Last month I got called for jury duty. It was not the first time. In fact, it was–by my count–the ninth time I have been called for jury duty.
I have never been selected for a jury.
The first time, I had moved out of the county. The second, I showed up, and all the cases that day were continued or dismissed–and eventually, so were we (dismissed, that is). The third time, they formed a jury before they got to me. The fourth time, the last juror picked was the guy sitting next to me.
At this point, it started to feel intentional.
The fifth time, the judge made the parties settle because, as he told us afterward, “I told them, ‘I am not going to impanel a jury over a $100 dispute about a dress.'”
The sixth time, the judge excused me because my mother was dying, and I had to travel out of state to be with her.
The seventh time, the judge excused me because I had plane tickets for travel that fell within the time span of the trial.
The eighth time, the parties settled while we sat out in the hallway.
This time, I showed up at the courthouse (the one that is closest to me, which anyone in Los Angeles will agree is a minor miracle in and of itself). I waited most of the day, went to lunch, came back, and was assigned to a case–this meant that I had to come back two days later.
After an excruciating day of voir dire, featuring a plaintiff’s attorney who really liked to hear himself talk, and a judge who had absolutely no sense of the passage of time, we were told to come back the following day. (Hey, at least I got to eat at Puro Sabor, which I’ve been wanting to do for years.)
So we did. And there was yet another excruciating day of voir dire. Eventually, they selected a jury, and I got to go home.
The frustrating thing is that I sat there for nothing. Because if I had been called to the box, they would have learned immediately that I could not serve due to a conflict of interest. That’s what happens when one of the parties to the lawsuit is your employer.
I do want to go back to Puro Sabor, though. More lomo saltado, please!
I’m surprised you weren’t able to make that known earlier in the process. You’d think they would have a clearing out at the beginning for obvious dismissals, and then use the voir dire to dig deeper into each potential juror. I guess that makes too much sense to actually do.
They had some “pre-qualification” questions, but that wasn’t one of them.
I’ve been called THREE times since September. Was impaneled once (a few months back) for a very easy didn’t stop at a stop sign trial (video evidence, admission etc.)–whole thing took less time than not being called for a real case. I’m up again early July and it turns out my DH is going to be out of town that day and the next three days (just found out yesterday), so I sure hope I’m not impaneled because I’ll have to tell them that I’m suddenly the sole childcare provider with daycamp only going to 3pm and they’ll probably make me go yet again.
And no, having been impaneled or called doesn’t get me out of service like it would in other states I’ve lived in. I have to be chosen for a jury for 3 days to get out of being called for some ridiculously short amount of time.
That’s even worse than the first five times; I got those in under three years. Your state’s system is ridiculous! Which state is it, so I don’t move there? Because I’m pretty sure I’d have the same experience, given my track record to date.
It’s a red state in the South.
I lived in one of those. If my memory of their policies serves, it could have been the same one.
I’ve never been assigned jury duty. I hope to never have to serve that civic duty.
I think nicoleandmaggie and I are taking your turns for you.
When I was 19 years old and a college student in a state in which I did not legally reside, I was not only put on a jury, I was made foreperson (forewoman?). My mother was losing my mind thinking that somehow it would be a month-long trial and I would miss school and lose credit for the entire semester. In fact, the entire trial, including the 10 minute deliberation, lasted about 4 hours.
That is some efficient justice.
I once was actually questioned by the attorneys for jury duty and they dismissed me immediately after. I was rather offended. Was it something I said? I was especially offended because there were some pretty crazy people there that they kept. And, the two women beside me were having a conversation in the waiting area where they made some pretty racist remarks, but they kept both of them, though the defendant was black. It was an attempted murder trial. She ran over her boyfriend, but claimed he was abusive, so there were a lot of questions about our attitudes towards domestic violence.
You probably were too sane for that jury.