Jury duty....but living and working out of state

[princesspumpkin]

My daughter is living and working three jobs in her college town over the summer. She just got a notice for jury duty and we are wondering if her living and working conditions warrant an exemption. She did message the courts about her situation but they wanted to have proof of her school schedule, but she's not taking any classes over the summer.

And for the record, we are not opposed to jury duty - I actually got a notice for the same day and will be serving.

Thanks for any information!

 

[PollyannaMom]

If any of her jobs are through the school, like work-study, etc., that should still count as being at school!

If not, I think you can defer once anyway (at least where I am).

If neither of those apply, I think I'd call and fish through whatever menus were needed to get to a human, and then mention that both of you got your notices and that while you'll be able to serve your regularly assigned dates, she has stayed out of state at school this summer to continue her job and needs to apply for an exemption. That would reassure them that you weren't simply opposed to serving, and they might be more willing to work with her.

 

[Pamlur]

If she is living in an apartment and paying utilities, I would think a utility bill in her name would suffice as proof of residence.

 

[bcla]

Depends on the jurisdiction. I was talking to a classmate of mine when I had a jury summons. He was from out of state, and he said that when he was called to jury duty, the court offered to pay his airfare.

 

[princesspumpkin]

If she is living in an apartment and paying utilities, I would think a utility bill in her name would suffice as proof of residence.

Thanks! Unfortunately, as well as her three official jobs, she is house/pet sitting so no actual rent or utilities paid.

 

[tvguy]

I think the explanation you gave should be enough. "I am a college student and use my parents address as my permanent address. I go to college in another city, and I am working as a house sitter during the school break in this city".

As mobile as people are, and with all the privacy concerns, there are actually ARE people who can't prove where they live. DD tried to open an account with a credit union that wanted 2 proofs of residence. Only one could be a government id like a Driver's License or Passport. Those were the only proofs of residence she had as a college student. No utility bills, no rent receipts, no mortgage payments. She went to another credit union without that requirement.

I ran into the issue with Little League a dozen years ago. A lot of people get all their bills to a PO BOX. Their utility bills have an account number but no service address.

 

[Imzadi]

Thanks! Unfortunately, as well as her three official jobs, she is house/pet sitting so no actual rent or utilities paid.

Of her three official jobs, does any of them give her an official paycheck with a pay stub with name of company, whose location can be checked and that can shows she is is consistently working there? If she can prove this with more than one job, then she may be able to prove it would be a hardship to leave all 3 jobs for jury duty.

 

[Sadie22]

One of mine was able to reschedule service during a break.

 

[rastahomie]

There are two words that will get you kicked out of the jury pool immediately, no questions asked. "Jury Nullification." Once the judge or prosecutor hears you utter those words you are out of the jury pool.

 

[princesspumpkin]

Of her three official jobs, does any of them give her an official paycheck with a pay stub with name of company, whose location can be checked and that can shows she is is consistently working there? If she can prove this with more than one job, then she may be able to prove it would be a hardship to leave all 3 jobs for jury duty.

Yes, she has stubs from all three of them! I told her to send them into the courts with a hardship explanation, since she gets no sick/vacation or jury duty pay.

 

[CPanther95]

I wouldn't think normal hardship/time off/ sick pay, etc. would even matter. Showing out of state employment (and the out of state residency it indicates) should be all that is needed. The courts don't expect you to travel from out of state to serve jury duty.

 

[LisaR]

There are two words that will get you kicked out of the jury pool immediately, no questions asked. "Jury Nullification." Once the judge or prosecutor hears you utter those words you are out of the jury pool.

I always love people who think this is sound advice and love it even more when people try it out and I get to witness it. You're right, nobody will want that person on their jury, but if you think lawyers and judges are stupid enough to just send the person packing, you're wrong.

I've had the pleasure of watching people spout off their asinine comments assuming they will get dismissed only to have the judge make them sit there during the entire jury selection (one of which lasted six days). I love it. I think more people should do it. It definitely adds something to the process while you listen to the judge give the person a smackdown and then essentially put them in a timeout area for days on end!

