Question about Jury Duty

[PurpleMonkey]

Hi Guys,

So I got my second jury duty summons. The first one, I went to the court spent an hour waiting with the rest of the people and watch their "You are Canadian, It's your duty to do this shit...you fuck" video and then was told, "Ok, you can go home, we do not need you....um...you fucks."

Let's say this time I don't go home after an hour. Can someone tell me what happens next and what to expect. No "Go to Jail" jokes please!

Just want to know in advance from people who have gone through this what will transpire (Will the judge choose who will be on jury duty; Will I be going once a week, 5 days a week or depending independently on the trail; Is it 9-5 or just a couple of hours; etc) . Without being specific, I was told in the letter that it's going to be a loooooooooooong trial.

Thanks!

 

[girorok66]

I was told if you act like an opinionated and biased person they will release you from the duty.

 

[PurpleMonkey]

Yes. One guy told me if you said you believed (worship) in Satin (WTF?!) then they will tell you to go home. I don't think I can do that. But I wonder if they interview each person one on one? Hmm.....

 

[Big Rig]

I want to go to jury duty


My company pays full wage while on duty

Seems like a nice break from the daily drudge

How can I increase my chances ???

Do they select from the voters list ????

Which one ?????

 

[PurpleMonkey]

Pay Your Taxes to increase chance to go to Jury Duty.

I think they select from the Voters list when you file your taxes (checkmark the box). I agree that it's a nice break from the daily bullshit to see real life cases of people. Judge Judy anyone?

 

[keeferz]

My experience, almost 30 yrs ago mind you, You wait in a room with other potential jurors, if they need a jury, they will draw names,you file into court and the lawyers decide if they want you. They might have 25 or more in the court to decide. If you are not selected, you go back to the jury room, or you could be sent home if there arent any more jury selections that day. You may or may not have to come in the next day, depends on what trials are coming up. Generally speaking, its 9-5, but again depends on the trial and the court.

 

[Never Compromised]

I've been called 3 times in less than 10 years. If you don't wish to sit though a trial say something like "all niggers are guilty" or something equally offensive and you will NOT be picked for that trial. But you will get tossed back into the pool where you may or may not be called again. Last time I was down on University, they had set up a few workstations, with net access and power so you can actually try to do some work while there. During my last visit, the guy in the next workspace turned out to be the president of one of the big 5 banks.

 

[Questor]

I've been called 3 times in less than 10 years.

Strange. I pay taxes and have owned property in Toronto for 10 years. I've lived much of my adult life in Ontario. I've never been called for jury duty.

 

[Never Compromised]

Strange. I pay taxes and have owned property in Toronto for 10 years. I've lived much of my adult life in Ontario. I've never been called for jury duty.

It is a random draw. At one point you could be called every 5 years, but it has been reduced to every 2 years now. Chances are I will never be called upon again.

 

[Darkman5]

I have lived for 24 years and never called for jury duty. I think they pick people from the votes list. My wife got picked a couple of times, the last, just ignore the first letter.

 

[Viggo Rasmussen]

A few suggestions.

Tell them you have a criminal record.

Appear too eager, act like a 12 year old kid.

Draw eyeballs on your eyelids.

Lick your lips and smile at the judge.

 

[Moraff]

A few suggestions.

Tell them you have a criminal record.

Wouldn't advise this one.... from what I have seen/discussed with court people during my two dips in the jury pool if you give them a "reason" they can check on and they find out you lied.... can you say "contempt charge"?

Plus if you are going to ditch, just don't show up and then claim you didn't get the letter. Don't do what a few people in my last pool did... just not come back from the lunch break.... see they take attendance when you first get there.... tell you to come back after lunch, then take attendance again. People not on list two will get to come back and visit the judge apparently.

 

[lurkerjoe]

Jury duty's a social responsibility and all the comments about trying to dodge jury duty are jackasses. Karma will fuck you just when you need the justice system.

