Yesterday, I was summoned for Jury Duty in Niagara Falls, New York (not Niagara Falls, Canada!). Step by step, inch by inch, I made my way into the court house along with 92 other prospective jurors. We had to do some paperwork, then we went through Jury Orientation, and then we were taken from the Basement waiting area to the court room on the Second Floor.
This was a civil case so they only needed six jurors and two alternates. I was one of the 12 prospects chosen at random to begin the selection process. The Judge questioned us. The plaintiff’s lawyers questioned us. The defendant’s lawyers questioned us.
A drunk driver drove his vehicle onto the North Tonawanda Walking Path. He hit two people who were walking their dog. He and his car went into the Erie Canal and had to be rescued. Those are the sketchy facts we were given. The driver has pleaded Guilty. but, now the couple who were injured are suing North Tonawanda claiming the Walking Path wasn’t designed for Safety.
After undergoing all of the questioning, seven of the 12 prospective jurors were dismissed. I was one of them. I’m figuring my status as a North Tonawanda resident familiar with the crime scene counted heavily against me. The remaining prospective jurors will be reporting tomorrow because one more juror and two alternates need to be selected. I’ll be sleeping in! Have you been on Jury Duty lately?
I have lost track of how many times I have had jury duty. There were lots of times that, like you this time, I just wasn’t chosen. But I’ve served on 8-10 juries, more than half of them murders. I was jury foreman once. All this was in Baltimore City courts. I also had federal jury duty once; that was a long time ago so I forget how long that was. Three weeks, maybe? I got put on one jury during that time, but once the jury was in place the defendant decided to plead out. (I’m told this happens frequently, but that was the only time it happened to me.) I’ve also had federal grand jury service — this lasted 15 months. (One day a week.)
So I’ve spent a lot of time in courtrooms.
Jeff, I would love to have you on a Jury if I was ever charged with a crime. You are smart and fair–rare attributes in the Time of Trump.
I had it in 2011, in August I think! Day one, I didn’t have to go in! Day two, I didn’t have to go in! Day three, I went in! We had to watch some orientation film and then a really offensive piece of bilge about Unconscious Bias! After a couple of hours we were sent home and told we were finished for the rest of the week and the rest of our obligation! A real pain in the ass!
Bob, we were told during Jury Orientation that we were selected at random from a data base. If we weren’t selected for the Jury, we would NOT be summoned for another Jury for six years.
I’ve had jury duty twice. Once about 40 years ago for Oakland County, Michigan. I never got chosen. The other time for Pontiac City court. I served on a case that time. A woman was accused of keying her ex boyfriends car. Trial took about an hour. She was obviously guilty. The judge talked to us after the trial and said that this was a time waster that should never have gone to a jury . I tried to get out of jury duty by being diabetic. They didn’t buy it.
Steve. I was surprised that this case, whose cause was the accident in 2012, took this long to reach this point. Clearly the wheels of Justice grind slowly!
I’ve served three times; twice in California, once in Louisiana. In California, one case was a burglary and the other was felony possession of a handgun. In both cases, the evidence was overwhelming and we found the defendants guilty (I was foreman—forewoman?—on the handgun case). California has a three-strikes-you’re-out law (or at least it did have back in the 1990s) and so defendants who had two previous convictions opted for a jury trial (even when the evidence clearly showed them as guilty) in the hopes of a sympathetic/hung jury, which would help them avoid their third conviction.
A couple of years after the handgun case, the judge was accused by his ex-wife of insurance fraud. Apparently, there was some pretty solid evidence and he ended up committing suicide by driving his car off the cliffs of the Palos Verdes peninsula (not a pretty way to go). A lot of the cases he presided over were reopened. I don’t know if the case I served on was one of them.
The case I served on in Louisiana involved falsifying records and there were two defendants—one was a former policeman. We found them not guilty on one charge and guilty on two others. Later the judge voided the verdicts. The evidence was pretty solid, so I’m guessing some palm-greasing took place. Business as usual in the Pelican State!
Deb, I would have enjoyed being on a Jury in a juicy murder case.
I’ve been on 2 juries, both when I was working and got leave from work. Both were lengthy. I worked for 24 years for the local governments and was only called twice. I even tried to volunteer when there was an article in the paper about how hard it was to empanel juries. (I enjoyed being away from work and reading while waiting for juries, and I enjoyed jury duty for the most part)
after retirement, when I was caring for both parents, I got called about 4 times, and got excuses each time. After my parents died, I got called three times for County once for Federal. The Federal was during the govt. sequestration and while I wanted to serve, only had to call in, and was never called. The County only paid mileage one way and $10 per day, which didn’t even cover parking, so I got out by saying I had to use the restroom frequently (true).
