Advice - getting off jury duty

[erikbj]

First of all, i don't pay attention to my mail very often (since all bills come via email now a days), i admit my fault. However my wife was going through an old pile of mail and noticed i am up for Jury Duty starting monday - i called to see if i could get it defered, but they were less than friendly about it. So i am supposed to report on monday, but the issue is i am supposed to be doing a presentation at a conference on wednesday - that i can't miss.

Never done the jury duty thing, but i am assuming that i can answer questions on monday that will get me removed - any suggestions of things i should do or avoid to get kicked off? Typically i wouldn't mind doing this, but this is just a bad week for me.

 

[3TrueFans]

Are you a racist? If so, great! If not, you should become one, about every race, even your own. And be vocal about it.

 

[The_Architect]

1. fall asleep
2. They'll ask you questions about "can you be objective about blah blah blah" just say no or have a strong stance on something related to the case.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Talk openly about jury nullification.

 

[iahawkhunter]

I've heard being an engineer (or other hard-science person) can be a quick ticket out. I guess lawyers don't like to have to argue in front of critical thinkers...

 

[IlikeTornados]

Say you don't agree with the law that the person is being charged with... assuming its not like rape or anything... automatic ticket out.

 

[cowboycurtis]

show up wasted. that will get you booted everytime.

 

[Clonehomer]

I think Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) discussed this at one of his Q&A sessions. Apparently rupturing your O-ring isn't enough to get you out of it.

 

[aeroclone]

I've heard being an engineer (or other hard-science person) can be a quick ticket out. I guess lawyers don't like to have to argue in front of critical thinkers...

I had actually heard the opposite.

 

[jbhtexas]

Just went through the process here in Tarrant county...

In my county, you do a detailed pre-questionaire on-line for seating. I am an engineer, my wife is a lawyer, and we have relatives in law enforcement, so I got seated 45/60 initially.

After explanation of the case by the judge, the prosecutor began his questioning of the jury members. He asked if anybody believed that they could not serve on the jury for the trial, and why. Several people who had upcoming business committments, medical procedures, etc. spoke up. All had documentation with them. After reviewing the documentation, the judge excused them.

They were looking for 12 jurors, and went down to seat 31 to get them.

 

[longtimeclone]

I thought in most cases that jury duty is over in one day and it is rare to drag on for more than a day.

I agree with the Artitect about saying that you think you will not be objective for what ever reason.

 

[brianhos]

Say you don't agree with the law that the person is being charged with... assuming its not like rape or anything... automatic ticket out.

Won't work, I was a juror in a marijuana case and one of the women openly said it should be legal. She was on the jury.

 

[CYphyllis]

Set the courthouse on fire.

 

[FrankvilleClone]

Believe it or not, when you are in there on Monday just tell them you have an out-of-town business commitment/presentation which makes it a hardship for you to be a jury member on this case.

As far as being an engineer, my experiences have been that the lawyers want you on the jury. I'm an engineer and have been randomly selected twice to be in the initial 20 people before the lawyers whittle it down to 12. During questioning of the potential jury members, lawyers hardly asked me any questions while quizzing other people pretty in-depth. In each case, I ended up on the final jury.

First of all, i don't pay attention to my mail very often (since all bills come via email now a days), i admit my fault. However my wife was going through an old pile of mail and noticed i am up for Jury Duty starting monday - i called to see if i could get it defered, but they were less than friendly about it. So i am supposed to report on monday, but the issue is i am supposed to be doing a presentation at a conference on wednesday - that i can't miss.

Never done the jury duty thing, but i am assuming that i can answer questions on monday that will get me removed - any suggestions of things i should do or avoid to get kicked off? Typically i wouldn't mind doing this, but this is just a bad week for me.

 

[oldman]

Wear a Star Trek suit, or crap yourself.

 

[Senolcyc]

Just say you're a good judge of people and you can already tell the person is guilty/not guilty.

 

[pulse]

I depends on where you are. The engineer comment is a joke. When I had jury duty, work was not an acceptable accuse unless you're a poor old lady who can't afford it. It was kind of funny listening to all the people saying how important they were at their job as an excuse and the judge not having any of it. From the Roger Clemons thread I believe, falling asleep will get you booted, but that is only during the trial.

 

[cycloneted]

Are you a racist? If so, great! If not, you should become one, about every race, even your own. And be vocal about it.

Larry David agrees:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94zkBGm1IoU]Larry David :: Jury Duty - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Cycl1]

I've heard being an engineer (or other hard-science person) can be a quick ticket out. I guess lawyers don't like to have to argue in front of critical thinkers...

They will still put you on, and just deny your requests for information. My dad is an engineer and was on a jury for a drug case (thrid strike), they found a scale with pennies in it at the peoples house, but the people said they hadnt used it in years. My dad asked to see the pennies. Any newer pennies would show that to be a lie. Denied.

 

[VeloClone]

Every county is different. In Hennepin County it is a two week committment. The first week is on-site, whether you get seated on a jury or not. You may be brought in for interviews (voir dire) for many juries in this week. The second week if you haven't been selected you have to just call in every day and be prepared to come in within an hour if told you have to.

Depending on the county, it's not guaranteed that you can get out of it even if you try to look like a bad pick.

Bring reading material, lots of it.