Jury service

[Stylo]

I've had a summons to turn up for Jury service in a week or so. Last time I had the same was about 15 years ago.

Back then, someone told me to turn up in a suit and tie. So I did that and was heading home about 30 minutes later. They didn't want me.

I don't have a suit and tie anymore and, I don't particulary want to do Jury service either.

Any tips ?

[FLUB]

Get hold of an ACT badge. That should do it.

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[Laava]

Wear a white supremist t shirt. Simples

[Stylo]

Wear a white supremist t shirt. Simples

Can I borrow yours mate ?

[Laava]

Can I borrow yours mate ?
Haha! Actually I sat on a jury for the 2nd time last year having made excuses the year before. I have been called up 5 times.

Sat on a mother assaults kids case. Fucken tragic.. we found her guilty and she would have got jail time but we never found out what she was sentenced to exactly..

[BMWST?]

If you are employed I think your work can write a letter saying you cant be releasd cos they cant do without you

[pzkpfw]

Closest I ever got to serving on a jury, it was a drug related case.
When I asked for affirmation instead of bible - the prosecution dismissed me.

[jim.cox]

I tried the old suit & tie, rolled newspaper look in the hope of being rejected for jury service - instead they made me the foreman

[neels]

The 'needed at work' excuse usually works a couple of times, then they start asking for a lot more proof before letting you off.

Best hope is it ends up like the last time I had a turn, head in for 3 mornings and hang around for a while until not ending up on a jury, and end of day 3 selection get told you're done for the week.

I took the bike in as there is free motorcycle parking near the court, and did notice that you get looked at a bit sideways if you're carting your motorcycle gear around with you, so that might help....

The people I particularly noticed being challenged were the more mature ladies who took so long getting up organising themselves and their bag/handbag/other bag/jacket/scarf/glasses/phone that they clearly got sick of waiting and moved on to the next.

[pritch]

First time I got the Jury service letter I called up and asked if it mattered that I'd recently finished working for the Police for ten years. "Throw the letter away," he said.
Next time I had passed the age by which you can decline.

Having heard tales of the massive stupidity encountered by people who did serve on juries I'm pleased I was spared the experience.

[JimO]

i have just retired so wouldn’t mind a stint on the jury seeing as i have dodged it a few times, can i bring my pittbull?

[Laava]

And a small excavator?

[Gremlin]

If you are employed I think your work can write a letter saying you cant be releasd cos they cant do without you
Highly unlikely now. I've been called up several times in the last couple of decades. Early on, sorry, no cover, can't be spared.
Later, you can defer... no, situation hasn't changed
Then it was righty-o, we've advised of the risk and our commitments, and you're taking on the responsibility for that risk... ah, in this circumstance you've been released.

Finally I changed jobs, had cover so off to waste some time at court. My last avoidance technique was wearing Camo dragging jeans, leather bike jacket, hadn't shaved for a couple of weeks. I watched one guy in a suit take the longest walk to the box... the lawyers barely looked up.

I made a call up to a courtroom, but never further, thank goodness, and got released on Tuesday afternoon.

[SaferRides]

About 25 years my GP wrote a letter saying I was unfit for jury service because of a health condition at the time. Worked a treat, never been called up since!

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[R650R]

The essential to workplace thing doesn’t fly anymore. They just give you a new date in six months the time and tell you to be there or else…
Once trial started as details emerged I realised I still remembered details of the media coverage at time which were graphic in description of events. Got excused.
Really people should do their duty and go especially if your part of any minority group as when I was there the people that actually turned up for the selection pool wasn’t a very diverse makeup.

[jato]

Agree if you are able to you should go. i did a week of it years ago in rotorua - never got chosen for the whole week, but i realised a lot of the would-be jurers were out for a guilty verdict from the beginning so if you were on the recieving end of a court case you may well not get a fair deal. just recently a mate (pretty astute bloke) got called up for jury service on a case where the accused was looking at serious jail time (sex crime)... mate after the case said in the beginning the jury were set to hang the guy, but so many things didn't add up with the prosecution's timeline/facts(?) after my mate pointed out some major flaws in the story as presented fellow jurors started to smell a rat also, and became very uncomfortable with a guilty verdict. in the end it was a "not guilty" and likely an innocent guy walked free.

