Back from jury duty with a funny story for lawyers

Quint · Post by **Quint** » March 10, 2005 7:36 pm

Hi all. Been a while since Iv posted, Been on jury duty all week. Ok, a week is not really what is considered a while. But when you spend it in a court / deliberation room it is a long while.

I went in Mon. Out of all cases in the building, out of all the people they had to choose from, I end up as one of the eight selected for a high profile case. After the closing arguements today it is announced that we have two alternents. Guess who is one of them? You'rs truely. What a GRAND waste of time! Grand ...get it? OK , I admit I stole that from DKD when she texted me. And it was not a grand jury anyway, but it was funny.

Funny though, when you are first selected like a case like this you are so upset knowing that you will be in court for at least a week. But then, to be removed just when deleberation begins....bummer. I'v put so much time and thought into it. Espeically since it turned out being a very interesting case. One of those that unfolded piece by peice, witness by witness. As each day passed I actaully looked forward into going in the next day to see what happens next. Kind of like seeing a really good book played out in front of your very eyes. The ending depends entirely on me. Welll, not me anymore. So now I am just left with this big empty feeling inside. Of coarse it could be worse I suppose. I could end up stuck in that deliberation room all day tomorrow and sequestered all weekend in a hotel with no TV.

Highlight of the week ends up being a laughable story for you lawyers. I am riding up the elevator with a co- juror. As it is everyday the elevator is packed. This young looking lawyer looks at my fellow juror and says......
" Oh your a juror? well we did not have any selections today, so you must have been here since Monday. Ooh, must be one of those really good cases. Is it hot? Is it juicy?" and just went on. Both my fellow juror and I just look down and stare at the floor. This guy finnally gets off the elevator and all the other lawyers are looking around at each other in total astonishment. They all had the same look in thier eyes. It said who is this guy and who the heck does he work for?

For those of you who do not work in a court or have never been a juror. The humor in this story is that not only are jurors given very specific intructions to NOT have any interaction with people in the courthouse, particuliarly lawyers. But the lawyers are given specific instructions not to talk to jurors.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » March 10, 2005 10:10 pm

I went to Jury Duty for a Road Rage case
they asked every potential juror if they had ever been
exposed to violence in real life or ever been in a fight

everyone but me..

even the judge was waiting for that one.....

land_shark3 · Post by **land_shark3** » March 10, 2005 10:14 pm

ragtopW wrote: I went to Jury Duty for a Road Rage case
they asked every potential juror if they had ever been
exposed to violence in real life or ever been in a fight

everyone but me..

even the judge was waiting for that one.....

I wonder if I would have to fess up about the entertainment center?

Wait, I've never been to Vegas and there's no hotel or aforementioned entertainment center that could prove otherwise.

mrsmcg · Post by **mrsmcg** » March 10, 2005 10:29 pm

Had to report today, and was selected. We were told that it would only be today and tomorrow, so I hope the judge is right on that. I was apprehensive at first, but am ok with it now ... it's an interesting case, and I hope that I can remain neutral and be objective.

PHBeerman · Post by **PHBeerman** » March 10, 2005 10:31 pm

Jury duty rocks. It is not everyday that you can send a scumbag criminal to the bighouse.

Gulfbreeze · Post by **Gulfbreeze** » March 10, 2005 10:35 pm

PHBeerman wrote:Jury duty rocks. It is not everyday that you can send a scumbag criminal to the bighouse.

big hat carmen · Post by **big hat carmen** » March 10, 2005 10:41 pm

It must be BN's week cause I am on call for jury duty in the Federal District Court.

pamesoo · Post by **pamesoo** » March 10, 2005 10:52 pm

39 years old and NEVER got called for jury duty!!

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » March 10, 2005 10:54 pm

BTW Quint that is a funny story . could have been a plant though

it has been done..

Sidew13 · Post by **Sidew13** » March 11, 2005 5:03 am

pamesoo wrote:39 years old and NEVER got called for jury duty!!

My Boss got the letter of "invitation", and I bragged about never having served Jury Duty at 30. The next day, in the mail, was MY "invitation"

.

I was never chosen, but I would do it again.

2fla · Post by **2fla** » March 11, 2005 7:37 am

I got my "invitation" last Friday. Federal court April 1st - 15th. The only part about it that I didn't like was having to cancel my vacation plans. I probably could have asked for a deferment but with so many things going on over the summer I felt it was best to just get it done and reschedule the vacation.

2fla · Post by **2fla** » March 11, 2005 7:38 am

Oh, I forgot. I'm a first timer so if any of you who have already served have any helpful tips, please pass them on.

LIPH · Post by **LIPH** » March 11, 2005 8:48 am

I've been called for jury duty 3 times, each time it was on telephone standby for Nassau County Court where I live on Long Island. The 3rd time was the only time I actually had to show up. I sat there all day Wednesday, then got picked for the first group on Thursday. We filled out a questionnaire, one of the questions asked what our highest level of education was. It was about 3 weeks after I had taken the bar exam so I answered "recent law school graduate." As the lawyers for the case were reviewing the questionnaires they called out my name. I raised my hand and the defense lawyer said "You realize nobody's going to take you." Being a lawyer used to be an automatic dismissal from jury duty in NY so they let me go. I haven't been called since then, but lawyers have to serve on juries now.