The one jury I remember vividly was a legal malpractice. A wealthy man had asked his lawyer to form a limited corp. He wanted to be a limited partner, though he didn’t act as one, and took an active part in all business decisions. We had many points to consider and had to have a consensus of the same jurors in each point (I think the same 8 people were needed). We initially took secret ballots. There was an issue with one woman who was table pounding adamant on one issue in discussion, on one point that had been discussed for a long time. When we had to reveal our votes, she was upset as she had voted the other way and just changed her vote to hasten the end of the trial. We found for the defendant 80% and against him 20%. I’ll never forget that and figure if I’m ever guilty, I’d want a jury trial.
Maggie, I took a 615-page book with me to Jury Duty. There was plenty of down time. Diane was amazed that I managed to read 595 pages. I was getting concerned I would run out of pages to read!
I suspect you weren’t selected because you look too much like Henry Fonda.
Dan, I was impressed that the Jury Pool was pretty close to 50/50 men and women. I was one of the oldest prospective jurors in the Jury Pool.
My first stint of jury duty came in the mid-80s, and I’d have to say that it was about equally annoying and interesting. I actually got on a jury for a drug case, and it lasted a week. Since then I’ve been summoned 6-7 times, but only had to report once. And that time I was dismissed the first day and didn’t have to return. My most annoying stint was about ten years ago when I was called for Federal jury duty. You’re on call for two weeks, and each night you have to call in to find out if you have to report the next day. It was a very suspenseful two weeks, but I got through the entire period without having to report. I’ve now reached the age where I’m exempt from the whole thing. Sometimes (though rarely) being really old can be a Good Thing.
Michael, I’ve heard Federal cases are way more time-intensive than local civil trials. I’ve never been called for a Federal case. I did have a friend who was called for a Federal Grand Jury. He served for months!
I was summoned a few years ago. The process was surprisingly pleasant. The waiting area was like a nice airport lounge. The court employees were courteous and efficient. But I never got close to a courtroom. I am guessing that one look at my questionnaire – filled out the first morning – and no lawyer wanted me sitting on his case. Maybe it was my reading habits – crime fiction and non-fiction, newspapers, news magazines – that did me in. Who knows? It was days of sitting around, reading, and being dismissed right after lunch. A message just before the last day said I was no longer needed, and thanks. BTW – Hope everyone got that “step by step, inch by inch” !
Elgin, I’m sure Cap’n Bob, who is a huge Three Stooges fan, caught the reference. Both the Judge and the lawyers were impressed that I donated 30,000 books to SUNY at Buffalo. That might have been another reason I wasn’t selected.
Didn’t Abbott and Costello also do that routine on their old TV show? I saw a lot of those in reruns when I was a kid – but liked their movies better.
Elgin, I only remember The Three Stooges doing that “step by step, inch by inch” routine.
I had a summons a couple of weeks ago – first time in 3 years, I thought they’d retired me from the rolls when I hit 70. Evening before the summons I had to log in (or call) to see whether I was required to show up next morning. Nope. Do same thing again at 11 next day to see whether I was required for the 1 o’clock shape up. Nope again, so off the hook for a year.
I was on 3 juries, last one a dozen years ago, the longest, about a month. It was an unusual trial, an SVP Commitment case. Serial rapist from the 70s had served all his time, model prisoner, was up for release & the state wanted to have him committed to state hospital as a Sexually Violent Predator. By law (one passed long after the East Area Rapist had been tried & sentenced), the decision to commit was in the hands of 3 psychologists who examined him to determine whether he was still a Danger to Society. But the psychs didn’t all agree, so in that case the decision was handed off to 12 motley citizens (wholly unqualified to evaluate conflicting medical diagnostic evidence). A fine bit of buck-passing by our idiot legislature. It was mostly a battle of the psychologists on the stand (2 lock-him-up, 1 let-him-out), with much babble about paraphilias and a mass of statistics about reoffending as a function of age (for garden variety rapists, urge to do it again apparently declines with age; for child molesters it does not).
