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Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 1:47 pm
by TexasCajun
I would call the clerks office to find out about Wi-Fi availability. If they have it, go ahead & bring your laptop. Just make sure you have a way to comfortably carry it. During voire dire, you can keep your belongings with you. If picked for a jury & the trial starts that day, you can store your stuff in the jury room (locked by the bailiff). After that, don't bring it.
Also, if picked for a jury, you'll most likely have to eat with the bailiff & the other jurors because it makes everything a lot simpler. But the court pays for that, so it's not all bad.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 1:51 pm
by gigag04
In my experience, MOST juries are 6-12 people that are not smart enough to get out of jury duty, but you get the surprises like the retired conservatives that believe in the process.
I've seen some good cases fall flat because of some goofballs in the jury box. I'm interested in going through the process firsthand though.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 1:56 pm
by Keith B
gigag04 wrote:In my experience, MOST juries are 6-12 people that are not smart enough to get out of jury duty, but you get the surprises like the retired conservatives that believe in the process.
I've seen some good cases fall flat because of some goofballs in the jury box. I'm interested in going through the process firsthand though.
It depends a lot on the trial and the way they select the jury on if you can get excluded or kicked. In the municipal court I served in a couple of months ago they didn't really ask any questions and looked at us and chose 6 people. Only 2 people even made any comments on the quesitons from the prosecutor or defendant (was his own attroney)
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 2:37 pm
by The Annoyed Man
RogueUSMC wrote:There is a difference between a web designer and a web programmer...I am a designer but am by no means a programmer.
I'm primarily a designer and I use CMSs (primarily Joomla) to build websites, but I also do a little PHP programming occasionally. I started using Joomla because you can't build dynamic content sites fast enough by hard coding all your PHP, and you can't charge enough money to compensate for the time investment. But Joomla is very powerful and very flexible (much more so than Wordpress or pretty much any other open source CMS) and most of what I would want to build is already included in the core software. And the "aftermarket" of extensions is huge. I just a few minutes ago installed a free real estate listings extension into a site I am building for a local hard money lender. But in the case of the juror sign in page, it was primarily a design issue. The interface was clunky, and the choice of colors and fonts made it more difficult to read than it should have been. It lacked a certain crispness.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 4:11 pm
by MadMonkey
The Annoyed Man wrote:VMI77 wrote:MadMonkey wrote:I got a jury summons almost EXACTLY when I arrived home on leave.
I was debating about whether to return to Afghanistan within the month, but now I don't really have a choice... which means I can't make my foreign earned income exclusion, which is going to cost me about $20k

Yeah, that $30 a day is going to be a BIG help.
I thought active duty military was exempt from Jury Duty? We were back in my day.
MadMonkey was a civilian contractor flying drones in Afghanistan, so any military exemptions probably would not apply to him.
Yepper. Always got my back, TAM... I don't even need to reply
I think when I go in I'm going to brag that I can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 4:18 pm
by RX8er
MadMonkey wrote:
I think when I go in I'm going to brag that I can tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them.
Hang em all!!!
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 4:45 pm
by FL450
MadMonkey wrote:I got a jury summons almost EXACTLY when I arrived home on leave.
I was debating about whether to return to Afghanistan within the month, but now I don't really have a choice... which means I can't make my foreign earned income exclusion, which is going to cost me about $20k