 

[tvguy]

There are two words that will get you kicked out of the jury pool immediately, no questions asked. "Jury Nullification." Once the judge or prosecutor hears you utter those words you are out of the jury pool.

Not sure why.
But it depends on the general attitude of your courts. Around here, about the only automatic exemptions are for police officers, those over age 70. those who have had jury duty in the past 18 months, or are currently serving of a Federal Jury.

I had jury duty in November, and I had a Superior Court Judge , and 4 attorneys in my pool.

A co-worker tried the "if he is here he must be guilty" line and the Judge asked him if he would like to rethink that answer overnight in jail.

 

[Bren's Mom]

The court likely won't talk to you, she'll have to respond. Since they asked for the school schedule, obviously she wasn't clear. Have her respond back and tell them she's staying in the college town working for the summer. List her 3 places of employment, her supervisors and contact phone #s. They can verify if they choose. She should also let them know when she WILL be back home (say Christmas or whatever) and that she's willing to serve then if they defer her. I cannot imagine they won't excuse her or give her a deferral, but she'll have to see what they say when they respond again.

 

[DVC-Don]

Not sure why.
But it depends on the general attitude of your courts. Around here, about the only automatic exemptions are for police officers, those over age 70. those who have had jury duty in the past 18 months, or are currently serving of a Federal Jury.

I had jury duty in November, and I had a Superior Court Judge , and 4 attorneys in my pool.

A co-worker tried the "if he is here he must be guilty" line and the Judge asked him if he would like to rethink that answer overnight in jail.

Being an ex police officer that did not apply to me. While being instructed for Grand Jury duty the DA asked if there were any current or ex police officers present. I raised my hand and he appointed me Assistant Foreman.

Although the first time I was called for duty they were very nice and delayed my reporting until the next Grand Jury due to an upcoming WDW vacation.

 

[Caskett616]

Being an ex police officer that did not apply to me. While being instructed for Grand Jury duty the DA asked if there were any current or ex police officers present. I raised my hand and he appointed me Assistant Foreman.

Yep, there are fewer and fewer automatic exemptions these days.

 

[Caskett616]

I always love people who think this is sound advice and love it even more when people try it out and I get to witness it. You're right, nobody will want that person on their jury, but if you think lawyers and judges are stupid enough to just send the person packing, you're wrong.

I've had the pleasure of watching people spout off their asinine comments assuming they will get dismissed only to have the judge make them sit there during the entire jury selection (one of which lasted six days). I love it. I think more people should do it. It definitely adds something to the process while you listen to the judge give the person a smackdown and then essentially put them in a timeout area for days on end!

I can imagine. The last time I was on jury duty, this woman thought she'd get out of it by saying she had a kid. Then the judge asked her if she worked out of the home, she said yes, so he told her if she had a job, she could do jury duty.

 

[cabanafrau]

There are two words that will get you kicked out of the jury pool immediately, no questions asked. "Jury Nullification." Once the judge or prosecutor hears you utter those words you are out of the jury pool.

In my experience the response will be "contempt of court citation". Jury trials are expensive undertakings. Courts are too busy to play games.

There is an almost foolproof way of being bounced off a jury panel, and it involves being educated and employed in one particular profession -- and I guarantee it won't be the first several most people would guess.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

DH and I have never had Jury Duty, yet my 19 y.o. just got it for later this month. While she does go to school out of state, she *is* home right now working and taking summer classes but I don't think they are going to let her out of it. Her first day is scheduled to be the day of her final exam. She doesn't want it because she isn't sure if she is eligible for jury duty pay as an intern at her job.

I on the other hand would welcome a day off work to go to jury duty! Go figure.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I had jury duty a year ago and during the voir dires many people said things that got them disqualified. The attorneys would ask questions like "Would you trust a police officers testimony over just a random citizen's" and "Have you or a loved one ever had a DUI?" and "Do you think marijuana should be legalized." It was pretty obvious what answers they were looking for. Of course, you're sworn in already to tell the truth, so...