LCTV Posted May 6 Posted May 6 Anyone else gotten a summons before? Surprisingly I've never had to. I could just google the info myself but how was it for you?
FameFatale Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I've had 3 summons and picked twice once for a criminal trial and once for a grand jury session over 6 months. You show up to the courthouse the time/date it says. There will be like hundreds more people show up too who also received a summon in the mail. The lawyers will hand you a questionnaire about employment, views, if you can push your biases aside...etc. Then you will all be brought into the courtroom and given numbers and the judge will come in ask some additional question off the questionnaire. Basically you can raise your hand and say "I can't put my biases aside" and you can get released and never deal with it again (unless you get another summon years later), or if you have issues with job scheduling/hardship the judge will dismiss you. But if you REALLY want to get on the jury and feel you can but all your feeling aside and be mindful of the process just be honest and listen to the judge and let them know you have zero issues. It's an interesting process being on a jury but it's really long and tiring. 1
Taste of Honey Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I have. I went down to the courthouse, then waited for like 1-2 hours in a room full of people to find out if I was being picked. They didn't choose me and I got to go home.
nathanspears Posted May 6 Posted May 6 Done it once. I was picked straight away and the trial was about 2 weeks. It was a murder/manslaughter case. It was an interesting experience.
americanlife Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I did it once three years ago. They tried to summon me again last year but you have to wait 4 years or so to do it again.
Cannon Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I was summoned for the first time last year. A few days before I was supposed to present myself, the trial resolved itself so I didn't have to do anything.
Blanket Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I literally don't open my mail for months so I've gotten some but missed the date. It sounds kinda interesting and legally your job has to let you have the day off to go to court. Next time I'll do it
Mezik Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I've been summoned, but always got dismissed because I tell them I can't afford to go weeks without pay. I could care less about my civic duty and an equitable trial if it means I'm going bankrupt.
LCTV Posted May 6 Author Posted May 6 23 minutes ago, Mezik said: I've been summoned, but always got dismissed because I tell them I can't afford to go weeks without pay. I could care less about my civic duty and an equitable trial if it means I'm going bankrupt. gurl me like: " If I get picked do you pay per hour and offer me lunch at least? "
Jotham Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I've only got summoned once, but I got dismissed on the first day because I was attending college. I was actually a bit bummed that I got dismissed because I got summoned to a murder trial and it seemed really interesting.
harwee Posted May 6 Posted May 6 Got it, but never selected. They said i sound like an illiterate. Spoiler Not yet.
Mezik Posted May 6 Posted May 6 1 hour ago, LCTV said: gurl me like: " If I get picked do you pay per hour and offer me lunch at least? " At least in Canada, they don't pay for lunches and I think you max get $90/day. Then they complain about unfair/unequitable juries that are always those who belong to wealthy backgrounds because nobody else can afford to do it.
FameFatale Posted May 6 Posted May 6 19 minutes ago, Mezik said: At least in Canada, they don't pay for lunches and I think you max get $90/day. Then they complain about unfair/unequitable juries that are always those who belong to wealthy backgrounds because nobody else can afford to do it. In the US I believe it was like $50 each day you're in court They usually provided a light breakfast and coffee that morning but you would have to go out by yourself and get lunch with your own money unless you were in deliberations during lunch/dinner hours. They would pay for like pizza or call in catering style orders since you can't leave the room until it's time to go home
Mezik Posted May 6 Posted May 6 5 minutes ago, FameFatale said: In the US I believe it was like $50 each day you're in court They usually provided a light breakfast and coffee that morning but you would have to go out by yourself and get lunch with your own money unless you were in deliberations during lunch/dinner hours. They would pay for like pizza or call in catering style orders since you can't leave the room until it's time to go home Meanwhile the judges take home their $275,000/year salary and complain about nobody wanting to endure their civic duty. 1
Fevesy Posted May 7 Posted May 7 I got picked and sat on a case, it was an assault case in a gay club. They didn't mention it at first and when the evidence pictures started to come in and I saw the Britney Jean album cover on the wall and I knew what was up It was gay on gay crime, not an actual homophobic attack but it was a lot of waiting around. Feel like it was 30 minutes in the court room then 2 hours of waiting then another 30 minutes.. rinse repeat 1
Batsy Armada Posted May 7 Posted May 7 I was summoned once and didn't have to go. The last time I was summoned was last year, around this time. I scheduled the wrong day off and missed it. I called them and explained and rescheduled another that I didn't go to. Rinse and repeat for this year, with me missing it. The last one I missed, though, I got a notice regarding it. So, I called and again explained the situation to them. There's one scheduled for the end of this month. The cracks have gotten too small for me to slip through this time, so I'm going to legitimately try and go. It's just difficult with my job responsibilities, as it relates to the way the schedule falls with co-managers either being on vacation or having their own days off for various reasons, being a general manager for a big box retail store. It's not like I can just leave if I'm the only key-carrying manager on duty.
Recommended Posts