Jury Service

[Stupot]

I've been summoned for Jury service for the second time, and I'm only 24.
Last time I was summoned was 3 years ago, and you can only get out of it if you did it less than 2 years ago.
Thing is I am doing an important course at the moment, trying to get into university next year.  I don't really want this pink piece of paper ruining my chances of that.

Has anyone else here ever done Jury duty?  It's quite an interesting experience, but I don't really want to have to do it again.

[monkey0506]

I'm not sure how this works in the UK, but you can be sure to get yourself out of the actual jury duty if you go in saying things like:

Is he black? Oh, he's guilty then.
Is he homosexual? He's guilty.
Is he Jewish? That fucker is definitely guilty.

Etc. and so forth. They can't possibly expect you to actually appear in court if you're just going to declare him guilty regardless of the crime.

This is of course assuming that courts in the UK poll several potential jurors prior to the trial and select only a certain number of the jurors to actually serve in the jury as they do here in Amerikaa. If they don't I imagine you're just screwed.

[Stupot]

Nah, in america they have this weird policy of picking and choosing 12 jurors from a big group, based on things like what kind of shoe's he's wearing... (if the movies and books are to be believed)...

In the UK it's different.. you get picked, you will serve on a jury unless you are either too ill to serve, if you are a criminal or if you turn up drunk or on drugs (in which case you get a 1000 pound fine).

[monkey0506]

Ah well...as a native Amerikaan I was unsure how the UK handled theirs....but I did try. Sorry man.

[OneDollar]

On your first day point to the judge and shout "He paid me £15 to vote guilty!".

See if they want you back again

[Meowster]

Hey dude,

I'm pretty sure that you can ask to miss this. You have a good reason: exams to study for, and you've already done it once before anyway. It's worth a try at least...

[Domino]

I was summoned for Jury Duty last year, but was excused because i got a medical excuse from my doctor.

Somebody with Anxiety would not make a good juror.

I was so relieved.

[Baron]

The responsible thing to do would be to plead your excuse (which seems valid) and hope for them to be understanding.

In the UK it's different.. you get picked, you will serve on a jury unless you are either too ill to serve, if you are a criminal or if you turn up drunk or on drugs (in which case you get a 1000 pound fine).

If that fails, you could always make a criminal of yourself....

[Disco]

Does the summon paper not give examples of possible waiver situations? I have been summoned twice for jury duty, but both times the trial just so happened to be scheduled over a week or two which coincided with the last couple weeks of semester. In each case I wrote a letter to the judge saying that I could not fulfill the duty because of exams and was excused. Even if it was at the beginning of the semester I'm certain I could have gotten out since missing a week or so of school for most people is highly unrealistic.

There ought to be a provision for that in most countries where the criminals are brought before a jury.

[Stupot]

I phoned the Jury Summoning Bureau and told the guy my situation and he quite bluntly said "There are other people in your boat, sir."  And told me that I could defer it for and time in the next 12 months... but the problem is there is no period in the next 12 months that is going to be suitable for me.

I'm going to ask my tutor to write a letter on my behalf.  I've also composed one of my own:

Dear Sir/Madam,
   Thank you for your Jury Summons.  It is, in fact, the second time I have been called.  I am aware that I cannot use this as a reason for excusal as it was three years ago, not two.  However I would like you also to consider my case for a moment.  I am well into an Access to Higher Education course at College.  I hope to be accepted into university for this September, but this will happen only if I succeed in my current studies.
   I am aware that I have the option to defer my Jury service for up to 12 months.  But this is already going to be an unpredictable year for me.  I could end up moving to any one of five cities, and I don't intend to sit on a Jury while I'm studying for a degree anyway.  I could time the deferral to begin during a school holiday, so that it doesn't interrupt with my classes, but even then I will still be expected to study during those holiday's and how can I do that when I have to sit on a Jury?  And then there's always the chance that the case will last more than the two weeks minimum.  If that happens I could end up having to cancel university interviews and/or open days and really jeopardising my chances of acceptance.
   As I said before.  I've already served on a Jury and although it was longer than the two-year excusal period, it wasn't that long ago (from Monday March 21st 2005, to be precise).  I've served my duty once and I found it a very interesting experience.  But I have to be honest; If I was to turn up for Jury duty any time before September, my mind will be be on college work and UCAS and student loans and moving into Halls. The last thing I'm going to be concerned about is whether or not some cleaning guy stole money out of a drawer when the only concrete evidence they have is some webcam footage of the defendant putting a key INTO said drawer (that is the basis of the case I sat for three years ago and it took the 12 of us about five seconds to come to a unanimous derision).  What I am saying is that my mind will be elsewhere and I will resent being there and, quite frankly, I will not be a very good juror for you.
   I'm being as honest as I can and I understand that you cannot let people off lightly, but I hope you can appreciate my situation and grant my request for excusal.
   Thank you.

[OneDollar]

Do you want critique on that?

[Stupot]

Can if you like.  That's not why I posted it... Dunno why I posted it really...  by all means rip it apart.

[OneDollar]

Well... if you're sure... I'd hate to rip apart a letter you just sent, or give you the impression that it's awful or anything (which it isn't )

MY opinion:
You start off fine, but when you say "Don't intend to sit on a Jury" you come across as a little aggressive, almost as if you're threatening to not show if they won't let you off (maybe you are, but that's not really a great idea ). I don't think you should have the sentence about the cleaning guy stealing money as it sounds like you're belittling the legal system. Finally you say "My mind will be elsewhere" and "I will not be a very good juror for you", which again comes across as a threat - if you do drag me in there I refuse to pay attention. I know that's not what you're saying, but it does sound a little like that.

If you want my advice (which you are very welcome to ignore) instead of an aggressive tone try and go for a more apologetic and understanding one, explain your situation before stating that it will make it awkward to sit on the jury. Offer a compromise, try and find the least difficult time that you could sit (maybe the summer before you go to university, when the sort of things you'll need to be doing - applying for accommodation etc - can usually be done online or over the phone wherever you are) although you can try and put across that sitting on the jury isn't ideal. Remember you're writing to people in some kind of power so be polite and business-like, and come across as cooperative (and a dash of sucking up might work too)

There's my $0.02

Oh, and good luck with escaping it and your uni application 

[monkey0506]

Oh hell they're on to me. I have just received my summons to serve on a jury as well. What have you done?!?!? You've led them right to me! :o


This is my first time, so maybe I'll go along to see what it's all about.

[Stupot]

Haha, brilliant.
Such a trend-setter, me.