Funny "What are the Chances???" story

[KillerTomato]

I had jury duty today. So I called my brother (the attorney) this morning, to see if he could do lunch, and he said, "Sorry, I can't, I'm starting a new trial today...I'm empanelling a jury this morning."

So guess who was in the jury pool for his trial?

I got excused for some reason (it was one of only two juries to be picked today, and they did the first earlier in the morning).

He actually goes to trial only about 10 times a year (civil litigators settle a lot out of court), and I just HAPPENED to be picked for the one day he's choosing a jury. And I just HAPPENED to be in the pool for his trial. We got a laugh, though....When I was asked if I "had any relationship to anyone involved in the case," I just smiled and said, "Um, yeah. The plaintiff's attorney is my brother."

In other news, I bought a PowerBall ticket on my way home...

[christie1111]

That is very funny!

Did you get paid for the day?

[MarleysGh0st]

That is very funny!

Did you get paid for the day?

And does this fulfill your service in the jury pool?

[KillerTomato]

That is very funny!

Did you get paid for the day?

They give you $9, but I donated it to the Children and Youth Services fund.

[KillerTomato]

That is very funny!

Did you get paid for the day?

And does this fulfill your service in the jury pool?

Yep. If they had been choosing another jury, I'd have been asked to stick around later, and possibly put into that pool, but since they didn't need me any more, I did my "one day, or one trail" thing.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

That's a great excuse to get off jury duty.

[kayrharris]

My federal jury duty got canceled completely. Since I was already scheduled to be off work for two weeks, I stayed home yesterday and today to work on my personal taxes. I'm always off on Wednesday, so I guess I'll go into work on Thursday and tell them I'm off jury duty.

I really needed these couple of days to get this tax stuff ready for the accountant.

[peacock2121]

That is very funny!

Did you get paid for the day?

They give you $9, but I donated it to the Children and Youth Services fund.

Is that an option they give you when you sign-up? If so.... what a great idea!

[peacock2121]

That's a great excuse to get off jury duty.

If people spent less time looking for ways to get out of jury duty and more time actually serving, we would have a fairer jury system.

[ladysoleil]

That's a great excuse to get off jury duty.

If people spent less time looking for ways to get out of jury duty and more time actually serving, we would have a fairer jury system.

I actually want jury duty. I know the waiting around is a little boring but I think hearing a case would be interesting. I was a little bummed out when I didn't get picked, and I've only been called once. The odd thing was that the only question the attorney was asking was what newspapers and books you liked to read. I don't know if they were looking to see if you might have read about a similar case, or if they were trying to screen for something else, but saying I read the Times was enough to get me nuked.

[littlebeast13]

That's a great excuse to get off jury duty.

If people spent less time looking for ways to get out of jury duty and more time actually serving, we would have a fairer jury system.

I actually want jury duty. I know the waiting around is a little boring but I think hearing a case would be interesting. I was a little bummed out when I didn't get picked, and I've only been called once. The odd thing was that the only question the attorney was asking was what newspapers and books you liked to read. I don't know if they were looking to see if you might have read about a similar case, or if they were trying to screen for something else, but saying I read the Times was enough to get me nuked.

I'd also like to end up on a jury at least once in my life. The only time I was ever called was 5 years ago, and I never even made it into a courtroom. I just sat in the courthouse basement with the rest of my fellow captives for 5 hours on Monday & Tuesday until our case was settled and we were dismissed. At least that combined with my normal Wed/Thu nights off to give me a sweet 4 day weekend during the World Series.

And interestingly enough, "Runaway Jury" was released in theaters right around the time I was called. I figured that wasn't the best omen.....

lb13

[Rexer25]

I've been summoned 6 times, but only served on one jury. The "best" story involves reporting to the City of Irving for jury duty. There were 23 people (out of 24 summons) sitting in a courtroom, waiting for the officials to show up. They finally come in, then tell us it is a class C misdemeanor, the defendant requested a jury trial, and the defendant had not showed up yet. They said he was already 15 minutes late, and if he didn't show up in the next 10 minutes, we would be dismissed. So the court officials went back to their hidey-holes, we (the potential jurors)hung around for 10 more minutes, then everyone appeared again, the judge dismissed us, and started writing out a bench warrant for the defendant's arrest.

The thing I always thought was so funny was the classification of the crime, and why the defendant wanted a jury trial. IIRC, a class C misdemeanor in Texas in 1990 was something like public intoxication, or some such level of offense. Something that is very embarrassing to the defendant. Most people would just pay the fine and try to learn from it and keep it relatively quiet.

