General

Re: I just got back from jury duty

MacFall — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:51:09 GMT

Charles Anthony:

MacFall:
Tell them you believe in jury nullification.
-- but are you willing to make any extra effort to actually nullify a jury?

Jury nullification is when the jury refuses to uphold the law, which it ought to do in the case of victimless crime.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Anonymous Coward — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:27:02 GMT

Solid_Choke:
Do you live in Phoenix? I live in Scottsdale near the downtown area. My jury duty was downtown Phoenix though.

Yeah, they had me going to downtown Phoenix too. 'Officially' live in Glendale or at least that's where my mail gets sent...

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Charles Anthony — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:01:35 GMT

MacFall:
Tell them you believe in jury nullification.

-- but are you willing to make any extra effort to actually nullify a jury?

jtucker:
I always figured that I would say, in the interview, that I won't convict anyone no matter what.

That opens an interesting discussion, in my opinion. I have the following question: if you are called into jury duty, what is the right thing to do?

[Naturally, you are under no obligation to do anything.] However, if you want, maybe usurping the process is the right thing too. For example:

1) pretend to follow the status quo, act like a fine upstanding citizen during jury selection

2) do whatever you can to get chosen as a juror, give them the answers they want to hear

3) never tell anyone that you are refusing to convict and hold out in the end no matter what

4) or aim to nullify

As a side note, there is an interesting film Runaway Jury which is along similar lines.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Attackdonkey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:27:30 GMT

well, I don't know about 80% of Oklahomans ignoring jury summons, but Im sure a good number do, and enough simply say they don't want to be on jury duty, but there are enough others who just say they dont wanna be on jury and get off that way to make up 80%...

perhaps you should move to a better state.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Solid_Choke — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:02:18 GMT

Anonymous Coward:

One of the regulars at the bar is an ex-DA and part time judge and I asked him this question when I ran into him after I got the day off work, slept in and went drinking instead of showing up to jury duty.

Apparently unless they serve you in person with a summons there is nothing at all they can legally do if you don't show up. He said that after the third or forth time they might actually try to send someone out looking for you to hand you a summons because, well, there isn't enough real crime in the Phoenix metro area to occupy the sheriff's time it would seem.

So I figure screw them and their dress code.

Do you live in Phoenix? I live in Scottsdale near the downtown area. My jury duty was downtown Phoenix though.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Solid_Choke — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:00:36 GMT

MacFall:

Tell them you believe in jury nullification.

This exactly what I did and was immediately dismissed.

They asked me something like: "Can you judge the case only on the facts and not on the law itself?". I simply said "if there is no victim, there is no crime". Me and this girl that claimed that all cops were currupt and are liars were both told we could leave immediately. Personally I would like to be on a jury as long as it wasn't at a time where I really needed to be somewhere else, but only in the case of violent crime. None of this "War on Drugs" bullshit.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Anonymous Coward — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:22:12 GMT

One of the regulars at the bar is an ex-DA and part time judge and I asked him this question when I ran into him after I got the day off work, slept in and went drinking instead of showing up to jury duty.

Apparently unless they serve you in person with a summons there is nothing at all they can legally do if you don't show up. He said that after the third or forth time they might actually try to send someone out looking for you to hand you a summons because, well, there isn't enough real crime in the Phoenix metro area to occupy the sheriff's time it would seem.

So I figure screw them and their dress code.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Twirlcan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:56:33 GMT

Which I do believe in. But I figure that is the ace up my sleeve in case I am forced to serve and then I can get back at them by nullifying it.

A friend of mine did that for a "three strikes and you are out" crack cocaine possession trial he was a juror on. He said the guy was obviously guilty of crack possession and probably with intent to sell but my friend did not think those were crimes and two other people on the jury thought as he did. He said seeing the guy's family break down and cry with joy when the judge threw out the charges was worth all the hassel he went through.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

MacFall — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 05:27:50 GMT

Tell them you believe in jury nullification.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Twirlcan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:03:34 GMT

Last time I did jury duty I was dismissed since I was still being sued (I won in 2005) from 1996. It was a lawsuit involving someone who got hurt and was claiming landlord negligence. One woman being interviewed with me claimed that she was injured when her kitchen ceiling fell on her head. I remember saying to myself "likely story" but I admired her brazen attempt at avoiding the jury.

The very next day the ceiling in my kitchen collapsed. My cat had also somehow gotten her paws out of the window and dragged a pigeon inside and killed it. So I woke up to plaster covering the kitchen floor and a dead pigeon in the kitchen. My pre-coffee brain assumed that a very strong pigeon had crashed through the floor above and destroyed my ceiling.

I didn't sue anyone.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Paul — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:16:55 GMT

Twirlcan:

Anyone here have experience avoiding state mandated attendance? Any tips?

Go to www.fija.org; get some pamphlets; carry them so they can be seen...

(The one and only time I was called to jury service, they actually seated me on the jury before the defendant - someone I've never even been in the same town as in my life, AFAICT - claimed he knew me, so I was released. Weird)

Re: I just got back from jury duty

DBratton — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:35:52 GMT

jtucker:
I always figured that I would say, in the interview, that I won't convict anyone no matter what.

I think most cases that go to a jury trial are civil cases. I've never been on a panel for a criminal case.

The last time I went both attorney's kept repeated asking everyone if they had ever heard of or had any sympathy for a particular tort reform organization. It makes sense that the plaintiff would want to exclude anyone in favor of tort reform but the defense attorney was questioning people pretty intensely about it too. I guess preserving the profession was more important than winning the specific case.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

mr_anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:12:01 GMT

Mark B.:
My advice is bring some of that Austrian literature to the courthouse and hold it in such a fashion that the passing lawyers can see what you are reading. You won't be on jury duty much longer after that.

Haha, That sounds like a good idea. The state doesnt like it when people believe in liberty. Although I am too young to serve on jury duty, I will keep this in mind for when the time comes.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

jtucker — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 19:01:57 GMT

I always figured that I would say, in the interview, that I won't convict anyone no matter what.

Re: I just got back from jury duty

Mark B. — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:17:32 GMT

I think I have been permanently blacklisted from jury duty. Once they figure out you believe in the right of juries to judge the law as well as the facts, they won't let you anywhere near their courthouse.

My advice is bring some of that Austrian literature to the courthouse and hold it in such a fashion that the passing lawyers can see what you are reading. You won't be on jury duty much longer after that.