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Jury Duty -.-'

MrCheeto

MrCheeto

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 2, 2008
3,531
353
Just received my first jury duty summons.

I've only been in Dallas for 24 days and I've been summoned to the court house here. (Dealey Plaza)

As I understand it, court sessions are held in the county of the incident. So... what!? Not one person in this state knows my real name, nor do I have any acquaintances.

Baffling.

Is there any possible way to get any clues as to the pertinence of this matter!?

Ways to get out?

Good news is, I'll have a free trip on the DART line and I'll be able to meet up with a guy that has a PowerBook G4 12" for $100 ^.^
 
MrCheeto said:
Just received my first jury duty summons.

I've only been in Dallas for 24 days and I've been summoned to the court house here. (Dealey Plaza)

As I understand it, court sessions are held in the county of the incident. So... what!? Not one person in this state knows my real name, nor do I have any acquaintances.

Baffling.

Is there any possible way to get any clues as to the pertinence of this matter!?

Ways to get out?

Good news is, I'll have a free trip on the DART line and I'll be able to meet up with a guy that has a PowerBook G4 12" for $100 ^.^
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All citizens can and will be asked to participate on a jury. It's a part of life, and you should be honored to do so, no matter how much of annoyance it is.

Don't go belly-aching either. I went to Compton to do jury duty.
 
go have fun. They give you a list of things that are acceptably excuses.
The past 2 that I have gotten I was a student and that grants me a waver automatically.
 
You have to call in before the appearance to see if the case is still on. Not sure how they do it in Texas, but I'm guessing you won't have to show for it because the lawyers will have pushed it ahead.
 
Melrose said:
You have to call in before the appearance to see if the case is still on. Not sure how they do it in Texas, but I'm guessing you won't have to show for it because the lawyers will have pushed it ahead.
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depends on the case here. Normally you get to sit in a room and then if a case as selection they go threw it or at least that is how I understand it.

Last time my dad was selected one of the first question that was ask was "who here is an engineer" some people raised their hands (my dad being one of them) and they were all told they could leave. Case was against the oil companies and those engineers chances are pretty good they had way to much understanding of the inter workings of it.

Also I have heard lawyers do not like engineers on the jury panel. They tend to be to hard to sway with emotions and they cut threw the BS way to easily so both sides like to throw them out.
 
chrmjenkins said:
All citizens can and will be asked to participate on a jury. It's a part of life, and you should be honored to do so, no matter how much of annoyance it is.

Don't go belly-aching either. I went to Compton to do jury duty.
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I had to go to Compton too, only for a day. I agree with everything you say. It's amazing how we have people willing to risk their lives to protect and to serve and someone who sits on his or her ass all day will complain about JD. Stay classy.

I am of course generalizing.
 
If its anything like Massachusetts, you call the night before, which in this day and age, is meaningless. Most of the time you're required to show up and there's very few valid reasons not to do your civic duty.

Its one reason that makes this country great, you are judged by your peers.
 
Change the address on your drivers license via the website, and you might be next to be called for jury duty.

Go down to DMV and get a new license, replacement, changed one ect. and you likely can expect a letter for jury duty in the mail.

So nice to see the DMV and the court working so well together. Besides the times they yank your license for infractions.
 
Sun Baked said:
Change the address on your drivers license via the website, and you might be next to be called for jury duty.

Go down to DMV and get a new license, replacement, changed one ect. and you likely can expect a letter for jury duty in the mail.

So nice to see the DMV and the court working so well together. Besides the times they yank your license for infractions.
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In the state of Texas it is all put in to the same system.
They gather information from 2 sources. One is voter registration and the other is DL. Now you will in a county/city possible jury selection pool only once.

They do this so they can get everyone living in the city.

Do it online or go to the DMV it all goes into the same system. Computers make it a lot easier on states these days.
 
I had jury duty at the start of the summer. Unfortunately I wasn't even interviewed by the defense to sit on the jury (Selected 8 out of roughly 100 people who were summoned). Easiest $12 dollars I ever made. :p
 
I have had better luck using the website for updates, no jury duty notices.

However, every time I've gone to the DMV, I have been slapped with a jury duty notice.

Of course using the website, you don't get a drivers license with the correct address either. And people are always complaining that I don't have the right address on my driver's license.

