I got picked for jury duty.

[caryrae]

I got picked to be on Jury Duty next month. Has anyone done this before? What was it like?

I know it will differ between people and the cases. It sounds like it could be pretty boring at times. I was told to bring magazines, newspapers, even a laptop to help keep me occupied. There are even possiblitys of not being on any cases.

This part of the letter:

Please bring something to help occupy your time sunch as books, newspapers, magazines, ect. Please be prepared to spend the entire day at the Government Center on your reprting date. The One-day One trial system adopted by Washington County may require a longer wait before being assingned to a case; however if you are not seated on a trial by the end of the day you will be discharged and will not need to report back unless instructed to do so. Discharged jurors not seated on a trial are very rarely notified to report again.

[DVC2004]

I was picked for the first time last year and it was not boring! I was picked first thing to sit in the court while they selected jurors. I was not picked and sent home at the end of the day. The following day I was sent up to a courtroom first thing and that time I was selected. The trial began that afternoon and went on into the next day. We did deliberate that last day and that was it. The boring part is sitting around waiting to be called to a courtroom- once you are in there it gets interesting.

Definitely bring reading material or your laptop in case you get stuck in the waiting room. Honestly, now that I know what to expect I'd love to get picked again! It's like hearing a secret- you get to hear things other people don't! Kind of cool.

[mreinventtt]

Hi there. I actually had jury duty 2 weeks ago, first time. And I got my BIG pay for it today in the mail. A whole 16 dollars. wooo HOOO.
It was interesting. I spent most of the day there and did not get picked. If you have a job, be sure to get a note when you leave. My job paid me for my whole 8 hour work day too. Take alot of reading material. I didnt really need it, I made alot of new friends.
I like to talk, what can I say.
MIssy

[hoop de do]

My wife says all the men are guilty and the women are innocent. That's all you have to remember.

[caryrae]

Hi there. I actually had jury duty 2 weeks ago, first time. And I got my BIG pay for it today in the mail. A whole 16 dollars. wooo HOOO.
It was interesting. I spent most of the day there and did not get picked. If you have a job, be sure to get a note when you leave. My job paid me for my whole 8 hour work day too. Take alot of reading material. I didnt really need it, I made alot of new friends.
I like to talk, what can I say.
MIssy

I must be a lucky one. I get $20 per day and 27 cents a mile for driving. So I should get over $21 with the milage.

[Bethis26fan]

I think it would be fun to do jury duty, but I can't do local only federal. On that note I hope I never get called for federal because it's a 2 hour drive.

[imaprincess!]

If you get picked, take it seriously. I say this because we were victims of a drunk driver (he drove through our house when I was 7 months pregnant and our other kids were 6 and 4 at the time) in 2003; we didn't go to court until 2006. Our jury was mostly young college students who looked as though they could only think about getting out of there.

They didn't have the life experience to understand the turmoil this event caused my family and we really did not get a fair settlement. We saw some of them after the trial at the parking garage, discussing what clubs they were going to that night. I left knowing they did not realize the significance of their service.

[Bethis26fan]

If you get picked, take it seriously. I say this because we were victims of a drunk driver (he drove through our house when I was 7 months pregnant and our other kids were 6 and 4 at the time) in 2003; we didn't go to court until 2006. Our jury was mostly young college students who looked as though they could only think about getting out of there.

They didn't have the life experience to understand the turmoil this event caused my family and we really did not get a fair settlement. We saw some of them after the trial at the parking garage, discussing what clubs they were going to that night. I left knowing they did not realize the significance of their service.

I agree do take is serious, I work in the clerk of courts office (the reason I can serve local) and there are a few cases I know of that didn't get a fair settlement.

[Boojum]

I had jury duty last week, and was "randomly selected" by the computer for grand jury duty. This consists of hearing facts about cases and deciding if the person should go to trial or not. Most of them are easy to determine--they've usually confessed, or the crime was caught on tape, or they tested positive for drugs and/or alcohol. Some we did have discussion about and voted not to send the people to trial--usually a lack of evidence.

