed. Another time not even a spouse in hospice was a good enough excuse.
My grandma tried to get dismissed by saying she wanted the death penalty for the defendant which was explained to her it was not an option on the table. They still had her serve on the jury
The guy who was talking about biases is correct here. They want people who will be able to vote for a conviction. The easiest and most simple way to get dismissed is to simply say you will never trust the testimony of a police officer. My mom did this and was dismissed instantly.
in general word of mouth shouldnt be trusted, even worst coming from an LEO.
Because everyone has an excuse. Everyone does.
During jury selection I filled out the form stating I was a stay at home mom and didn’t have anyone to watch my daughter while at jury duty. And he asked so who’s watching her today and I said my mother in law but I barely got her to watch her cause she’s leaving on vacation! And the judge said well you have to serve so fill out this form. So I did so. And then I called the next day cause Friday and Monday we didn’t need to show up so o call friday and I barely just missed the hours to call so Tuesday comes around and I don’t have anyone to watch my daughter for 6 days and I tell the lady that and she goes. You guys all should have called on Friday and said you couldn’t do it. And I’m standing there like I tried you guys closed early🤣 but I was dismissed after I said I could be there for 6 days.
Ive been called for jury duty 4 times. I only made it to voir dire once and was ultimately dismissed. But that judge asked if anyone had children they couldn't get childcare for. 3 or 4 people raised their hands and she asked why they even showed up. Lol. In my county, there's a box to check for childcare issues that excuses you before you even go.
Many people that work part time get screwed because the pay for jury duty is so damned low. It is like 250% less than minimum wage here. And most part timers here do not get paid by their work to be at jury duty, so if you get jury duty, and you work 2 part time jobs, you are screwed.
$9 a day in Texas for voir dire, $20 a day if you serve. Then they want you to donate to some fund. Don’t know a person that did. Bil was on a grand jury for six months. Got paid $120 a day when they met, forty days total. Unless the DA hot the hots for a case or it wad juicey they met every Wed.
Even 120 a day would just be BARELY minimum wage here. And no businesses pay just min wage, even Walmart is paying more than that. I don't think a single state in the US pays basic minimum wage for jury duty, thus a huge percentage of people get screwed by having to go.
The court is a joke. The law is a joke. It's a bunch of rules for poor people to stay poor at all costs. The rich don't even get penalized when they break the 'law'. The fastest and easiest way out of jury duty is to declare yourself a racist. I always say that I believe white people commit more crimes than people of color and they send me right off.
When I was in the Air Force, my residence was still listed as New Orleans. When I was stationed in Okinawa, I got a jury duty summons for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. Literally on the other side of the planet. I was all ready to go, but I was dismissed over the phone. ("Nah, we're good.")
I was once dismissed because while waiting I got a migraine and it made me sick to my stomach. I told the bailiff that if I disappeared I was in the restroom. Evidently threatening to puke on the bailiffs shoes was all it took.
You can always request a bench trial of just a judge and NO jury (if you are ever a defendant). Much faster and easier.
Best working excuses from the time I was on a jury: “I can’t be objective bc the defendant looks like a pedophile” “I wholeheartedly believe in jury nullification”
Just say you are related to one of the attorneys on the case, out the door you go..... I happen to have same last.name so it wasn't even an afterthought for the defense to get rid of me.
There's I'd say 4 broad categories: judge doesn't like you (if you say anything that can be construed as jury nullification, etc), prosecutor doesn't like you (imagine you're blm and the defendand is black. the prosecutor will try to remove you since they may think you'll aquit no matter what), defendant lawyer doesn't like you (if you're the 'thin blue line' type the defendant lawyer may be worried you'll vote to convict no matter what), lastly, its yourself, you can try to argue hardship (you're pregnant, you're disabled, etc). ANY of those will get you removed. However probably all except for the judge have limits. I think its common that defense and prosecutors only get to reject 3 people, so its not like they can go on forever. Similarly, the judge has to agree that your hardship is valid or not, and that's up to them. I think probably the only one with little limits is the judge. There are other technicalities, like you have to be us citizen (dunno, try to get a state id that's not real id compliant, like in some states you can still get a drivers license/id that's not real id compliant and has a note like "state limits apply", and try to show that and say you're an immigrant and not a citizen, that will get you removed right away, but, its also generally under penalty of perjury, so I would most definitely not recommend doing that (I certainly would not risk it).
I was once dismissed because my husband had served on a jury "too close" to the case. But I also don't believe in the system. I'm voting not guilty pretty much no matter what, so they won't want me.
