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allisji wrote:So I reported to court this morning, however my jury service ended rather unceremoniously.

All 13 jurors showed up this morning at 10:00AM, however, two of them disclosed to the judge that they have conflicts and asked to be removed from the panel.

Down to 11 jurors, the judge decided to dismiss the jury and start over with a new one.

Nothing goes according to plan.

So, what kind of case was it? Do you know?

allisji wrote: There was a part of me that wanted to serve on a trial jury. But I didn't want to spend 4 valuable days of my life doing it...

On the other hand, you are about to get an education in our judicial system. From my experience, being on a jury is less stressful than having to testify in court. As part of my employment with a consulting firm, I occasionally have to testify in civil matters to report to the court my opinions and conclusions of my investigations. Sitting in the jury box is much easier than having an attorney cross-examine you for hours over trivial things like the selection of a particular adjective or noun. The worst is when an attorney tries to infer an incredulous relationship between two unrelated facts.

While you can't talk about the case until after you and your fellow jurors reach a verdict, please come back and fill us in on your experience. Oh yeah, the defendant is presumed innocent until after the jury reaches a verdict.

Pawpaw wrote:Unless Houston is vastly different from the placed I've had to go for jury duty, you will NOT be allowed to have any contact with the outside world, whether through internet, email, text messages, phone calls, etc. They had us turn all that stuff off before we even set foot into the room.

Not quite accurate. While waiting to be put on the panel, you can do what you want (phone calls, read, surf internet). If and when you are seated on a jury, then you can't research the case online or talk about it with anyone, not even another juror, until deliberations begin. During the trial, you have to have your cell phones on silent and you can't message anyone.

I have done jury duty quite few times, I think because I show up. There are three court systems that use juries: Federal Court, County District Court, Municipal Court (City of Houston). Check your summons. Know where are you to report. If you are in County District Court (Harris), there is a webpage with useful information here: https://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/Common/ ... earch.aspx Note because Hurricane Harvey flooded the Jury Assembly Room, it has been moved to 1001 Preston.

If you are on Federal Court, you will report to the Federal Building at Rusk and Smith. If municipal, you will report to the courthouse off of Memorial across the street from the police station.

In all locations, you will be screen airport style. You can bring a book, laptop, tablet, etc. Most have free wifi. You should eat first, and bring a snack. The Municipal location does not have very many restaurant options. The other two do have options. The Federal building has a greasy spoon for a cafeteria inside of the security zone. The Marshall service take security extremely seriously. Do not tease and expect a long line to pass through security.

There are a number of restaurants near the County District Court buildings.

Good Luck. Remember, you can't decide on a traffic violation unless the death penalty is on the table.

P.S. Don't even tease about carrying. The Marshalls have no sense of humor and the Sheriffs' deputies will likely tase you. At Municipal court, HPD might just shoot first and then ask if you had a firearm.