damaged people dot com

Went to my mailbox this morning to get the mail, as I haven't gotten it for a few days. So among the usual flyers, advertisements, bills, and credit card requests, I see a letter from the Spokane County. Puzzled I started to open it. I thought maybe it had something to do with the filing of papers on the old house or something like that. Nope, wrong. I pull out the papers only to find, yes you probably guessed from the title, a Jury Duty notice. Now for you Yanks, I'm sure you immediately think of one of two things: a) How much time will I get off work and is it going to be a good case, or b) How the hell can I get out of Jury Duty? For me, the first thing that went through my mind was: How the HELL does a Canadian get a notice for jury duty?? Maybe someone could enlighten me on the process that leads to the letter being sent? I just had to laugh. Part of me wishes I could do it. But instead I have to write them and TELL them I am Canadian. Think maybe this time they'll get it right? Probably not. Oh well, makes for a humerous morning.

I'd stick to the whole "I'm not a US Citizen, therefore I can't be on the jury, you dumbass!" gig.

If that doesn't work, and you get pulled in.. just make sure that you give them the impression that anyone the police arrest MUST be guilty (the defense attorney will have you outa there by lunch).

They pull jury selectees from several pools

- Voter registration records
- Drivers Licences
- another one I can't remember at the moment.

In my personal opinon, they should ONLY pull them from registered voters, enough already with the BS drivers license thing.

But wait, it gets better. . .
I friend who had a 10 year old son, got a jury duty notice, for HIS SON. They spoke to the county, told them the notice came to the SON who is under age. So two weeks later, they get -another- notice, this time address to the -same- name, but with -SR.- after it. Talk about a laugh. . . the father and son don't share the same first or middle names. The county was quite stupid in their assumptions. My friend was -still- trying to figure out where/how they got his sons name. The only thing that made any sense, was getting an ID card at the license deparment. So much for pulling qualified jurors -that- way.

I think anyone who doesn't have the right to vote in this country, shouldn't have the right to sit on a jury and pass judgement to enforce our laws. (nothing agains out Canadian friends). Similarly, I don't think the state or any other agency should use drivers licensing as an avenue for voter registration. Just because someone gets a license to drive here, doesn't mean they are a citizen and have the right to vote here.

The system, as far as I'm concerned, is busted in a bad way.

just my two cents,
btw. got a notice myself for duty at the end of October. I'll be filling in the questionaire with all kinds of neat goodies. hehehehe.

I've been a registered voter since 1984 and I've never ever been asked to do jury duty

They must know that I'm a liberal.

bio wrote:I've been a registered voter since 1984 and I've never ever been asked to do jury duty

They must know that I'm a liberal.

I've been a registered voter since 1982, and I received a questionnaire just this year.

The statute of limitations must have run out....

You should fill out the questionair and if it doesn't ask if you are a US citizen, you should take the day off and "report for duty". They will then have to pay you the minisule fee ($20 or something like that) for showing up...then they can send you home when they find out you are a Canuk.

Make 'em pay to be stupid!

On the bright side, maybe you'll make it all the way to the jury pool before you tell them...could be fun.

I thought about that. Go all the way to sitting on the jury, then giving the defendant and easy "out". But, nah. I really wouldn't mind doing it. But I'll fill out the survey and send it in saying I'm not a U.S. citizen.

wonder what case it is?

they could have you taken out if you vote guilty.

or they could pay you a large sum of money to vote not guilty.

Don't know the case. As I understand it you are "on call" for the 2 week period. If they need you great, if not, thanks for playing and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

So I had forgotten to send in the form until last week after getting back from vacation. I filled it out quickly saying I was not a U.S. citizen and sent it in. Yesterday I go to the mail and I've got a card saying I was NOT excused and needed to report on Monday That ain't right.

So I found an email address and sent them an email about it. Just got a response asking what country I was a citizen of. I replied, then got a response saying I was excused and sorry for any inconvenience. Whew, I got too much work to do to spend time sitting at the courthouse explaining why I shouldn't be there.

As opposed to -me-, who will be starting next Monday. Of course, after Monday it's mostly an on-call kind of thing. I could be picked, or I might not be. This should make for an interesting dissertation.

You'll get to watch a movie, starring Raymond Burr!

It's awesome! He gives you a pep talk on how the American Legal System works.