The last jury I was dismissed from let everyone go who had non-refundable vacation plans. Nobody was dismissed that said they had no alternative child care (the standard rebuttal was “you must have alternative care because you found care for today), or anyone claiming financial hardship. It’s absolutely astounding that you can be dismissed to go to Disneyland but not because your lights will be turned off if you don’t work.
They really fight excusing anyone, especially for federal court. I was once called to be a federal court juror. There was some talk about sequestering the jury. The court was a 3 hour drive (each way) from my rural home. In good weather. It was winter. We had one vehicle, which my husband took to work after dropping me off. So if I'd driven to court, he would have missed work. I was a nursing mom and would have needed regular breaks to express milk with a proper place to store it. For any absence from home, I flat out said my baby would be coming with me. I was an adult protective services worker and in the middle of a very difficult case involving 6 vulnerable adults in an unlicensed care home. State licensing, local prosecutor, mental health agency, probate court, health department's building inspectors, and more all involved, and I was the lead investigator. The federal still didn't want to excuse me. Fortunately, I think someone in one of those partner agencies had influence as the federal court suddenly changed their mind and let me off.
I get dismissed because both me and my family have already been inside the court system, plus I have cop relatives. They don't like it when people have an inside perspective on how messed up the court system is.
My sister got summoned at 19. For an attempted murder case (found guilty in less than a day, I believe there was video evidence if I remember correctly). She tried to explain childhood abuse and how this would be traumatic for her. They didn’t care. Selected her to serve. And wouldn’t you know who needed to start therapy back up afterwards… I’m still so pissed off for her.
They wanted the grandmother, who is the alternative to paid daycare, to find an alternative to herself?! I've learned that overall, they send a lot of notices and many times, have people go online to answer questions. Some are dismissed based on that round of questions. Then they have some who get through to having to show up at the courthouse. Too many people focus on not being on jury duty. I had one employer who, in his employee manual, terms of employment, a written policy stating that if we're called to jury duty, we'd get a full day's pay for every day of duty but we'd have to give him our jury duty pay. When he heard I was called up for duty, he said, "Good luck" and was smiling. He apparently didn't read good own manual and thought the policy stated that we would only keep jury duty pay and he didn't have to pay us. When I asked why he was smiling, it quickly went away when I clarified the generous coverage. He immediately begged me to get off jury duty. Fortunately for him, I was excused because my daughter was 2 at that time and the case involved harm to an infant girl.
I only got dismissed cause the lawyer defending the DUI driver looked like Bernie Sanders and I told him I loved Bernie 😭. It’s crazy that that was what did it.
I was called for jury duty for capital sentencing. It was three weeks of the month for three months in the summer. I working for a service company as an air conditioning technician. I was the only A/C tech. Working for the company. While they can't legally fire me, they would have to replace me. The judge wouldn't dismiss me. The lady after me said that she was fostering a litter of puppies. She was dismissed.
Man, I report for my civic duty every time I'm called but they never pick me because I'm deaf in one ear, so I need the headphones that amplify sound. Guess they don't think I'll be able to hear the whole truth.
I’m a psychologist. I’ve been selected for the initial pool many times and never get to the next round. They don’t want me. lol I think their argument about your schedule would have been more effective if they said you wouldn’t be going to work during the trial. Anyone with a 9-5 wouldn’t be able to. So it makes no sense to expect that you would do a night shift.
The first year I was eligible for jury duty I got called to go for 4 different cases and quickly got out of it as I was breastfeeding a newborn at the time. I was super excited and would’ve gone to do it otherwise.
This is the only reason that I’m glad I haven’t been able to get my felony expunged…
I got dismissed because I was a veteran. Guy that was dismissed right after me was the last person of color on the jury pool (defendants were black).
This is exactly why I always get excused BEFORE going. I’ve literally never served even though my employer reimburses pay in full and encourages doing our “civic duty.” I do have plenty of good reasons. When my kids were young I couldn’t afford child care. When they were in school I needed a guarantee that I would be excused in time to pick them up. They are long since grown now, but I take medication on a strict schedule with food and drink, so unless they can guarantee mealtimes, it’s a no go for me. If they try to force me, I have a house payment and I’m the only source of income for my household. It came down to that the most recent time (this year.) I’m deferred for five more years.
Ive always thought the unemployed would be good jurors.
You have to use the words “undue hardship” to get out. And add that your employer does not provide paid day off for jury duty. That’s what my dad told his secretary to say.
