What should I expect at Jury Duty tomorrow?

Question

I have jury duty for the first time tomorrow. I have no idea what to do, bring or say when I get there. What should I expect and how long do you think I'll be there?

Answer 1

Bring ID, and I would suggest a book or a magazine in a backpack or tote bag, or other things to keep yourself busy.  ipods and cell phones, blackberrys, etc. may not be allowed.  You may have some down time to fill - when I was on jury duty we had to go to a waiting room while some court business was attended to.  We were able to talk, but all conversation is monitored and you may be told to not discuss certain subjects.  I was talking with another woman about teenage pregnancy and we were told it was not allowed to discuss that subject as it may stray into material related to the court case we were there about.  It was a case about child abuse and so... teenage pregnancy was taboo.

As far as length of time - it could be any length of time depending on the cases you will serve on.  That is a roll of the dice.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Bring a Newspaper, or some type of quiet entertainment. expect a half day.

Answer 3

A headache and long waiting, People will be complaining that they dont want to be there. Bring a book to read. I am from NYC and lots of people where there to go through the selection process. I was there about 5-6 hours before they decided to to through out the case.

Answer 4

Your jury summons should tell you how long you're called for, probably either 4 or 8 hours.  Bring plenty to read and write.  You'll probably spend most or all of the time sitting with nothing else to do.

If you do get called to sit on a jury selection, you'll have an hour or two of sitting listening to the same questions over and over.  They'll interview anywhere from 2 to 5 times as many people as they need for the jury.  Even once they start the selection, they may settle the case without a trial and excuse all of you.

I sat on one criminal jury selection and was excused because I admitted knowing people who smoked marijuana.  It turned out I would have had to be excused anyway if I'd been selected, because the victim was a friend of mine's mother and I didn't know her maiden name.

I was selected for one civil trial, and it was an extremely clear-cut matter of stupidity and lies, but it was interesting to see how much people's opinions changed after each lawyer's arguments.  The defense lawyer was as dumb as his employer--in his summation he referred to a piece of evidence that he had gotten excluded.  It had to be admitted at the last minute so we could all see how obviously his only witness had lied and faked other evidence.

Answer 5

just dont vote the black guy guilty

Answer 6

Bring plenty to read, maybe a snack and a drink.  They give us a good orientation when we got there, let us know we were appreciated.  It's NOT the DMV, where your presence is considered an imposition on the system.  Just the opposite.  

You will spend a lot of time waiting.  Is inevitable in the system.  They explain things well, and I found the experience very interesting (served on two short trials over the years.)