 

[lateforthegate]

Purplemonkey...........if the letters still come as they used to...........regular mail..............don't go..............they can't prove you got the letter!

 

[Dougal Short]

The amount of time required varies depending on the case. I have no first hand experience, but one of my employees was called last year. She sat on a white-collar fraud case. She was gone every day for six weeks, but generally came into work for a few hours at the end of each day.

In her case, she was bored to death since apparently the first five weeks was spent instructing the Jury in "Accounting 101". The actual trial was just a few days long.

I have a couple of friends who successfully evaded duty by claiming (rightfully) undue hardship if they sat. One is a commission sales person and the other ran his own small business. I don't think that they are unreasonable about excusing people who have a legitimate excuse.

 

[Viggo Rasmussen]

Wouldn't advise this one.... from what I have seen/discussed with court people during my two dips in the jury pool if you give them a "reason" they can check on and they find out you lied.... can you say "contempt charge"?

Plus if you are going to ditch, just don't show up and then claim you didn't get the letter. Don't do what a few people in my last pool did... just not come back from the lunch break.... see they take attendance when you first get there.... tell you to come back after lunch, then take attendance again. People not on list two will get to come back and visit the judge apparently.

The system is dumb, they don't check these things. It's not like TV.
As a backup, I would bring a Chuck Berry album to prove I own a criminal record.

 

[Alex_Ontario]

A good way to get out of jury duty is to NOT be objective. When you are being interviewed and the case is being explained to you, use body language to show your disapproval or opinions. The chances that you will be selected are very small.

 

[Aardvark154]

I do not claim to speak for Toronto, but in general Moraff and JFK are correct. First there are Criminal and Civil trials perhaps you will be excused with some of these "excuses" for a Criminal trial but when they call you back for the Civil jury pool, the “excuses” put forth here will not necessarily get you excused.

In many places with smaller jury pools a lot of what has been stated here will end up with you meeting with a Judge and the strong probability of him or her referring you for prosecution.

If you have a legitimate excuse give it, you are likely to be excused. If you are just trying to skate out of jury duty remember you are likely to be caught, and even if not, it may be you who one day needs a jury.

 

[Moraff]

Couple of things I don't like about the jury process. Firstly if you have a valid reason you can't be in the pool you cannot present that reason until the pool is brought into the court room to meet the judge. This is silly, you get the notice for duty a couple of weeks or more in advance, there should be a way to make your presentation and get absolved without having to wait for the day(s) of.

Secondly, they should get the preliminary motions out of the way before bringing in the jury pool. My last time in the pool we spent two days twiddling our collective thumbs while the lawyers did their yak-yak. Then there was a motion to move the jury seating to a later date. So we wasted two days for nothing. I understand the right to a speedy trial, but c'mon....

 

[Alex_Ontario]

Jury Compensation

And another thing is that millions of tax dollars that WE pay are spent on legal aid to represent some of these defendants and in Ontario the compensation for a citizen to do jury duty pales in comparison. The first 10 days a juror is not paid at all. $40 a day for the next 39 days after that and then $100 a day for each day thereafter. While it is great that one feels they should do their civic duty, financially it is a burden. In other provinces such as B.C. they are paid $50/day plus cost of meals and in Nova Scotia it is $40/day.

During longer trials most judges will be sympathetic to those who are on the lower end of the income scale and may excuse them wth the exception of those who have the time, money and benefits whether it's from the company they work for or if they are retired. Imagine your fate being one of these defendants wondering if you will get a fair trial because many jurors may not want to be there. Any juror could manipulate the situation to their advantage or convenience whether it's fair or not in order to get out and go home at the end of the day, week or month.

It's time for the gov't to find a few creative ways to be able to pay those who do their civic duty giving consideration to these hard economic times. If the laws allowed a member of Parliament to be eligible for jury duty you could bet your sweet bippy that the laws would be changed giving consideration to them.