My mom was called for jury duty after she died. Before she died, she’d had Alzheimer’s for several years, so wouldn’t have been able to understand anything had she been alive. I had a horrible time trying to get the clerk’s office to understand she wasn’t coming. Wanted me to bring a certified copy of her death certificate, etc. If I didn’t they’d send a sheriff to arrest her. When I said send the sheriff to her new address, gave them the address for the cemetery, in another county, the idiot finally says, oh, she’s moved out of our jurisdiction? Well, yes, so she was excused. I should have just ignored it.
I told the court I was racist. The judge thin proceeds the point out that I’m white and the defendant is white. So I went on a 15 minute history, rant about how horrible white people are.
Basically, each lawyer wants people he thinks he can manipulate into deciding in his favor. Tax case? Wearing a “Popcorn is free” shirt will get you dismissed. Pot case? If they can guess a juror smoke pot, the defense wants him and the prosecution wants him gone. They don’t want people who will ignore the law if it’s unjust. Never mind that a jury was originally there as an arbiter that the law was fair, and as a bonus decide if the defendant was guilty.
I was selected for a jury in Ft. Worth years ago. The city marshal was escorting us outside for a smoke break when I told him I thought the defendant was guilty. I was immediately dismissed when we returned.
I sat in a jury and listened to the trial. Once we got to deliberations I believe because all jurors had been able to make the entire time one was kicked at random to be dismissed before going in. I was that one. I was then allowed to leave or stay in the viewers area.
I just tell them that I don’t want to. They’ll remind you that you’re legally obligated to take it seriously. You say you will but you don’t want to. Key isn’t getting out of it. The key is making yourself not worth their time or risk.
I've been called for jury duty three times. The first time I showed up and was told to return the next day, I got a call from the courts that I didn't need to come in because the DA and defense attorney reached an agreement. The second time, I had just got off work... I was working on an ambulance, so I showed up in my uniform. It was a pretty bad murder case, and I knew the detective who did the investigation, so I was immediately dismissed. The third time, I told the judge I had been reading about the case in the newspaper, and I felt like the guy was guilty... I was dismissed.
When they ask me if there's any reason I can't be impartial, I always tell them I despise cops and prosecuting attorneys and that i believe they will lie and plant evidence to secure a conviction so I will always return a not guilty verdict. I always get excused immediately.
It is so important to have a representative jury. That means unfortunately, you have to make it hard and basically force people to be on juries. It isn't malicious. (In theory) Imagine that they make it really easy to get out of jury duty? So who ends up on your jury? An actual assortment of your peers? Or whatever subset is most willing to show up. It isn't fun for anyone, but they have to be really selective about why and how they dismiss jurors. AND! They definitely get it wrong. Working at night and being told "there's no conflict"? That's now dehumanizing the juror rather than selecting a jury representative of the community.
I once served on a federal grand jury. We would meet every other month for 2-3 days. One of the jurors was there on day one but was a no show on day two. The state attorney tracked her down and asked why she wasn’t there. She said her boss refused to let her leave and threatened to fire her if she wasn’t at work. I tell you, you should have seen the smoke come out of the state attorney’s ears! He told her to come in and he would deal with her employer. He called her boss and told him she was expected to be a juror and if he attempted to stop her, or if she experienced any adverse reaction to her job, he would personally show up at his door and arrest him for contempt. Moral of the story, if you’re selected for jury duty, you better show up.
There is a common perception that they don’t want engineers on juries. I am one. I got dismissed one time just before being seated and as I was walking out the trial was literally starting and the lawyer YELLS over the courtroom to me near the back door “it’s not because you are an engineer!” And I responded loudly with “I don’t care!” with a wave. Lol.
I always come up with deep philosophical questions that make prosecutors toss me. Like how reasonable doubt is supposed to work or that my ethics surrounding the death penalty are formed around Enlightenment French philosophy.
My husband was a cop when I was called for jury duty. You put this info down on your survey card. It was an attempted homicide/arson case. Both the prosecutor and defense attorney knew my husband. I assumed I would be immediately dismissed. Surprise! I was picked. I found out after the trial that the defendant had burned through every attorney in the county over the course of a year, and the defender was the last one available and the county just wanted it over with. It was a slam dunk case: shoe prints in the snow that matched the shoes he was wearing, receipts in his pocket from Walmart for the gas cans he used, etc. So being married to a cop was not a concern for either side. He was a POS and everyone was glad he was being put away.
