don’t show up early.
In my city, you are given a number when you show up, and you have to sit in numerical order. They ask some general questions, then start with #1, then #2, etc. Needing 6 jurors for the jury, they got to #8
In my experience, names were chosen at random; didn’t matter when you arrived.
I was recently called for jury duty for the first time. I served on a jury for a four day criminal trial. Here’s what I did to get on the jury:
1 - Get a low juror number. Not much about this is in your control, but it’s probably the thing that got me on the jury more than anything else.
2 - Show some willingness to be on the jury. Sure, it was an inconvenience. But it probably would have been worse (timing-wise) if I’d deferred.
3 - Answer the question about the Trayvon Martin case somewhat open-endedly. I said I thought it was a travesty, but had I been on the jury, I probably would have acquitted as well.
4 - Have clear command of the English language.
That’s about it. If you don’t want to be on the jury, do one of those differently.
(I thought the trial was pretty interesting, am glad I did it, and would do it again. Yeah, go justice!)
What kind of crime takes four days to adjudicate? (If you can say. Just curious)
Perhaps I was a bit sloppy with my language. Approximately a day and a half was the jury selection (voir dire). Then about two days of testimony from victims, cops, fingerprint experts, and the defendant (it was two assault charges.) The rest of the time was dead time we were waiting in the jury room and a rather short deliberation. It took four days in total.
The best, most sure fire way to get out of actually serving on a jury is to know someone involved in the case. One of the lawyers, the judge, the defendant. They do NOT want a juror with a conflict of interest. The only problem is that it’s hard to fake, but any kind of prior relationship will get you off, high school classmate, former co-worker, cousin’s ex, anything.
As an example, a family friend once got called to jury duty. He noticed that the prosecutor looked somewhat familiar. Before they started questioning him, he said to the judge, “Can I ask a question first?” Judge said sure, he asked the prosecutor, “Are you related to [name I can’t remember]?”
Prosecutor said, “Yes, he’s my brother.”
Friend said, “I knew you looked familiar, I go fishing with your brother once a month.”
He was immediately dismissed (by the judge, I think).
I used to think like this. Then I got called for jury duty and found out what it actually entails around here, and it’s a complete, utter, unmitigated pain in the ass.
I’m supposed to call the answering machine at the courthouse after 5 every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Then, and only then, will I know if I have to be at the courthouse at 8 the next morning. This bullshit goes on for a year. I’m not currently employed, so I don’t have to worry about losing my job for unreliable attendance, but it’s pretty much impossible to look for a job when you have to tell someone “I won’t know day-to-day if I can come to work or not so you can’t possibly schedule around me and my absences.” It’s no wonder people tie themselves into knots trying to get out of jury duty around here.
And there’s none of this business like Baker describes where someone who isn’t a court officer can overhear a juror say anything. From the time you go through voir dire till the time the judge lets you go home, you’re kept in the jury corral. You’re either in the jury box of the courtroom, locked in the jury room, or on a group outing down a special locked elevator into a special locked courtyard so someone can out to smoke. There is no television, no newspapers or magazines, nothing but whatever you happened to bring with you and some strangers.
Lucky bastard. I gotta finish out my year even after serving on a trial. Seriously, I got on a trial that lasted about 10 million years longer than it should have (actually it was 10 hours, but it was a flipping 4th degree assault case) and as we were leaving the courtroom at 7:15 on a Friday night, the judge reminded us to be sure to call the answering machine to see if we needed to come in the following Monday.
Damn, that’s brutal. Where are you that it’s that bad? Around here it goes on a case by case basis; if the case is settled before they need a jury, you don’t need to serve, and if you do have to serve, it’s only on the one case.
Jury duty should be voluntary, like military service. There are more than enough retired folks, welfare earners, idle housewives, and trust fund brats to form all the juries we’ll ever need. I tried to get out of jury duty over the phone … the clerk said I needed a business license to prove I was self employed … the city hall told me there was no such license available for what I was doing, so tell the clerk you’re in the Musician’s Union … the clerk said no dice. I gave up and showed up, got excused the first day, but what a PIA.
Let the unemployed and the Oprah-holics do the jury thing, leave us working stiffs out of it. I think people can better give the case their full attention when they’re not stressing over losing work and getting behind financially.
A question for those who have gone thru voir dire - what questions do they ask you? I have been summoned to jury duty but never even got out of the waiting room.
Do they ask you how you vote, or if you attend church, or what? Can you respond “None of your business”, or will that get you cited for contempt?
Regards,
Shodan
Don’t know if this would work for anyone else in other states/counties. This was in Louisiana:
The one time I served on jury duty, I was summarily dismissed during a casual Q&A session with the judge. It was right before voir dire began.
The judge asked us to sit in the jury box. Then he called on us one by one to for us to give our names, locations (along the lines of “Staten Island”, “Haight-Ashbury”, “Brentwood” … not specific addresses), and occupation.
I had responded to a jury summons in a parish (=county) where I no longer lived. I had moved into a neighboring parish a few weeks before the summons came in. I didn’t realize that would be a problem.
So, anyway, in responding to the judge’s “get to know you” questions, I stated matter-of-factly that I currently lived in a well-known neighborhood in a neighboring parish. The judge double-checked by asking me directly if I now lived in the neighboring parish and not in the parish of the summons. I answered in the affirmative, and he dismissed me then and there.
The judge at the first trial I was on specifically said this. Once you are on, you will be called every year. Has been pretty much the case since.
Hell no. The questions asked were mostly about specific things on the questionnaire. The last panel I was up for (did not get chosen) was a non-capital murder case. The girlfriend of the perp was going to testify against him, and the defense asked some questions about joint responsibility. I knew nothing about the case at the time (and was a good boy and didn’t look it up until I was dismissed) but I could tell from the questions what was going on.
In a capital case I was up for there were a good number of questions about being willing to follow the law even if you opposed the death penalty.
I can’t imagine anyone asking about politics. Religion - maybe if it had something to do with the case.
I was on a case of a guy hitting his wife. It was 6 days, but all but the first were half days.
In California a juror has to wait some time (six months?) to profit from serving through a book or something. The judge was practically laughing when he told us this for this case - it was not exactly tabloid material. But short and efficient, and we reached a verdict in an hour or two thanks to my skill as foreman. 
You really want your future decided by a panel consisting totally of the unemployed and Judge Judy fans? Brrr…
Lots of companies, kike mine, pay.
That’s insane. They hold you hostage for a year? It almost seems like they are messing with you. Is this common knowledge around there? I would almost talk to a reporter or politician about it.
I’m self employed. The court gave me $13 a day, luckily it was only one day.
Oh, and yes, an unemployed person or a housewife is preferable to someone too dull to get out of jury duty. Also, the jury pool would be full of gung-ho do-gooders like you … I feel better already.
Where do you live? (So I’ll never move there.) In the Bay Area you call once the evening before your call (or go on line) and if you are excused you are done. I’ve heard of people who have to call for a whole week. But a year?
Plus, I’ve never been on a trial which sat on a Friday. That is when the judge does his other business. I guess I can imagine deliberations going late, but in my experience judges don’t like working overtime. Not in court, anyway.
It’s ad hoc, I’m pretty sure. In Montgomery County, Maryland, I watched voir dire as a potential juror but they had the jury before they got to me.
In Cook County, IL, I got a questionnaire - asked for my age, job, spouse’s job, kids’ sexes and ages.
Remind me not to move to Kentucky.
I think judges around here would let you off, assuming you had gigs during the day and could show it. They are not too friendly to people who consider themselves too important to miss work, though working for companies which pay their salary during jury duty. The truly self employed get a break.