Yeah, that $30 a day is going to be a BIG help.
You can try to reschedule. I have done this in Brazoria County
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 5:00 pm
by Dadtodabone
I'll preface by saying that this is Harris Co. jury selection.
Suit and Tie, didn't work. served 2 days
Sport coat, slacks, dress shirt, sweater vest(a rare chilly day)didn't work. served 1 day
Pull over crew neck sweater, dress shirt, slacks, didn't work. served 2 days
Western Cut suit w/suede yokes, white shirt w/pearl snaps, understated bolo tie with "Star" slide, very nice tooled western belt w/ranger type buckle/hardware and matching holster(no gun). Discreet Loocheezees and a mid brim off white Bailey felt.
You would of thought I had an infectious disease, lol. The other members of the potential pool wouldn't sit anywhere near me, the Judge stared at me the entire time he instructed us on how juries work and how serving was a privilege, right, and responsibility. Counsel for the defendant looked once, made a quick note, looked back, again and again and again. The prosecuting attorney just looked at me and smiled.
I did not serve on the jury and was dismissed, no questions asked.
I had the suit and hat from when I worked on a committee for the AZ State Fair Rodeo. A fast trip to the tailor to increase the girth a smidge, lol, was required.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 5:13 pm
by nightmare69
I have a buddy who NEVER shows up for jury duty. He is a logger and runs his own company, he just pays the $50-$100 fine everytime. He says he loses alot more than 100 bucks if he has to go to jury duty and miss work, can't say I blame him.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 6:32 pm
by jimlongley
Keith B wrote:gigag04 wrote:In my experience, MOST juries are 6-12 people that are not smart enough to get out of jury duty, but you get the surprises like the retired conservatives that believe in the process.
I've seen some good cases fall flat because of some goofballs in the jury box. I'm interested in going through the process firsthand though.
It depends a lot on the trial and the way they select the jury on if you can get excluded or kicked. In the municipal court I served in a couple of months ago they didn't really ask any questions and looked at us and chose 6 people. Only 2 people even made any comments on the quesitons from the prosecutor or defendant (was his own attroney)
I have never tried to get out of jury duty (well there was that NY one when I was a resident of IL, but I would have happily served on it, for plane fare and per diem) but when asked if anyone had accident investigation experience, I had to admit to the training that my VFD provided back in the 70s, and they didn't care what the time frame was, they just excused me for cause.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 9:33 pm
by brhalltx
Dadtodabone wrote:Western Cut suit w/suede yokes, white shirt w/pearl snaps, understated bolo tie with "Star" slide, very nice tooled western belt w/ranger type buckle/hardware and matching holster(no gun). Discreet Loocheezees and a mid brim off white Bailey felt.
You would of thought I had an infectious disease, lol. The other members of the potential pool wouldn't sit anywhere near me, the Judge stared at me the entire time he instructed us on how juries work and how serving was a privilege, right, and responsibility. Counsel for the defendant looked once, made a quick note, looked back, again and again and again. The prosecuting attorney just looked at me and smiled.
You may have to loan me that outfit next time... I spent 3-4 days on a jury not long ago.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 10:45 pm
by SewTexas
in the ** years since I've been eligible to be called, I've only gotten a letter twice...

... once in CA and we'd moved, only a few miles, but it was a different city and maybe even county, so I was released from that one. And another time back when we lived in Georgetown, that one could have been interesting, as I'm pretty sure it was for a trial that I actually probably would have been called as a witness for....yeh.... a deal was filed and the trial was cancelled, I was no longer up needed for jury duty. (don't ask)
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:14 am
by stash
There are benefits to getting old. A couple months ago I became eligible to ignore jury summons. Now I can pick any choose so to speak.The only summons I will probable show up for in the future will be JP court. Although I think I would like to serve on a grand jury. Federal grand jury would be nice, but there are no federal courts in my county.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:20 am
by RoyGBiv
FL450 wrote:MadMonkey wrote:I got a jury summons almost EXACTLY when I arrived home on leave.
I was debating about whether to return to Afghanistan within the month, but now I don't really have a choice... which means I can't make my foreign earned income exclusion, which is going to cost me about $20k

Yeah, that $30 a day is going to be a BIG help.
You can try to reschedule. I have done this in Brazoria County
https://jury.dentoncounty.com/#May%20I%20claim" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Can I change my report date?
YES! Denton County allows every juror one postponement for any reason at all in order for everyone to have the opportunity to pick a date better suited for their individual schedule. After completion of your questionnaire on-line you are given the opportunity to select from a variety of dates available and reschedule yourself or you may call Jury Services and one of the jury staff will assist you with your request. Before choosing to reschedule your service please understand that you are limited to just ONE change so please be sure that you choose your new appearance date carefully.
Re: Jury Duty....
Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:32 am
by 92f-fan
ive served a couple times
Once was a divorce / assault thing where the husband was an egomaniac that was defending himself ... NOT a good move
We asked the judge what our limits were for penalty since he clearly was intentionally wasting our time. Because of that he was given stiffer penalties... ;)
the last time I was summoned I was selected for voir dire in a case that turned my stomach. Im VERY lucky to have talked my way out of that one. It would have scarred me for life listening to that crap ...