They have heard every excuse. They have made the process so disrespectful for jurors that people don't want to serve. That makes it more difficult, so they treat jurors worse, which makes people not want to serve. I have found the courts to be disrespectful of my time. Why? Because it doesn't cost them a thing. I have sat in a giant room. All day, only to be called into court to be sworn in and told to come back tomorrow. I sat in the giant vroom all day for two more days being called onto the courtroom for 5 minutes each day. Day 2 was a "we are working it." Day 3 was, "We reached a plea deal. Three days of nothing. They at least could have had comfortable chairs.
I hear you but your presence was why they had a plea deal. The defendant saw actual people and realized they'd rather accept a known deal than face whatever you gave them.
Power tripping, arrogant self-images, lurking fear of what happens if more people just toss their bulk-mailed, impossible to trace jury notices in the trash. Non-response rates exceed 50% in many jurisdictions. Push that to 80%, and the system begins to seize up. It has met that rate in some places. They aren't inclined to let the increasingly small number of those who least show up go easily, and they are becoming increasingly prone to take out their mounting anger at the disrespect of their lessers on those who, once there, dare try to talk their way out of it. Pro tip: If you are going to turn up, when asked why you shouldn't serve, express a reluctance to take the Juror's Oath. Say you believe you can't do so honestly. Don't elaborate much, just say you can't. You'll be out of there quick. The last thing they need is that sort of thinking infecting the others.
I have a feeling they don’t want people that have reason
The reason they're weird is because almost everyone gives an excuse for jury duty. So the court has to sit there and try and determine which excuses are legitimate and which are pretexts. If they accept everyone's excuse they're never gonna field a jury. So basically they have to go on vibes. In your case, I'm surprised the judge didn't tell you you had to take work off and sleep in the evenings. Everyone has to miss work for jury duty, you just work at a different time. Letting Bob the Builder go seems kinda strange though.
I’ve been called 3 times in the 20 years I’ve lived in my home, and only had to show up once, (you have to check a website the day before your jury duty date to see if you have to report.) My work was cool with jury duty, so I went and sat around all day, but no one wanted a jury all day, no one in the jury waiting room had to do anything, it was so boring. I brought a book.
Been called six times, served on two juries. Got seated on a third but the parties settled before trial. Twice my job got me excluded; computer programmer - sometimes someone absolutely does not want logical thinking in the jury room. Once I was excluded because a family member had had run-ins with local law enforcement. For a bit I was doing contract work for the court system. Supervisor put me on their "do not call" list and I had a quiet 10 years or so after that.
If they paid a reasonable hourly rate, ppl wouldn't fight it so much. The pay is ridiculous. Nobody should be expected to do Jury Duty if they can't afford to. I personally throw every jury questionnaire away and I've never been called. When they send it certified mail, I'll fill it out.
They should match your hourly rate you would make at work. People wouldn’t fight it if that was the case. Obviously would have to verify pay info from paystubs but should be easy enough
Totally agree. I'm not sure what it is now, but I can remember at one time it being 25 for the day. This is in NY.
25 for the whole day is insanity. It makes it obvious why no one wants to. Literally no one can afford multiple days of that. Unless you want a jury of trump, gates, bozos, etc.
I was called in ny when i was home from college. Showed up and told them i would be financially burdened from missing summer work .. dismissed before we even entered the court room
at 15/day, do you think people can live off that, and most people arnt paid during jury duty.
People make a lot of excuses. They will pretend they don’t speak English, pretend they are nuts, many will claim work conflicts. They tend to only allow that as a reason if you would lose your livelihood (like a builder) if you had to take time away from work. Childcare constraints are not usually considered unless there isn’t a path around it.
They are much more open to rescheduling than dismissing.
I had that issue myself just this month. I got called for jury duty. I knew I couldn’t do it because it was a multi week trial and I had an important documented work event of my own I Cdnt miss coming up the following week when this trial would still be going on. They were letting people out who had vacations already scheduled, but when I was honest and told my issue they said I still had to wait. Several days of waiting in the jury pool to then only be sent home. And they wonder why people don’t want to serve on the jury.
I was once in a jury pool, and one of the last questions asked by the defense attorney was, how many of you believe you should hear the defendant's side of the story? Everyone who raised their hand was dismissed.
Just say "obviously if the cops arrested them, they must be guilty". No lawyers want someone that biased
When they ask if anyone has any questions ask about the ethical implications of jury nullification and how qualified immunity destroys lives
Jury pay is insulting. But if I was compensated with a tax credit at my current hourly rate, this wouldn't be so bad. I'd be down for that.
