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You will most likely not serve. Yes,
if you receive a summons, it does not necessarily mean you will serve.
As a matter of fact, if you attend the selection process (finding those who the court wants as jurors), there's a good chance you won't serve. For example, according to recent statistics, each year in California 3.1 million
residents are called for jury service but only about 1 million qualify, meaning
that the judge and trial lawyers have found that the juror will provide a relatively
unbiased, objective perspective and that he or she doesn't have extreme medical,
mental, or economical concerns. But what does all that mean? Read on.
Before you
serve or appear for the jury selection process, you may file for financial hardship; however, be aware that in some
states the laws have changed. For example, in California, the law now states that you can not claim financial
hardship because your employer does not pay, you are self-employed, you are a sole
practitioner (doctor, lawyer, dentist, etc.). Under the stricter law, you must
prove that you have an "EXTREME" (as written in the juror literature) financial
hardship.
If you don't have an extreme financial hardship or serious medical
condition you must appear. But not to worry, as stated above, only about one
third of those summoned serve in a trail proceeding. So if you have to appear,
what happens?
You will register and wait in the jury assembly room where
you will receive some general information and probably watch a video describing
the process. You will be told the number of cases and the approximate number of
jurors needed as well as the average length of a trial. If you're lucky, a defendant
will settle and a jury won't be required for a case. When I went, initially there
were seven cases. After about an hours wait, four cases were canceled, so only
36 jurors were needed instead of the original 84 (twelve jurors per case). Even
though there's less of a chance you may be called, you still have to wait to be
called. After I was called, I and about 40 others assembled in a courtroom
where the selection process began. My initial impression was that it would be
over shortly and that most of the people would be excused. However, at about 3 p.m. of the second day I was
finally called and excused (conflict of interest); at this point, there were only about 10 people left to fill the final chair. As noted above, only about one
third end up serving. But how does the selection process work?
During the evaluation
of potential jurors, the judge will ask if there are any reasons why you can't
serve. Keep in mind that the judge is dealing with excuses all the time because
the time served is often unknown and people are not volunteering to be jurors. As
I mentioned above, the average length of a case is revealed to the potential
jurors in the assembly room. They may be told, as we were told, that the
average case lasts 5 to 7 days, but that's only an estimate. Some cases may
last as little as a day or two but that's rare. Cases, on average-at least in
California-last 5 to 7 days but may go 10, 20, 30 or, in extreme cases, up to 6
months. But keep in mind that once you're there it's a mixed bag. The judge
will do his best to keep you there, but if you need to leave you have to come up with valid excuses.
But at the same time, the judge and attorneys are looking for good jurors or those without serious
bias, especially the defense attorney who is protecting his client. The
prosecuting attorney is often less likely to ask a juror to leave because of
juror bias. But keep in mind that you're looking for valid excuses not lies.
Don't ever lie or stretch the truth in trying to get out of jury duty. Keep in mind that there are numerous valid reasons why one may not serve.
One valid reason is financial hardship. Those who are excused for this reason often are unemployed, business
owners (those responsible for keeping the shop open and others employed), with
spouses out of work, medical conditions and so forth. But if you try to get away
with an excuse after appearing that isn't feasible, you will most likely serve.
And as I've stated before, but it bears repeating, avoid lying or overstating. It's not worth it.
As stated above, you can delay your service time, but this method can also be
applied to get out of serving. If you can, delay until December. There's a
better chance that the trial will be delayed or moved, and there's a better
chance that you won't get called in. But there are other reasons to be excused.
Keep in mind that jurors, like judges and politicians, want people they can
persuade. If you show you are too informed or educated, there's less of a
chance you will be swayed. If you go in stating that you obey the laws but
understand that the interpretation of the same laws by judges and lawyers is
subjective, you increase your chance that an attorney will want to excuse you. If
you have some inside information on the subjective nature of law and the court
system (often the judge being liberal or conservative has considerable
influence on the outcome of the trial) this will increase your chances of being
excused. Keep in mind that this is the reason that lawyers, judges, and police
officers are barred from jury duty; they are too informed.
Also being aware of the type of case can increase your chance of getting out of
jury duty. Being a juror on a criminal trial increases the chance that you will
be there longer than you would for a civil trial. This is because in a
criminal trial to find the plaintive guilty requires the prosecutor to
prove the evidence presented to be beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil trial, only a
preponderance of evidence is required, or as one attorney stated, just greater
than fifty percent. Using this knowledge is another tool that can help you
influence the judge.
In closing, I know someone who has received two jury summons and ignored them.
Don't do this. Failure to attend jury duty can result in fines, suspension of
driver's license, or in some cases criminal charges. Never, never, attempt to
lie or mislead at any point to get out of jury service.
You may have a good reason to want to avoid jury duty, but if it doesn't get
you out of serving, don't lie. If you have the time and will to serve, doing so
can be an educational experience. And many who have served have found this to
be so. The most boring part of the process is the selecting of jurors which may
take days. But once that's over, the trial begins and can be exciting,
educational, and a profoundly moving experience. And after all, you are an American,
and learning the greater intricacies of the judicial system will build a
greater appreciative and motivation to get involved, thus inspiring others to
get involved.
Jeff is a Motivation, Self-Improvement, and Success expert and can be found at SelfGrowth.com. He has written 100's of essays and articles;over 50 poems; and several books: At Amazon.com, you can find Black Body Radiation and the Ultraviolet Catastrophe, a novel to inspire young adults and the young at heart. For more inspiration, get his collection of poems, To Die at the Age of Man at Lulu dot com. Coming soon: Give and Grow Yourself Rich (July, 2008); Education is a Waste of Time, (early 2009); and a children's novella The Search for Adriana (late 2008). Currently, he teaches writing and owns Inner Projection, a self-improvement business.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
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