I’ve been summoned to jury duty tomorrow, Wednesday. I called in this evening, and was told that I should appear.
This will be the first time I have appeared for jury duty. I have been summoned 2 or 3 times before, but in the phone call the night before was always told that I wasn’t required.
It’s with the Arizona Superior Court, so it could be interesting. I’m looking forward to it, which some of my friends think is strange. I guess a lot of people work hard to get out of jury duty, but I’ve always wanted to serve.
I’ll report back once I am free to discuss it.
7 responses so far ↓
1 Donna // Jun 26, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Good luck! I hope you get on an interesting case. Take a book along to the court house, because you can sit for hours in the jury assembly room.
2 Heather // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Mark has also been summoned to appear on July 11th. His is superior court as well. He is looking forward to it but his work can’t have him on a case. It is too difficult to replace him. I feel the same way! 😉
Enjoy yourself!
3 Donna // Jun 27, 2007 at 6:36 am
Unfortunately, Heather, the court won’t release you just because you are irreplaceable at work. Lots of people use that as an excuse, and they don’t accept it. The only thing they consider is financial hardship (like being in business for yourself) and then you have to go to great lengths to prove it would be a financial burden to the company or business. If it’s simply lost wages, that doesn’t count either. I told them I would lose a week of pay, but I still got picked for a jury.
They will, however, let you off if you have surgery or non-refundable travel scheduled. That’s how ~10 people got off the case I was on.
4 Daryl // Jun 27, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Update: I started the process of Jury Selection today, but I won’t know for a while if I have been selected.
I can only say that the trial is expected to last about 3 months. I filled in a very long questionnaire that will help the attorneys decide if they want me on the jury or not. The trial will begin on July 17, and if I am selected I will be notified before that.
Based on my responses to the questionnaire, I doubt that I will be selected, but we shall see.
5 Grandma // Jun 27, 2007 at 2:15 pm
I hope it’s not one of those where you are sequestered for three months, kept from all newspapers and TV, and have to stay nights on a private floor in a down town hotel, not seeing anyone except the other jury members.
6 Heather // Jun 27, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Donna-
We are aware of the difficulty of getting out of jury duty. The thing is he wants to serve. He is getting a lot of pressure from his boss about finding a replacement. Mark told him “tough” today. I suppose if asked he can say it would be difficult for his boss to replace while on jury duty and see what they say.
There is no way Mark could do it for 3 months. I can’t imagine what kind of a trial that will be. How do they fill spots and have people survive financially? Wow! Keep us posted.
7 Donna // Jun 27, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Good luck, Daryl. Sounds like a big, possibly high-profile case. If it’s something that has been in the news, it’s not necessary that you have not heard of it, but that you can still be an unbiased juror and consider the defendant[s] innocent at the start of the trial. If it happens to be someone you know, you don’t have a prayer.
Hope you get on it, if it’s what you want. You’re a perfect juror for a long trial, with your days free and no impact to your income.