Heck, the only reason I got it updated, was the state sent me a notice that the license was no longer valid as an ID. Don't see why they make them valid into your 60's if the picture expires anyhow.
 
I dunno if it's anything like the system here in California, but usually when you get selected to be jury of a case, the judge and attorneys interview all members to the jury to make sure there won't be any bias towards the defendent or prosecution.

Funny story years back when I was selected. Actually 2 funny stories...

- During lunch from work, I stopped by the mall and noticed people wearing juror's badges and for some reason it was lingering in my mind. I only came to realize that I was summoned to show for jury duty the week prior. So I ran back to the office, called the juror office, and the lady mentioned that they were actually processing a warrant for my arrest and was gonna send it out had I not have called. She just said show up the next day and all is good....

- Well I show up the next day and was chosen to be part of a jury. The timing couldn't have been anymore perfect because the following day, my girlfriend at the time and I had a trip planned to San Diego. So when the judge asked, "Who of you have made prior obligations that would not allow you to be part of this jury?", I rose my hand. I said stated, "my girlfriend and I had already planned a trip to San Diego. Just some last minute fun before school starts..." The judge, being the comedian that he was, replied, "Well I know that if were to cancel the trip, she would get very angry at you, and let me tell you, I know that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. You can go." Everybody in the court room laughed, including the guy to be prosecuted and as I walked out of the jury box and court room, people were giving me high fives and cheers.
 
If it's anything like St. Louis County, you show up at the courthouse on the day you have JD, and will sit in the waiting room. They may call you for an interview, then put you on a jury. Or if you're lucky, they may dismiss you at the end of the day, and you're done. There's no way of knowing before hand what the case is. You might get something dull like a 16 year old caught shoplifting an Xbox game at Wal-Mart, or you might get to be on the jury for a high profile celebrity being tried for murder. The people on the OJ, Jackson and Blago juries had no idea what they were in for when they walked into the courthouse on their first day of jury duty.

Jury duty is almost always a chore. No one wants to do it. But it's your civic duty, so don't try to get out of it. If I have to spend a few days out of my life on a jury to know that if I'm ever accused of something that I'll get a fair trial, it's worth it.
 
Since we've been married in 2005, my wife has been summoned for jury duty three times... I've never been summoned. I think she's a jury magnet or something...
 
jessica. said:
It's amazing how we have people willing to risk their lives to protect and to serve and someone who sits on his or her ass all day will complain about JD.
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You're talking to a person who walked five-days through the mountainous deserts of Mexico on a dislocated hip and bummed knees just to see my grandparents attend some remote church aside a cliff, and I'm atheist. Take a good look before you try to call me lazy.

I was unsure if the matter was random or if I was somehow specifically connected to one or another incidents which may or may not have occurred [it didn't, so drop it >8/ ]

Free pass on the DART... a chance to visit Dealey Plaza... Sounds ok to me.
 
MrCheeto said:
You're talking to a person who walked five-days through the mountainous deserts of Mexico on a dislocated hip and bummed knees just to see my grandparents attend some remote church aside a cliff, and I'm atheist. Take a good look before you try to call me lazy.
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Context fail...
 
jav6454 said:
My boss has been summoned 4 times this year, he has going for round 5, when he said screw it and called in saying he was racist.

No more calls.
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My aunt, who is very scatty and strange as a general rule, got called in, and she was madder than hell about it.

So, when they call her up she just starting saying they should take the bad guy and shoot him, cut off his balls, etc. She was out of there fast. :D
 
MrCheeto said:
You're talking to a person who walked five-days through the mountainous deserts of Mexico on a dislocated hip and bummed knees just to see my grandparents attend some remote church aside a cliff, and I'm atheist. Take a good look before you try to call me lazy.

I was unsure if the matter was random or if I was somehow specifically connected to one or another incidents which may or may not have occurred [it didn't, so drop it >8/ ]

Free pass on the DART... a chance to visit Dealey Plaza... Sounds ok to me.
Click to expand...

abijnk said:
Context fail...
Click to expand...
Context fail indeed


OP...for all that society offers us, it is not too much to ask for citizen involvement in the form of jury duty
 
One second.

"******* the state and the federal government!!! Why should I ever have to serve either in any way, ever!? ******* the police and ******* public servants!!! Gimme gimme, and screw anybody that asks for so much as a thank you!"

There. I had to justify some of your posts.
 
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