Oh bugger - Jury Service !

[moreymach]

I cam home last week to find a ncie brown envelope with a jury duty summons inside - bugger.

Now while Im sure this would be an interesting experience and an opportunity to put somthing back into the community that does so much for me etc etc there is no way I can take the time away from work. I run ( though am actually employed rather than self employed ) a small business which is very demanding on my time. So much so that I havnt taken a weeks holiday in 12 years !

Has anyone here been in a similar postion and been able to get excused ?

[einion yrth]

moreymach said:

I havnt taken a weeks holiday in 12 years !

You are obviously completely insane and therefore exempt.

[Raify]

Homer Simpson said:

The trick to getting out of jury duty, is to be prejudiced against all of the religions

Seriously though, you need a very good excuse. My father managed to wriggle out of it twice, as he was out of the country on business. They got very awkward the second time.

[nervous]

write back and tell them the voices in your head have already told you that the accused is guilty, so you dont need to attend.

also, tell them your fair and reasonable and believe in the justice system and have a even-handed, kindly and passionate view about fair and equal treatment of others, be they criminals or otherwise. that should proclude you from participation in a heartbeat.

[parrot of doom]

Sorry, but as part of living in a civilised society you should expect things like this.

Look at it this way - if you were in the dock, you'd want the best people in the jury, wouldn't you?

[maxf]

Just send them a nice letter back with 'Guilty' written in blood. That probably will do the trick.

[nervous]

i wouldnt want rascal in the jury.

[rsvmilly]

I've had to flippin well do it twice;

www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?f=10&h=&t=118223

I never did post what my case was about. It was quite topical to PHers actually.

Basically, a traffic car (unmarked Skoda - remember that) was patrolling the A1 in the Peterborough to Huntingdon region. They said they only looked for more serious speeders - 90mph plus.

An Escort wizzed past them and they followed it for 2-3 miles. Clocked him at an average 103mph.

The Escort driver turned out to be BiB from some undercover unit. Said he was pursuing a suspect.

Since the in car video if the Bib didn't show this other car, his excemption was challenged. He was cited for giving a false statement (very serious).

There was sufficient doubt that we were able to find him not guilty.

For those on PH that think the BiB give an instant 'get out of jail free' card to fellow officers I can assure you that this fella was certainly dragged through the courts, and suspended for nearly a year. If he'd been found guilty he would certainly have lost his job.

[titiany]

I believe you can justify not doing it if you can prove that your company will be severely affected. But I think you have to go there in the first place to beg and plead with them...

[rsvmilly]

titiany said:

I believe you can justify not doing it if you can prove that your company will be severely affected. But I think you have to go there in the first place to beg and plead with them...

You can ask for it to be delayed on that basis. They are tightening up the rules. There was talk that even a pre-booked holiday wouldn't be an excuse to avoid it.

[yertis]

What happens if you just give them the finger and don't show up?

[moreymach]

Fnah fnah fnah !!… all most amusing ..

Thing is I could manage 2 or 3 days by working in the evenings after court. A week would be more problematic and if it went on for 2 or 3 weeks as some cases do I seriously doubt the business would survive !

One colleague said he had a mate who knew someone who apparently claimed he ‘knew’ each defendent and was eventually dismissed .. but Im not that good at lieing so don’t really fancy this avenue.

[cosmoschick]

moreymach said:

I cam home last week to find a ncie brown envelope with a jury duty summons inside - bugger.

Me too If it wasn't for the fact that having to attend is going to be seriously disruptive to my (family) life, I'd be quite looking forward to the experience.

However, I might not get picked!

[yertis]

What happens if you nod off? I quite often nod off on photo-shoots (which I find tedious in the extreme) I'd be bound to do so sat in court listening to the excuses of the guilty.

[julianhj]

I'm itching for the chance to do jury service. My sister got picked a couple of months back, so I doubt I'll have the opportunity for some time (law of averages and all that).

Must be a right PITA when it interfers with your livelyhood though.

[einion yrth]

cosmoschick said:

However, I might not get picked!

You get to spend time in a 'pool' of potential jurors, sitting on your ar$e watching Tricia, it's a damn sight less interesting than getting picked for a case, trust me I've done both.

[titiany]

yertis said:

What happens if you nod off? I quite often nod off on photo-shoots (which I find tedious in the extreme) I'd be bound to do so sat in court listening to the excuses of the guilty.

A relative of mine did jury service for 4 months and nodded off once, which I think is pretty good going!

However, the judge gave him a good, public telling off. Apparantly it was very embarrassing for everybody, but he wasn't the first or the last on the case to be caught out!

[yertis]

It doesn't bode well, should I ever get picked.

I hate being told what to do. Jury Service would be like a prison sentence for me. In fact I think I'd rather do a stretch, then I could learn how to pick locks in the college of crime.

[m-five]

Are you allowed to take an iPod or PSP in for the boring stretches?

[einion yrth]

m-five said:

Are you allowed to take an iPod or PSP in for the boring stretches?

To the lounge, yes. Don't try it in the jury box though.