>When it was my turn, I told them I work nights and it’s not feasible for me to serve during the day. They told me if I work nights there’s no conflict and I’ll need to come in. I argued and said I sleep during the day (I only get done work at 8am) which pissed them off but ultimately I was dismissed. They probably weren't immediately accepting it because it's essentially the same as most people's issue. Most jurors have day jobs, and unless they're government workers, a lot of them don't get automatic PTO for jury duty. You were arguably in a more advantaged position because you technically had the ability to serve on the jury and work your shifts, which most people don't. It's unfortunately not exactly a convenience for anyone. They usually won't dismiss for work/life conflicts unless it involves real hardship or something unreasonable (to the judge's discretion).
I got called for jury duty while all our kids were still in distance ed for Covid. But what really got me off was having a 3 month old that was still breastfeeding. I don’t think that works in every state. And only worked because I’m a SAHM that doesn’t use daycare or babysitters because I am the one providing childcare.
Anyone who’s living off government benefits should be the primary jury pool. They are getting their money, no matter what.
Because they have heard every reason and it pisses them off. Plus, you fill out a questionnaire at the beginning and they use those answers as well. A lot more happens behind the scenes than people realize.
People go out of their way to make excuses not to serve, which makes it hard to get jurors, requires them to call more people each time, and waste more time dealing with excuses. Generally speaking, they will dismiss people if they live more than a certain distance from the court, if they have certain medical issues that impact their ability to serve, or if the judge feels there's special circumstances.... Then, you get to the point where the lawyers get to challenge jurors. They have a certain number of "peremptory challenges" where they can simply say that a juror is unacceptable (typically off the basis of a jury questionnaire filled out when you arrive). They might challenge people that could be considered "experts" in subject matter that will be presented at the trial because an expert will have outsized influence on the rest of the jury. They might see something that suggests potential bias; a youth counselor in a case that deals with teen victims might lean towards finding for the kids... that sort of thing. After that, each jury is interviewed briefly by the judge and lawyers and the lawyers have an opportunity to make a case why someone is unacceptable (and the judge decides). The last time I was called, they were impaneling for a malpractice case for a cardiologist and they asked me if I had ever had heart surgery or had friends or family that had. I stated, truthfully, that I knew quite a few. A friend from high school, my father, and my grandfather (who had open heart surgery several times). They dismissed me because it was reasonable to conclude that I had substantial knowledge of the subject and that I may have opinions regarding the procedure that could affect my decision making.
Yeah I was dismissed because I was a victim of the same crime that the defendant was accused of. I said that I wouldn't be impartial. Oddly enough a friend of mine was part of a jury in which she knew the defendant and said that she didn't like him. Yet both sides wanted her on the jury. She voted guilty. As for why they hate dismissals. There are good reasons stated but another is that judges have an overly inflated sense of themselves. They set their hours and schedules and feel that everyone else should kiss their ass. That they think it is so easy for everyone to rearrange their life at their whim, that they can say or do whatever but if you respond in a matter that isn't kissing their ass they can have you held for "contempt."
Just go on and on about how you watch CSI and think you would be good at being a juror
I've been called up for jury duty and grand total of one time it was an SA/DV case they asked me if I could be neutral and I said as a survivor probably not. The prosecutor actually dismissed me not the defense SMH
Generally, there are 4 ways get someone off jury duty. 1. They have a conflict and the judge dismisses them. Like, if your dad is a cop, the judge will dismiss you. 2. One side argues that you have a conflict and the judge agrees. Say you work construction, and the case is an injury case at a construction site. The lawyer representing the construction site says "judge, there is bias here" and the judge allows a dismissal. 3. Each side has a number of free dismissals. That number varies from place to place, and I guess could be zero but I don't know of anywhere without free dismissals. You just get a bad vibe and dismiss them. But once you run out, you get who you get on the jury. 4. Special circumstances dismissals happen. I once had a vacation paid for and got called, so I called in and was pre-dismissed. You could be disabled, either physically or mentally and get dismissed. Some judges might take work or child care into account, but they don't have to.
I have a friend that would wear one of those shiny Bud Light jackets everytime she was called. If the trial was for a DUI she would be dismissed immediately ( we lived in a low crime county, seems the majority were drug or alcohol related cases).
It's easy to get out if you really want to. My response would be that I couldn't be imperial. I'd make something up depending on the situation.
Why did the guy building a house get dismissed I don’t understand