How to get out of Jury Duty?

[Hugh 0ne]

If I go in there and tell them that I hate blacks, jews, hispanics, and I think women should not have the right to vote, will I be excused from jury duty?

 

Seriously though, how do you get out of this. I own a small business and being away from the business for an extended period of time would cause extreme hardship on my company. Will that help?

 

I know several police officers in the district, any help there?

 

Anyone know anything about this that would be willing to shed some light on the matter?

 

Thanks.

 

Oh, and I don't hate America, I just really can't be out of the office without the walls crumbling down.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Hugh 0ne

[Big John]

Trying this?

 

Saying you know several police officers may work to get the defense lawyers to reject you.

[Ursa Majoris]

I know several police officers in the district, any help there?

I think that might be your best bet - let it be known that you're naturally biased to the police.

 

And you are a total anti-patriot. You should be prepared to sacrifice your business for the sake of justice.

[Riffraff]

Vast majority of people over-estimate their importance to thier workplace. They can be missed for a few days.

 

Do like Tiny Fey on 30 Rock and dress up like Princess Leia. She still got selected for being the most normal.

Can't really fake it too much since your mock predudice just might be what the lawyers are betting on.

 

I believe you can try to convince them that your workplace will fall apart worse than the legal system would without you there. I think there is a form you fill out ahead of time to try and justify your need for absence.

 

Could be different rules for different states.

[driveby]

Act like an employed, educated, white male.

[Flypaste]

Seriously though, how do you get out of this. I own a small business and being away from the business for an extended period of time would cause extreme hardship on my company. Will that help?

 

I just went through this process a month ago. Anyone that said this to the judge was released from duty, no questions asked.

[The Irish Doggy]

Act like an employed, educated, white male.

 

[detlef]

If I go in there and tell them that I hate blacks, jews, hispanics, and I think women should not have the right to vote, will I be excused from jury duty?

 

Seriously though, how do you get out of this. I own a small business and being away from the business for an extended period of time would cause extreme hardship on my company. Will that help?

That's all you need to say. I was called a week or two after I had just opened a restaurant. Being gone for any amount of time would have been catastrophic. I told him that and I was off.

[PSULions]

I think being honest is the best thing to do. I think the judge will recogonize your honesty and dismiss you from serving. It is the people that come up with lame excuses that will not be dismissed and will likely get call to be on a jury.

 

Good luck.

[godtomsatan]

I called and told them I couldn't get out of work. I've done this twice.

[geeteebee]

Just be careful this doesn't happen to you...

 

<H2 class=vitstoryheadline>DMN Problem Solver: Collin County man held for 83 days for missing jury duty </H2>

 

<H5 class=vitstorydate>12:39 PM CDT on Saturday, May 9, 2009</H5>

 

 

Douglas Maupin was held at the Collin County Detention Facility for 83 days on a warrant for failure to appear for jury duty. During those days of legal purgatory, he said he was unable to hire a lawyer, post bail or even get a clear explanation of what type of charge he was being held on.

 

His case was finally handled Friday afternoon – a few hours after a judge heard from The Dallas Morning News about his situation.

 

"He should not have spent that much time. This is unacceptable," said 416th District Judge Chris Oldner, who returned to the courthouse late Friday specifically to handle the case of Maupin, who was released Saturday. "I don't know why the process failed to notify us."

 

Maupin, 34, who recently lived in Allen, was taken in on the 6-year-old jury duty warrant after he was stopped for speeding 65 mph in a 45-mph zone in Parker on Feb. 15.

 

He was then taken to the Collin County Detention Facility, where he said he spent the next 36 hours sitting on a plastic chair waiting for a bond hearing. A videoconference with a municipal judge set a $1,500 bond, which required the full amount in cash, according to court documents.

 

Also Online Blog: DMN Investigates

 

Maupin, a masonry contractor, says he didn't have the money, and his friends and family couldn't afford to help him. "My mother knows I'm in here, but she's on partial disability and a small income," he said during a jailhouse interview early Friday afternoon. He also said it was hard to reach his friends, because all of them have cellphones, and they could not receive collect calls.

 

When asked why Maupin was being held so long, John Norton, a Collin County Sheriff's Department spokesman, said, "We hold him until he posts bond or a judge says, 'Release him.' "

 

Wearing an orange jumpsuit and talking by phone from behind a glass partition, Maupin said that the notice of the original summons and contempt hearing back in 2003 was sent to his parents' home. That's why he didn't show up, he said.