Never been on a trial jury.

Do be prepared to wait around a little--bring a book or crossword puzzle or Sudoku or whatever keeps you interested. (They frown on GameBoys--a younger guy actually brought one of those with him and had to be told to turn it off! Too noisy!) The courthouse I was in allowed you to have a drink with you, too.

[Magic Smiles]

I live in Canada, so I am not too sure if it is exactly the same here as in the States. I have been called for Jury Selection 3 times so far, but have never been selected for a trial. Came closed when I was 19 though for a drug case, Defense said "Yes", Prosecuter said "No." Last jury selection that I attended was for a stabbing murder. Thankfully I was not selected for that jury. I found it very intimidating with the accused looking at you as the lawyers decide whether or not they want you on the jury.
Since not be selected, I just look at it as a paid day away from work.

[hoop de do]

Regarding my previous post. I didn't mean to make light of jury time. It is our duty as citizens of the greatest country on earth to comply with this request. I sometimes inject my humor at the wrong times.
I claim INTERCOT insanity - oops! There I go again. Let us know how you made out.

[2Epcot]

I've been called for jury duty a couple of times. The most recent time I waited a fairly short time, then I was called in and sat in the courtroom as the lawyers asked us questions. They had already seated some jury members, and they were choosing more. I ended up being dismissed. Though I don't mind doing my civic duty, I don't get paid when I'm not a work, so financially it is hard to serve.

Many years ago when I lived in another state I did serve on a jury. I believe it was only two days. We ended up giving a not guilty verdict based on the evidence, though the person was probably guilty. The police made a mistake which gave us reasonable doubt.

[Bethis26fan]

Regarding my previous post. I didn't mean to make light of jury time. It is our duty as citizens of the greatest country on earth to comply with this request. I sometimes inject my humor at the wrong times.
I claim INTERCOT insanity - oops! There I go again. Let us know how you made out.

I knew what ya meant. I did that too when I said it would be fun. That's why i corrected it. I still think it would be fun or intreasting to be on jurty duty.

[Marker]

I'm 2 for 2, been served twice, was picked twice.

Actually, I find it all interesting. And yes, it is serious. One of my cases involved a requested $1,000,000 settlement for a construction accident. That's serious.

Here in Jackson county MO, they have also gone to the one day thing. If you're not selected out of the pool by like 2 in the afternoon, you're done. If you get selected out of the pool, then you go through the actually jury selection by the lawyers. You wait, then they take in into the courtroom and both sides ask questions. Then you wait some more, while they decide who they want. Then, you're either let go, or you are told when to be there for your case, it might be that day, it might be the next.

Both times I served, the cases lasted 4 days.

As I said, I find the whole process interesting. And I would be happy to serve again when called. It's not a burden, it's a duty. Although, at least here, they ask if people have a particular hardship. If you claim you do, they'll listen and decide if it's legit enough to send you home.

[caryrae]

I am looking forward to it. I just don't like the sitting and waiting for hours if I am not picked for a case. I am 33 and this will be my first time.

[rnin02]

My husband and I both just got picked for Jury duty...different days though. For me, it stinks because I work night shift, three nights a week. So, that leaves a number of days wide open...of course I get picked for the day smack in the middle of my 3 nights, so I actually lose 2 nights of working. And there wasn't much room to make up my time either Oh well! We get $30 for the day, big money! I'm kinda looking forward to it, might be fun.

[SBETigg]

I enjoyed my time on a jury. I was empanelled for a small case involving compensation for injuries in a girlfight. It only took an afternoon, and it was interesting.

But my husband had an awful time. He ended up on a case that took six weeks, a brutal double murder case complete with gruesome photos, bloody evidence, a crime scene field trip, and threats to the jury's safety once it ended. It was very emotional and intense, and he was so glad when it ended.

If you end up on a jury, I hope it is something intriguing but nothing too serious. I always thought it would be neat to be in on a big case but now I have seen what it does to people to have to consider such very serious matters.