What’s up with celebrities and jury duty? You never hear about Paul Newman or Jennifer Lopez on a jury for some grisly murder trial that drags on for months, or for something more ordinary. Are celebrities exempt because of the notoriety that their presence would bring to the case? If so, how big of a celebrity do you have to be to avoid jury duty? Or is it just because celebrities have more scheduling conflicts than the rest of us mortals, like gigs to play, movies to shoot, appearances to make, etc.? Maybe I’m just not reading the right publications (read: tabloids), but I never hear about it.
The last time that I was on jury duty here in Manhattan, I was called for a jury panel with Jane Hanson, a local newscaster, and Jay Oliva, the president of New York University. None of us got picked for the case, though.
If those weren’t big enough celebrities for you, also in my jury pool (though not on a panel for a case with me) was Martin Scorcese. I heard that he got picked for a case, but the case settled before they had to deliberate.
Mayor Giuliani served jury duty and sat on a case through to verdict once, to some local noteriety. Judith Kaye, the chief judge of New York was also called, but I believe she was not picked for a case.
I’d imagine they’d have to show up like everyone else. I would also think that any attorney would not want a celebrity on the jury. In this case, the “famousness” would have to be enough for the attorney to know you.
Perhaps they also do it for the celebrity’s own protection. People on juries would rather remain anonymous, in case some wacko doesn’t like the verdict.
Disclaimer: This is all speculation, and none of it fact.
I have had two friends who have served on jury duty (one even on the same jury) with local celebrities (in both cases TV reporters).
Probably some celebrities feel that it is their duty to serve or they don’t mind having a break from their regular jobs.
I believe that in California you can only be excused from jury duty if you are on probation, parole, or are deemed mentally incompetent. I asked a jury supervisor if judges had to serve and she said that they did.
There was a case in NYC where Deidre Coleman Imus, wife of radio celebrity Don Imus, was called for jury duty. When she asked to speak privately with the Judge on her status, he got angry and threatened her with contempt of court. Imus shot back on his radio program, and the judge sued him for defamation. I don’t think anything came of it.
In reference to BobT, I’m not sure of all the minutia of California law, but being a resident myself (s.f. bay area), I have gotten out of jury duty a couple times recently while I was a temp on the grounds that an extended period of time on a jury would put me in financial jeopardy. I never had trouble from the government on this one. Now I have a permanent job, and when I got called a few months ago and would have been paid by my work while I served on a jury, I was informed they didn’t need me! So I still haven’t served on one…
Many big celebrities have well-known political stances, or at least easily found out philosophies. If you’re a known quantity, one lawyer or the other would probably strike you out. Although I guess that only applies were the selection process is long enough to allow for research.
I wonder how the jury would act. If Paul Newman or Walter Mondale was in the same jury as you, wouldn’t you have a tendency to defer to them?
I’d have to give the nod to Muttrox on this one. I think lawyers on both sides would never pick a celebrity juror for fear their opinion would steer the jury. They would be too distracting to the case, and there would be a lot of concern people might vote based on the celebrity’s vote depending on whether they liked/ hated them.
“Oh Brittney Spears is on my jury. Oh, and she’s voting guilty…Then maybe if I vote that way, she’ll go out with me…”
Shrub got called for Jury Duty in Austin a few years ago. He filled out the questionnaire and everything, and the judge said he didn’t expect the governor to serve. So he didn’t.
Robin
Well, there’s always checking our Archives as a way to discover interestin’ bits of info…
I was referring to getting out of jury duty in California forever. Not just getting out of it when called. For example, my 96-year old grandmother is a nursing home would still be considered eligible for jury duty and could get called although she would likely be dismissed.
gotcha, BobT. Thanks for specifying…