What was unusual was that as a “hearing”, not a trial, the usual rules of evidence we all know from Perry Mason didn’t apply. For one, the offender was compelled to take the stand and answer questions about his crimes. No 5th Amendment here. For another, the instruction was to judge by the Preponderance of Evidence standard rather than Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. It was apparent that the state’s attorney, the public defender, and the judge had never done one of these before, and so there was a lot of squabbling about procedure – what was or wasn’t allowable – and many trips to chambers. I was one of 2 alternates; one of the original 12 got sick a week in, and so they drew names out of a box & empaneled the other guy, leaving me as sole alternate, and so I was left out of the deliberations. They voted to lock him up, and he’s probably still at Atascadero, or dead. I’m normally a lock-em-up-throw-away-the-key guy, but I thought the evidence was so fuzzy that I was inclined to let him out. So I never had the chance to see whether I could pull a Henry Fonda in the jury room. Probably not. I was alternate on the previous case too (a no-brainer crack cocaine for sale case, enlivened by a re-enactment of the high speed chase down the Nimitz Freeway). Always a bridesmaid.
Art, I’m sure you could pull off a Henry Fonda in the Jury Room!
I watched a fascinating documentary at the Maryland Film Festival a couple years, about the problems sex offenders have when released. (Prohibited from living near a school, when almost everywhere is within ten miles of a school; difficulty of getting a job; etc.) And, according to the statistics quoted in the film, there’s very little recidivism. Quite a number of them do end up in jail again, but from robbery or something—often due to the fact that they can’t get jobs. So it would have been interesting to see that hearing.
I no longer have to serve due to age, but back when I was called three or four times, though I never was selected. It was only a day each time, then call-in for the rest of the week. As a County employee, I was not eligible for the jury pay, but was / would have been paid just as if I was at work.
Barbara was called recently, but she also is exempt for age, so she just checked that box and sent the letter back.
Rick, I don’t know if New York has an age limit for jurors. I should have asked. I was one of the older prospective jurors in the Jury Pool.
Alameda County used to have an age 70 limit, but that check box seems to have been eliminated. They know my DOB, but I got the summons anyhow. Must be that they were having difficulty getting jurors & had to expand the pool. I’m afraid I’ll be hounded to the grave…
I am always turned away because my son is a prosecutor. Even when I plead my lack of bias. Would love to serve.
Patti, a number of prospective jurors were dismissed because they had friends or relatives who were lawyers. Like you, I would have liked to serve on a jury.
George, no longer has an automatic exemption for 70+ year olds, darn it , just as I reach that ag
I was called several times to State Supreme Court downtown, once got onto a civil trial as the foreman, but the judge was just using the impaneling of a jury to pressure both sides to make a deal, which they ultimately did. I got called to Federal Court out in Nassau County – Brooklyn and Queens are part of the Eastern District of New York, along with Nassau and Suffolk,in so we can technically be sent anywhere in the district. I knew these pathetic poor black women who had to take the subway to Jamaica and then the Long Island RR, which was ludicrous. At the same time, they were directing Suffolk County jurors to report to Downtown Brooklyn.
But I digress, In Nassau, I escaped from a jury trying sleazy Republican pols from Brookhaven (I know, redundant) who were taking payoffs to allow illegal toxic dumping. Despite hiring celebrity (most recently Harvey Weinstein) and mob lawyer Benjamin Brafman, they were convicted. Next time they called me for Federal Court again, but this time they wanted me to go all the way out to Islip! No way, Jose. I told them it was a hardship, so they switched me to Brooklyn. I escaped unscathed that time (about 6-7 years ago) and haven’t been called since.
New York has no automatic age exemption.
Jeff, I’m out of the Jury data base for the next six years. I doubt they’ll call a 76-year-old to serve.
My favorite jury duty story: Once when I was serving on jury duty, there had been a guy in the big room complaining loudly about how they wouldn’t let him defer his jury duty and he was gonna show them, etc. Anyway, it just so happened he and I were called for the same jury duty. During voir dire, the judge asked if anyone in the pool was on active military duty. This guy stood up, saluted, and said, “Proud member of the N.R.A., Your Honor.” The judge told him to sit down, informing him that the N.R.A. was not a branch of the armed services. The defense attorney immediately used one of his peremptories to “thank and excuse juror number six.” I could never figure out if he was a d-bag or just played the legal system to get out of jury duty.
Deb, it sounds like a crafty trick to me!
I’ve done mock juries. One I did 40 years or so ago was for a friend in law school and I don’t remember anything about it.
I’ve done a couple recently for a survey company for $$ I think it’s done by defense lawyers to see if they have a winnable case. The last one, the atty was “helping” a couple of people figure out how to fill out their form.