[Laava]

Yep, that's why it is maybe worth taking a week out of your life to attend, learn and make an informed judgement. A surprising amount of bullshit has to be waded through in order to make a determination and there will always be a majority of people in a jury second guessing themselves the whole way through. Quite a sobering experience, well for me it was, and you come away not even feeling like you accomplished anything. Civic duty they call it. I have done it twice and am exempt for another 5 years.
in both cases I sat on I still wonder about how things turned out for the kids involved, did I help? And I have to think that even though I did what I think was right, I didn't help them. Tough life for some people…

[jellywrestler]

The people I particularly noticed being challenged were the more mature ladies who took so long getting up organising themselves and their bag/handbag/other bag/jacket/scarf/glasses/phone that they clearly got sick of waiting and moved on to the next.

good idea, stand up, drop your glasses off your head, have a bag of lollies, with a hole, start dropping them, and trying to pick them up, sneeze a lot and wear a harley shirt

[Reckless]

Many years ago I was called up but was running my own construction business, young family etc so no time for Jury service.

A mate told me to write in saying I didn't believe the prison system works and wouldn't do anything to send anyone there :motu:.

Totally untrue I reckon apart of the problem is the judges are softcocks these days there is no line in the sand :angry:

But Never been called again, must be on a blacklist I reckon :eek5::sweatdrop

[JimO]

my wife was on a jury back in the early 90s, 3 bouncers in a nightclub worked over a couple of guys who had had a bit to much to drink including throwing them down a long staircase and stomping their heads giving them significant injury's.
one of the bouncers pissed off to Aussie before the trial, turned out his day job was a security guard but he was caught returning to NZ a while later.
all 3 of them were found guilty.
she couldn't believe how different the case was reported in the paper by the court reporter as to what actually went on in the courtroom.

[Laava]

she couldn't believe how different the case was reported in the paper by the court reporter as to what actually went on in the courtroom.
That is quite believable but not always the case, the one I sat on last year was reported accurately

[nerrrd]

Was on a jury in the mid-nineties, the whole thing was treated as a bit of a joke even by the judge as the defendant was caught with residue from some marked money on his hands and tried to claim it was chalk from fixing a puncture on his bike. Whole thing was wrapped up in three days. Haven't been called again since then.

[pritch]

she couldn't believe how different the case was reported in the paper by the court reporter as to what actually went on in the courtroom.

A guy I knew briefly had been a reporter. He said he learned early when given an assignment to ask "for or against"?

[F5 Dave]

We should all do our civic duty.

And I hope he doesn't see this post. But that's probably what a mate was thinking when he got put on a horrific case that you would all remember. Went on for months.

When he got back someone else was doing his job. Shuffle sideways,. . . actually we don't need another you. Bye. And he was a competent guy.
Ok he found employment again but had to move.

Jesus fuk. That is risk.

My Dad was a dentist. If he got called up he'd just ask how much the fine was. Can you imagine? Sorry we just can't book patients. Try elsewhere.

[SaferRides]

We should all do our civic duty.

And I hope he doesn't see this post. But that's probably what a mate was thinking when he got put on a horrific case that you would all remember. Went on for months.

When he got back someone else was doing his job. Shuffle sideways,. . . actually we don't need another you. Bye. And he was a competent guy.
Ok he found employment again but had to move.

Jesus fuk. That is risk.

My Dad was a dentist. If he got called up he'd just ask how much the fine was. Can you imagine? Sorry we just can't book patients. Try elsewhere.He should have engaged a lawyer. I can only imagine what he would have been awarded by the Employment Tribunal.

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[F5 Dave]

I imagine he did. But no one wins.

[Laava]

You got lucky mate! There is a limit on how many challenges you can make as well. I did-not know that until in the recent trial I sat on, the defense counsel was advised that he only had one more challenge. His client was gesturing to him furiously to challenge a couple more jurors but would not do it herself…

[BMWST?]

Many moons ago i was called to be on a jury related to the springbok tour. There were many defendants,therefore many challenges. The Jury pool was huge. My name was called. I was just about to sit down when "CHALLENGE". Later i reckoned anybody who even looked like a rugby "sympathizer' was challenged.

[jellywrestler]

Many moons ago i was called to be on a jury related to the springbok tour. There were many defendants,therefore many challenges. The Jury pool was huge. My name was called. I was just about to sit down when "CHALLENGE". Later i reckoned anybody who even looked like a rugby "sympathizer' was challenged.

Hahahaha your autocorrect changed chimpanzee to sympathiser