I got to do Jury Duty a few years ago. Got picked for an awesome case. A methhead, who robbed a bank, then WEEKS later went on a Meth fueled cop chase through Spokane.

They finally pinioned his car with cop cars, but couldn't get him out. So they sent a Dog in one window, and watched Methhead and Dog come out the other window.

The dog had more of his arm than he did at that point. Pretty disgusting pictures.

So, as the dog is eating him, he starts yelling "I DIDN'T DO NO BANK JOB".

Cops are all "Huh? What Bank Job?" and he's all "THE GROCERS CREDIT UNION, I DIDN'T ROB IT."

Dumb ass.

They were really more intrested in stopping him from driving like a jackass. So, they match him to the crime after the fact, thanks to his help. Hey! The finger prints match up to the discarded masks from the crime scene! Awesome!

Turns out the guy went and pointed a gun at a pregnant bank teller at this Credit Union that his Father in Law uses, because the Tidyman's that they wanted to knock over hadn't unlocked any of the cash drawers yet, when they tried to rob it. I can understand that. You don't want robbery blue balls. They were all set. They had bought some SCARY halloween masks at the Albertsons. (Receipt for that was still in his Wallet when he was arrested 2 weeks later) They had some 18 year old kid who sells pot acting as their wheelman. Perfect Crime! Then they go and show up before the cash drawers are taken out of the time safes for the day.

"Whoops!"

The experience was pretty cool. I got to sit in the jury room, play Pokemon. Get escorted out to smoke. JUROR #6!

Oh, I also got to count the money he stole, and play with the guns they used during the deliberation. I leafed through his wallet and looked at all the random notes he had in there. His Troll Doll wife's Cricket number. Got to play with all the random shit they bought the next day.

Downside: The cops shot their dog when they raided his house. That was a big controversy. The defense tried showing the Jury the picture to make us sad for the guy... or maybe to teach us that cops are mean. Not sure. The Judge hussled us out of the Courtroom pretty quickly when they did that.

Oh...also...Sandwiches.

Much more interesting than my first week, I must say.

Having no really -good- reason to get out of it, I reported like a good little boy last Monday. Got put into a pool that afternoon, didn't finish selections until Tuesday afternoon. I was originally #2 out of 39 candidates, and was selected for the trial. We were supposed to be in session over the next four days,t o include today, Monday.

We reported the next morning to start the trial, and found out it had mis-trialed before we even got started. Seems the prosecution got hold of some additional information from a witness and needed to disclose the facts to the defense. In the judges opinion, the defense was probably going to settle out of court after finding out this new information.

The case was second degree rape. In a way, I'm glad I didn't have to sit that one out.

Back into the courthouse on Thursday morning, and selected for another pool very early. This time the questioning went quickly and I was again selected for the jury. A DUI case this time, with the poor guy taking a breathalyzer at .151, damn near twice the legal limit. Friday had closing arguments and we deliberated for about an hour (long story), and eventually sent they guy to jail., eerrr, found him guilty.

I never got asked any of those interesting questions that people prompt you. In my case, I guess they wanted a God fearing, card carrying Conservative Gun Owner that collects classic cars. heh.

Of all the people who were in the selection process with me, only two were actually trying to fight to get out of it. And each of them couldn't quite formulate their story. I just sat there -knowing- what they were trying to do, but they just couldn't get the words out. It was laughable, and the attorneys saw right through it as well.

Overall, my impressions were pretty good. I still can't see how the attorneys figure out who to keep and who to toss. I -do- think they base the majority of thier decisions on the individual answers to the questionaire sent out earlier. I was impressed at the large cross-section of people that were selected, and the diversity they all had.

I think it was a good experience. I have this week left, but the odds are I won't be called in again, though I -do- have to check in every night to find out.

And although most folks didn't want to be there, of those I talked to, most were looking forward to the experience.

That's it for my first week.

i got stuck on a state grand jury for 3 months. i had to go one week every 3 weeks. my step-dad was the foreman of a federal grand jury for a year. grand jury duty is the best since you can asks the witnesses questions

State and Federal cases pay well, too. Especially in this job market. Not only do you get a reasonable wage (commensurate with the work it actually entails, which is listening to a soap opera), but you also get mileage for driving wherever they hold the hearings. So its on par with having a pizza delivery job and babysitting job combined.