How to get out of jury duty? - Page 2

cute02spec · 10-08-06, 01:17

Personally, I didn't want to serve because I was a full time college student, with a very high GPA and I didn't want to mess up my education by having to attend jury duty. I knew a girl that failed 2 classes because she had to serve on a jury, and she had to miss all of finals week. She ended up missing so much it just became too much to make up. I'm sorry, but when I am paying thousands of dollars for an education, I'm not going to go and listen to "boo hoo, I drove drunk, let me off easy" or "I got caught selling drugs, boo hoo" which were the typical cases from where I lived.

Seriously though... I don't think a lawyer would want me on a jury when it came to a drug or alcohol offense...

SpoiledMan · 10-08-06, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Just for the record, I was just answering the question rather than making a judgment (pardon the pun) about whether people should be trying to get out of it.

My thoughts exactly.

Setec Astronomy · 10-08-06, 01:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute02spec

Personally, I didn't want to serve because I was a full time college student, with a very high GPA and I didn't want to mess up my education by having to attend jury duty. I knew a girl that failed 2 classes because she had to serve on a jury, and she had to miss all of finals week. She ended up missing so much it just became too much to make up. I'm sorry, but when I am paying thousands of dollars for an education, I'm not going to go and listen to "boo hoo, I drove drunk, let me off easy" or "I got caught selling drugs, boo hoo" which were the typical cases from where I lived.

Don't full-time students have an exemption? Failing finals seems like it would be a lot better excuse than a "moving to CA" lie, and how would you know what the typical cases were if you never went?

CleanGSR · 10-08-06, 07:55

I don't mean to sound like I'm passing judgment with my post.....that was seriously not my intention. I'm just a big supporter of the judicial system and should proof read my posts for "harshness" sometimes, before clicking submit. I do know that some people have situations where it's too difficult to serve, but can't get out of it due to the nature of the reason. For example, a stay at home mom with 3-4 kids who's husband works all day shouldn't have to serve, but that probably wouldn't be a good enough reason. Same with the college student deal. I do think that if it's not going to be a huge negative impact on your life then people should stick through it.

BigAl3 · 10-08-06, 08:35

i wouldn't mine serving as it seems interesting, but since i don't get paid by my employer... it hurts the wallet

.

cute02spec · 10-08-06, 08:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Setec Astronomy

Don't full-time students have an exemption? Failing finals seems like it would be a lot better excuse than a "moving to CA" lie, and how would you know what the typical cases were if you never went?

No exemptions for students, at least not in Wyoming. And I knew what the cases were because I read the municipal court blotters in the town's newspaper, and most of them were just alcohol offenses or running stop sign tickets.

wlhump · 10-08-06, 08:53

Don't "get out of it", serve on a jury. Its a fascinating experience, and provide invaluable insight into the nature of our legal system and your fellow jury members.

I served on an assault with a deadly weapon charge case. I was 'elected' foreman of the jury. (Accept this if you can, you can then have a minor amount of control of your time in the jury room).

In the case, the assailant beat the victim with a pool cue to the point that it crushed a gold band on her hand (between the cue and her head) almost completely severing her finger! He then stabbed her multiple times but was frightened off by her son coming in. She was present in the courtroom to point out in person the assailant. Very convincingly. Surprisingly, the defense presented almost no case, no alibi, nothing to give us reason to find him not guilty. So, we found him guilty in about 1/2 an hour.

Now it gets interesting. Even after agreeing that he tried to kill the woman, several of the jury members had a real difficulty in sentencing him to any time in jail! They wanted probation. After all, jail is harsh!

This part stumped several of us

who wanted the max! After all, he TRIED TO KILL HER and even TOLD HER SO! It took a little time, but we eventually sentenced him to ~15 years on 2 counts. Do I feel bad? NO, this was a bad guy who probably needed more time.

The interesting points came after the trial when we got a chance to meet with the prosecuters. We asked, "Why not attempted murder?" Well, in TX, the penalty for assault w/deadly weapon and attempted murder are the same, but assault is much easer to prove. Also, this was not the first time that this guy had done this! But that fact was not admissible in this case. (But wouldn't you want to know this?) Also, after spending 2 days in the court room, we (jury) all talked that both sides left obvious questions on the table.

All in all, a very interesting examination of the system and people and NOTHING LIKE TV justice.
Get on a jury. IF you have a strong sense of right and wrong, you must. I don't want to be mean, but there are a lot of people out there who just cannot seem to punish others for their actions even when they fully believe they committed a crime.
Only you can prevent this

Setec Astronomy · 10-08-06, 09:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute02spec

No exemptions for students, at least not in Wyoming. And I knew what the cases were because I read the municipal court blotters in the town's newspaper, and most of them were just alcohol offenses or running stop sign tickets.

Sorry, by your address I thought you were in NJ.

Setec Astronomy · 10-08-06, 09:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by wlhump

Now it gets interesting. Even after agreeing that he tried to kill the woman, several of the jury members had a real difficulty in sentencing him to any time in jail! They wanted probation. After all, jail is harsh!

This part stumped several of us

I had similar experiences. Two huge guys slugged and stomped a little guy, hole in his head, etc. then robbed him. In NJ, there is assault and aggravated assault, aggravated being if the victim's life was in danger, or if he even thought his life was in danger. The defense was ridiculous, that this little guy had come up to the two big guys and sexually propositioned one of them and grabbed his crotch (this was on the sidewalk a few doors down from the guy's house where he lived with his parents), so they beat him up and robbed him as an afterthought. There were witnesses who corroborated the victim's account (that the defendants crossed the street to knock him down and rob him).

Anyway, we get into the deliberation room, and although everyone agreed the defendants were guilty, we had several who had trouble going for the aggravated vs. simple assault. This is after seeing the emergency room pictures, the report about the broken ribs, and oh yeah--the picture of the hole in the guy's head! I can't comment about the sentence since in NJ the judge does that and the jury is dismissed as soon as they render a verdict.