 

"I understand I am partially responsible, but I just want my day in court," he said during the interview. "I do know I have the right to due process and a speedy trial. I've had neither. It's not right."

 

He said at one point he had asked for a form to try to get a public defender, but he was told by a clerk that he couldn't have one because his was a civil case – even though the court's Web site identifies the case as a felony.

 

He also said that released inmates wrote him and told him they had tried to tell the court of his situation but were ignored.

 

So he wrote a letter, postmarked April 30, to the DMN Problem Solver column at The News. The letter was received on Thursday.

 

"I have been given conflicting pieces of information about my case," he wrote. "Also, I have been denied representation. There is still no court date set and I'm becoming quite concerned. My situation has become critical."

 

Maupin wrote that, because of his time in jail, he lost his rental home, his car and his dog. "I find myself now homeless, with no job, and a vehicle repossession," he wrote. "Along with the loss of all my personal possessions, and my beloved dog, Daisy."

 

In the interview, he said he wasn't sure what happened to his dog, or where his possessions are.

 

Aside from not appearing for jury duty, Maupin also had seven charges for failing to pay tolls with fines totaling $2,236. Five of those cases were canceled by the court on March 5. The remaining two were finally dropped for time served on April 17.

 

An examination of Maupin's case indicates several reasons why he might have fallen through the cracks. The judge who signed the original 2003 warrant has since retired. And while the case was assigned to the court of the judge who replaced him, it wasn't that court's responsibility.

 

Judge Oldner said that, as the administrative judge, the case was his – but he had no idea that Maupin was in the detention facility.

 

He also said that Maupin should have been allowed to apply for a public defender. While the case wouldn't have qualified, it would have put Maupin on the court's radar.

 

"I'm disappointed this has happened. I am going to investigate," Oldner said.

 

The judge said cases like this are rare and if people are arrested, they're usually held for only a matter of days.

 

Late Friday, Maupin still had two outstanding warrants in Arlington for a speeding ticket and driving with no insurance.

 

But Arlington police spokesman Blake Miller said that a municipal judge had signed off on allowing Maupin to be released for time served. Arlington police sent an e-mail to Collin County to let authorities there know.

 

At an average cost of $69.70 per day for a Collin County inmate, the mistakes involving Maupin's case cost the county roughly $5,785.

 

But the Garland native said it has cost him far more. "After a while, I realized that this is about more than just me. If it can happen to me, it might happen to anyone," he said.

 

 

 

Staff researcher Molly Motley Blythe contributed to this report.

[yo mama]

I dunno, show up drunk?

[driveby]

I'm going downtown tomorrow for jury duty. Reset my first date and forgot when it was. I guess I missed it because they sent me another summons and said if I miss this one I will be arrested.

 

Guess I'll go.

[TimC]

I hate blacks, jews, hispanics, and I think women should not have the right to vote

 

That's perfectly normal and won't get you out of jury duty.

[i_am_the_swammi]

That's perfectly normal and won't get you out of jury duty.

 

 

Serving on a jury is one of hte founding principles of our legal system. Every defendant is guaranteed the right to be judged by a jury of their peers. It is a right we fought for when this country was founded.

 

I know its a PITA, but you really should try to honor your committment unless a true hardship exists.

[DMD]

I live in Collin county like the guy that was jailed for a few months. They tell you that work is never a reason for missing jury duty unless it is being a mother who must stay at home with children. I got called for jury duty last year during the football season when I cannot go and I got a six month deferral so I went in the offseason. And even then, I showed up for like 2 hours and they said they did not need me and that was all I needed to do.

 

If you own a small business that has very few employees, you could make the case but around here it is hard to get out of jury duty because of work. They tell you that in bolded letters on the summons to appear.

[westvirginia]

 

Serving on a jury is one of hte founding principles of our legal system. Every defendant is guaranteed the right to be judged by a jury of their peers. It is a right we fought for when this country was founded.

 

I know its a PITA, but you really should try to honor your committment unless a true hardship exists.

 

+1

[AtomicCEO]

I say it every time I see one of these threads.

 

I got out of jury duty once by telling them that I needed to travel to a trade show, and I didn't even end up going to that show. I've never been called again.

 

And I seriously regret doing this. If called again, I would serve in a heartbeat. If I was ever on trial... I'd want someone like me on the jury, rather than a bunch of mouth-breathing idiots.