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, even 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 fortunate, a defendant
will settle and a jury won't be required for a case. This has become more the case in recent years, so there's actually a good chance this will happen.
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). On this occasion I was called; I and about 40 others assembled in a courtroom
where the selection process began for one of the cases. 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. For one reason or another, most are excused. 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, 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.
I began this article by stating that you can delay your service time, meaning you will have to be on call for the week determined by your summons at a later date, but delaying can also be
used as a possible way of avoiding serving. If you can, delay until December. There's a
better chance that the trial will be delayed or moved because of the holiday season and end-of-the-year schedule conflicts that increase the
chance that you won't get called. But there are other reasons to be excused.
Keep in mind that attorneys, 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 the reason lawyers, judges, and police
officers in many states are barred from jury duty is that they know too much and are not as easily swayed as the less informed juror.
Also, being aware of the type of case is important in knowing what you're facing. Here's some useful information you can use.
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. But it also means that the defense attorney will be looking for jurors who are not biased. For example, a murder case involving a gang member. If you or anyone you know has been threatened, harassed, or harmed by a gang member there's likely to be sufficient bias and you will be excused. In a civil trial, only a
preponderance of evidence is required, or as one attorney stated, just greater
than fifty percent.
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, lie, mislead, or ignore a summons in an attempt 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 CEO of InnerProjection.com: working with students and parents using the proprietary Success, Design and Preparation
system creating a plan to ensure being of the 30% of college grads who
don't waste 10 to 15 years or leave 100s of thousands of dollars on the
table.
Previous to owning Inner
Projection, Jeff worked as a computer programmer and in tech. support,
but hated it enough to move from his home in Connecticut to do stand up
comedy in Boston where he worked with such comics as Bill Burr, Dan
Cook, and Billy Martin and wrote for people like Mz. Michagan who
needed material for her ventriloquism act. He then moved to Los Angeles
to do more stand up, but found being a college professor more
fulfilling. He's married with 3 children.
Looking for a fast paced, fun, inspirational read?: Black Body Radiation and the Ultraviolet Catastrophe (Amazon.com).
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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