[earendel]

I have never been on a jury, and only been called once for jury duty, in Indiana, where I was "on the hook" for three months but never got summoned. I've never been called in Kentucky. I don't understand why - I'm a property owner, a registered voter, and a driver.

[minimetoo26]

I've been summoned twice, but the first time I had JUST moved out of the city so they took me off the rolls. The second time was right after Erin was born and I asked to be pushed later in the window. They asked if I was fully caring for a child under the age of 16, and I told them I had 4 who fit the bill, they took me off the rolls again.

So even though it would pay better and be less boring than what I do, they don't want me.

[MarleysGh0st]

I've been summoned twice, but the first time I had JUST moved out of the city so they took me off the rolls. The second time was right after Erin was born and I asked to be pushed later in the window. They asked if I was fully caring for a child under the age of 16, and I told them I had 4 who fit the bill, they took me off the rolls again.

So even though it would pay better and be less boring than what I do, they don't want me.

Heck, just bring the kids into court and let them learn something.

The bailiff can keep an eye on them.

[silvercamaro]

I've been called to jury duty only once, and one of the attorneys turned out to be the son of one of my best friends. He recognized me before I recognized him. (Hey, if I'd even seen him since high school, I hadn't ever seen him dressed in anything but a t-shirt and jeans.) Needless to say, I was not selected for that jury -- but I was able to tell his mother that, from what I observed, he was doing a fine job. This made her very happy.

[PlacentiaSoccerMom]

I've been called to jury duty only once, and one of the attorneys turned out to be the son of one of my best friends. He recognized me before I recognized him. (Hey, if I'd even seen him since high school, I hadn't ever seen him dressed in anything but a t-shirt and jeans.) Needless to say, I was not selected for that jury -- but I was able to tell his mother that, from what I observed, he was doing a fine job. This made her very happy.

I volounteer at Maddie's school library on Wednesdays. I've told several people that I know that I see their kids studying during lunch and it makes them very happy.

[fantine33]

I've been summoned twice, but the first time I had JUST moved out of the city so they took me off the rolls. The second time was right after Erin was born and I asked to be pushed later in the window. They asked if I was fully caring for a child under the age of 16, and I told them I had 4 who fit the bill, they took me off the rolls again.

So even though it would pay better and be less boring than what I do, they don't want me.

Heck, just bring the kids into court and let them learn something.

The bailiff can keep an eye on them.

Sadly, that's really what some people seem to think that the bailiff is there to do!

My sister was on a cold case jury a few years ago (I think she was even the foreperson), which was pretty cool, since the evidence mostly consisted of b&w photos taken with those big flash cameras at the murder scene. It took weeks and she was really worried about her absence at work (she's a bank manager).

A couple weeks ago she was called for jury duty again and was carping about possibly getting picked again, since there were a few murder trials getting ready to go (including a cop killer one) and she was having staffing problems as it was.

So, she ends up getting excused because she knew somebody (I think one of her employees is the wife of one of the LEOs involved) and, instead of being happy, she was miffed! The way she put it, "it's like if your wrist hurts and you hate volleyball anyway, but you still don't want to be left out when they pick the teams".

She's nutty.

[5LD]

I was called five times while living in NYC. They're desperate for jurors.

The only jury I was almost picked for was a child abuse case and the trial was expected to go on for three and 1/2 weeks. So glad I got excused. I was one of the 15 left standing before the chose the final 13.

[kayrharris]

I sent in my 9 page questionnaire for federal jury duty I was summoned for to begin this past Monday. I answered all the questions honestly. I was ready to serve my two weeks. I received a call Sunday night saying all the cases had been handled and my services weren't needed. Two years ago I was on jury duty here locally and served on two different juries. It certainly opened my eyes to another side of life I didn't know much about.

Anyway, I've been playing hooky from work to get my tax stuff together for the accountant, seeing as they were already prepared for me to be gone all this week anyway. I'm now convinced I'm being punished, as I just broke the nail on my left pinky all the way to the quick. I was taking clothes from the washing and putting them into the dryer...that's all. That makes 9 out of the 10 nails now broken....which is pretty much one of the worst things that could happen to me. (I'm pretty shallow, huh?) That'll teach me to do out of character stuff like this.

[5LD]

Ah, forgot to mention my hubby was in the jury pool for the martha stewart trial. he had to answer a 30ish page questionnaire. He got released when they cut it down to 50.