On Call for Jury Duty

[stealth2]

Oh my, do I feel old. When I last served (in LA, CA), they did not yet have the call-in service. You had to go in every day for 10 days. And you *served* for 10 days, be it on a jury or sitting with the pool. That last time, I sat for a day, served on a jury for nine, then was called for another jury on the 10th day. And served for another three months (yes, months). But it did afford me some good lunches and the opportunity to see The Night Stalker live and in-person (no, that's not the jury I served on - saw him being brought into the courthouse). Creepy dude, that. Completely dead and soulless eyes.

 

[quincy]

I've had a different experience there. I've had to report 2 out of 2 times (over the last 4 years) to the Santa Monica courthouse. My appearance days wound up being Monday the first time, and Tuesday on the second occasion. I now, have only one more day to check in to see if I get called in. With my luck, I'll probably have to appear on Friday.

Both times I got directed to go to a courtroom, and each time eventually had my name called to sit in one of the juror seats. Once I got dismissed. The other time I got stuck for 7 days serving as a juror. My impression was that the lawyers just wanted to get rid of people in their 20's and early 30's.

It is certainly looking more likely that you will escape jury duty this time around.

 

[zddoodah]

MA has a one-day, one trial limit. If you call and you don't have to report the next day, you're done. However, the last time I was called (I don't know if it's still this way or not - it's been a few years) if you're told not to report then you can be called for service again as soon as one year, whereas if you report (whether you end up on a jury or not) you're done for three.

In both Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California, you are on-call for an entire week. You first call (or, in OC, check on the website) on Friday afternoon. You're either told to report on Monday or to check again Monday afternoon. This repeats until you're called in or told that your service is complete. You're then exempt for a year or, if you're called, you're exempt for a year after you're excused or complete a trial.

I've had a different experience

Needless to say, all states are different and, even within California, different counties do things differently. I've been put in the box and questioned a few times but have generally been excused. The one time I actually served on a jury, I'm fairly sure the defense attorney would have liked to excuse me, but there was no basis to excuse me for cause, and she was out of peremptory challenges.

My impression was that the lawyers just wanted to get rid of people in their 20's and early 30's.

It would be a bit unusual for both sides to have the same goals with jury selection, but it's very common for lawyers to have lists of "types of people we want" and "types of people we don't want."

 

[quincy]

In both Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California, you are on-call for an entire week. You first call (or, in OC, check on the website) on Friday afternoon. You're either told to report on Monday or to check again Monday afternoon. This repeats until you're called in or told that your service is complete. You're then exempt for a year or, if you're called, you're exempt for a year after you're excused or complete a trial.



Needless to say, all states are different and, even within California, different counties do things differently. I've been put in the box and questioned a few times but have generally been excused. The one time I actually served on a jury, I'm fairly sure the defense attorney would have liked to excuse me, but there was no basis to excuse me for cause, and she was out of peremptory challenges.



It would be a bit unusual for both sides to have the same goals with jury selection, but it's very common for lawyers to have lists of "types of people we want" and "types of people we don't want."

The “types of people” lawyers often want to exclude from their juries are journalists and other lawyers.

 

[Ohiogal]

The “types of people” lawyers often want to exclude from their juries are journalists and other lawyers.

One of the reasons I never end up on the jury.

 

[cbg]

For many years my husband was always excluded because one of his clients was our state Attorney General.

 

[doucar]

I served on a criminal jury trial once, reckless driving. Pro Se defendant who chose not to kick me off, even though I was an attorney. took no more than 30 minutes to convict.

 

[quincy]

I served on a criminal jury trial once, reckless driving. Pro Se defendant who chose not to kick me off, even though I was an attorney. took no more than 30 minutes to convict.

For a criminal case, as soon as any question on my exposure to pre-trial publicity would come up, I no doubt would be eliminated. I was one of those who was actively contributing to the pre-trial publicity (reporting on, writing about or editing articles on the cases).

 

[zddoodah]

I served on a criminal jury trial once, reckless driving. Pro Se defendant who chose not to kick me off, even though I was an attorney. took no more than 30 minutes to convict.

Mine was a simple possession case. The cop's testimony was that, about two years earlier, he found crack wrapped in foil in the defendant's mount. I found out from the PD after the trial that the time gap was a result of the defendant having been in a mental hospital for the better part of a year. The PD had nothing but did a valiant job planting in the jury's mind that the cop might have planted the drugs. As a result, the deliberations took much longer than they should have before we got the unanimous vote to convict.

 

[quincy]

So Los-Angeles, were you called to the courthouse today?

 

[Zigner]

So Los-Angeles, were you called to the courthouse today?

As of 10:58 pm yesterday, the OP had called and didn't have to go in today: https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/on-call-for-jury-duty.662166/post-3758403

 

[quincy]

As of 10:58 pm yesterday, the OP had called and didn't have to go in today: https://forum.freeadvice.com/threads/on-call-for-jury-duty.662166/post-3758403

Oh. I read that. My days are starting to blend together. I was thinking this was Friday already. Haha.

 

[Los-Angeles]

I logged on, and before I could even click to see my Friday reporting instructions, it said "You have completed your jury service. Thank you for serving." WHEW!!!! I feel like I dodged a bullet! Time to go out and celebrate tomorrow!
I will never know if my logging in late at night each time played a role in not getting selected.
I suspect that COVID is extra motivation for lawyers to settle cases before trial. There must be a lot of hung juries because of too many jurors getting sick. Having jury duty during a time when COVID cases are still very high may have worked to my advantage.

 

[cbg]

I will never know if my logging in late at night each time played a role in not getting selected.

It did not.

 

[stealth2]

WHEW!!!! I feel like I dodged a bullet! Time to go out and celebrate tomorrow!

And, I'm sorry, but this is a sad reaction, IMO. I know it's a popular one, but unfortunately so. Not only is the process of our judicial system fascinating, but taking part in it via serving on a jury should be a responsibility to be embraced. JMO.