While I was in law school I had an internship in the D.A.'s office one semester. One of the D.A.s said they don't like to pick juries on Fridays because the only people left are the ones who weren't smart enough to get dismissed earlier in the week.

Funniest jury story I know happened during my intership. They were selecting a jury for a DWI case. The defense lawyer asked if anyone had ever lost their license. One guy raised his hand and said "My wallet was stolen."

nutmeg · Post by **nutmeg** » March 11, 2005 9:09 am

Quint I know what you mean about like reading a good book. I found the whole process fascinating. However I was lucky and didnt get involved in any really disgusting cases. Mostly petty stuff.

The most serious was an assault case.

The first was about a stolen pumpkin!

The second was stolen construction materials.

LIPH · Post by **LIPH** » March 11, 2005 9:13 am

Gulfbreeze wrote:
PHBeerman wrote:Jury duty rocks. It is not everyday that you can send a scumbag criminal to the bighouse.

As a friend on another board said yesterday, that's a rare photo. You usually find Michael Jackson in other peoples' pajama pants.

balcony girls · Post by **balcony girls** » March 11, 2005 10:44 am

I have been a registered voter for over 30 years and never once got an invitation to the party . . .

also took some Criminal Justice classes and found it facinating . .always hoped I would be picked for jury duty . .

I'm not a felon, not a " risk " . . .why won't they pick me, LIPH ? ? am I just too boring ? ? ?

p.s. welcome back Quint, we missed you . . .

weirdo0521 · Post by **weirdo0521** » March 11, 2005 3:56 pm

Quint wrote:Hi all. Been a while since Iv posted, Been on jury duty all week. Ok, a week is not really what is considered a while. But when you spend it in a court / deliberation room it is a long while.

I went in Mon. Out of all cases in the building, out of all the people they had to choose from, I end up as one of the eight selected for a high profile case. After the closing arguements today it is announced that we have two alternents. Guess who is one of them? You'rs truely. What a GRAND waste of time! Grand ...get it? OK , I admit I stole that from DKD when she texted me. And it was not a grand jury anyway, but it was funny.

Funny though, when you are first selected like a case like this you are so upset knowing that you will be in court for at least a week. But then, to be removed just when deleberation begins....bummer. I'v put so much time and thought into it. Espeically since it turned out being a very interesting case. One of those that unfolded piece by peice, witness by witness. As each day passed I actaully looked forward into going in the next day to see what happens next. Kind of like seeing a really good book played out in front of your very eyes. The ending depends entirely on me. Welll, not me anymore. So now I am just left with this big empty feeling inside. Of coarse it could be worse I suppose. I could end up stuck in that deliberation room all day tomorrow and sequestered all weekend in a hotel with no TV.

Highlight of the week ends up being a laughable story for you lawyers. I am riding up the elevator with a co- juror. As it is everyday the elevator is packed. This young looking lawyer looks at my fellow juror and says......
" Oh your a juror? well we did not have any selections today, so you must have been here since Monday. Ooh, must be one of those really good cases. Is it hot? Is it juicy?" and just went on. Both my fellow juror and I just look down and stare at the floor. This guy finnally gets off the elevator and all the other lawyers are looking around at each other in total astonishment. They all had the same look in thier eyes. It said who is this guy and who the heck does he work for?

For those of you who do not work in a court or have never been a juror. The humor in this story is that not only are jurors given very specific intructions to NOT have any interaction with people in the courthouse, particuliarly lawyers. But the lawyers are given specific instructions not to talk to jurors.

Still waiting for the funny part

Alan11 · Post by **Alan11** » March 11, 2005 4:35 pm

Sidew13 wrote:
pamesoo wrote:39 years old and NEVER got called for jury duty!!
My Boss got the letter of "invitation", and I bragged about never having served Jury Duty at 30. The next day, in the mail, was MY "invitation" .

I was never chosen, but I would do it again.

29 years old and have been called to jury duty 3 times, actually was pretty fun which really suprised me.

Quint · Post by **Quint** » March 11, 2005 10:12 pm

2fla wrote:Oh, I forgot. I'm a first timer so if any of you who have already served have any helpful tips, please pass them on.

Call the court or look on the website to see what you can bring in. You would be surprised. Found out the first day the chain on my wallet was a no-no. The second day when I did not want to buy a $2.00 bottle of water like the first day I took my own. Nope. Could not bring in any bottles that all ready had been opened.

Find out where the jurors enter the courthouse so you do not have to go through the long public line.

Take a good book. or a couple magazines. You will have plenty of downtimes. If you are on a jury you spend the downtime in the deliberation room. You can not go anywhere. These can last anywhere from ten minutes to who knows how long. The longest I had without being told what was going on or when we would be back in the courtroom was an hour.

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Back from jury duty with a funny story for lawyers

Back from jury duty with a funny story for lawyers

Re: Back from jury duty with a funny story for lawyers