SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
How I got out of jury duty.
This is a long story...so grab some popcorn.
I was mailed a jury summons. On the summons, it says to call a phone number by a certain date to see if you will need to show up for the selection process.
I forgot to call before the required date.
A few days after the deadline for making the call, I called the number anyway and spoke to a woman. She said that my number did not fall into the series, so I would not have needed to go anyway.
But, she did put me in cue for the next case.
A few months later, I received another jury summons. My juror number was 001. I was the #1 juror. Obviously, I would have to go this time.
I called the day before the deadline, and sure enough my number was at the beginning of the series.
On the day, I went to the courthouse and was directed to a room full of jurors....about 400 of us. They made us watch a movie about the selection process and how to conduct ourselves...etc. Soon after, they instructed everyone to line up at the door starting behind juror #001. So I was at the door with a few hundred people lined up behind me. Then, they instructed us to head to the elevators, go to the 6th floor, and line up behind me in front of one of the courtrooms.
After waiting a long time and talking amongst ourselves about what the case could possibly be about, the bailiff passed out a court calendar. The calendar showed what days of the week and at what times jurors will need to be present if selected to be a juror. But they made one mistake....
At the top of the calendar was the defendants name....John Smith vs. The State of Nevada (The guys name was not John Smith but you get the point).
Obviously, I whipped open my Android phone and Googled the guys name.
It was a murder trial. A man accused of murdering a 7 year old boy.
So, I pointed this out to juror #2. "Check it out...its a murder trial!.
Jurors #3 and #4 both overheard this and we then started talking about how what I had done was a mistake. Two of the three men did not want to be there anyway. The third guy genuinely wanted to be on the jury.
They took us into the courtroom and started asking questions. "Is anyone here racist?" "Is anyone here a police officer or spouse of a police officer." "Does anyone here have children?"
It's part of the elimination process to determine who will make a good juror and who will not. They dont want racists and biased people on the jury. They also read us an admonishment that explained that it is against the law to research this case via internet, newspaper or any other media form. Of course, I knew that I was in the clear because I researched the case PRIOR to being read the admonishment.
The judge then said, "Does anyone in this courtroom have knowledge of this court case before entering the courtroom today?"
I raised my hand.
Everyone was told to wait in the hall outside the courtroom and that they will call some of us in for questioning one at a time. They called me in.
I was sat down. The judge asked me how I learned of the case before entering the courtroom today.
"I Googled the defendants name on the internet."
The judge said, "You do realize that violates the admonishment?"
I said, "But I Googled his name prior to entering the courtroom."
"How did you find out the defendants name before entering."
"IT WAS ON THE COURT CALENDAR."
She rolled her eyes, shook her head and said, "Ah yes....the age of communication and technology. How it makes our lives so difficult."
I actually felt really bad about it because I had interrupted their process. I apologized.
She asked me if anyone else had overheard. I told them about jurors #2, 3 and 4.
There was nothing they could do; I was dismissed.
When I got home, I Googled the case to read more about it. The Review Journal had published an article about the case. As I read it, the journalist told a story of a man in the jury selection who Googled the defendants name on his cell phone prior to entering the courtroom and that he and three other jurors had to be released as a result.
That article had been written and published online between the time that I left the courthouse and got home!
All in all, it was a good thing because I revealed a problem with their process and did not have to settle for $40 a day for the next 1-2 months.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by sickler
