I just received my notification I’m called for jury duty in August. My day is a Thursday, and I’m curious if there’s any day one is more likely than another to be empanelled. For instance, I’ve heard that the ‘best’ day of the week to be called is Friday, because they’re trying to wrap things up for the week, so they can start “fresh” on Monday morning, so they almost always send everyone home. As a consequence, Monday is the “worst” day to be called, because there’s a higher likelihood of being empanelled.
Has anyone else heard this? (Or did I imagine the whole thing?)
FTR, I’m kind of looking forward to this, because I doubt I’ll actually be empanelled, and the city I have to report to is a nice sea-side tourist town with lots of good pubs. So, I figure I get an afternoon off in exchange for a morning sitting in the waiting room reading a book (also a pleasant enough prospect). Unless I get empanelled.
I’m in Massachusetts, BTW, if that matters.
You get assigned a day? For the local court, we are given a number and a timeframe (e.g. 3 weeks) and then told to call in daily to see if you need to show up. There is a recording that says numbers x to x need to show up – the more serious the crime, the more prospective jurors they call. Federal court was a bit different.
I’ve been summoned three times and I’ve never even made it to the voir dire process.
Judges have a pretty easy schedule IME. Yes, they tend to work more on Mondays and less on Fridays. And if a holiday is coming, you can expect to be let out early…
In Michigan, we are also assigned a day. We have the “one day or one trial” policy. You come in on your day and if you don’t get a trial, you go home. If you get a trial, you serve it.
Never heard much about the different days of the week affecting it. Last time I had jury duty, it was on a Monday, I did get a trial, and I worked the entire week on it.
Cool case, though. Violent crime against an innocent victim. Put the guy in prison for 20 years with no parole. Was the foreman and got to read the dude his verdict and listen to the judge read the sentence. The look on his face was priceless. Again, he totally deserved it.
Yes, I’ve been summoned three times and each time I’ve been given a day. The typical drill is that the day before my scheduled date, after 3 PM (or thereabouts) I can call to see if I really need to show up the next morning. The last time I had JD I was compelled to show up, but was sent home around noon without being empanelled. The time before that I was excused.
Each jurisdiction is going to work differently as to when is the “good” day to be called for jury duty. In my county, jurors are asked to come in on Thursday or Wednesdays only. Wednesdays tend toward criminal, Thursdays are usually civil cases.
Our county also has the “one day or one trial” rule. Your obligation is settled for a year by showing up when called. For some reason, I have been called quite a few times since we have lived in our current house. I have never been chosen for jury duty. They usually let us go around 2 pm because they have picked a jury or the need for a jury no longer exists. Apparently a number of criminal cases will settle if the accused is told a jury is waiting to be assembled.