Jury Duty
 

Anyone get summoned for jury duty in Sumter county? Be honest now, did you ignore it or actually show up? What was your experience?:wave:

If you are 70 or over in age...
 

...you can request an exemption for jury duty. http://www.sumterclerk.com/public/in...44039&CFTOKEN=

Jury Duty
 

Let me tell you a little secret on how to get out of the Jury duty. I have been down here for over 14 years and never served on a Jury duty. When you go for your tags for you car go to a different place like Leesburg instead of the villages, I was told this long time ago and it works for me. :icon_wink:

It might have worked for you, but it won't work for e-06 now. Ignoring a subpoena for jury duty is a sure way to get arrested!

Besides, jury duty is a pain, but also a civic duty. It doesn't require nearly the sacrifice or bravery of serving in the armed services or working in public safety; but it plays a small part in protecting our liberties. Seen in that light, it's not so bad.

As usual, I so agree with you.

I was called here in Ohio about six months ago and it was a murder trial. Fortunately the defendant chose to not have a trial by jury and opted for a trial by judge. The judge told all of us that we must have looked like a "hanging jury" to his lawyers.

Don't they take "no shows" seriously all over this country???

I've never considered ignoring jury duty, then again I drive an American car...gn

What kind of paperwork for the no shows?

Golfnut - I'm with you. Whatever it takes.

Now, if we could just get called for jury duty for Congress! :bowdown:

Besides, jury duty is a pain, but also a civic duty. It doesn't require nearly the sacrifice or bravery of serving in the armed services or working in public safety; but it plays a small part in protecting our liberties. Seen in that light, it's not so bad.[/QUOTE]
Couldn't have said it better.Thanks

I volunteered
 

I volunteered once for duty , until it was explained to me that you can't be a plaintiff and a juror at the same time,,,,,,,,,

fumar

Well, you would be the best peer.:eclipsee_gold_cup:

I was called for jury duty for the Villages murder trial several years ago. The jury pool was huge. I was in the Jury assembly room from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m. for six days. I appeared on Monday and was in the final group of 11 called to Voir Dire the following Monday.

As it turned out, they needed only one more juror. I ultimately was not selected.

It was a great experience. I felt the seriousness of it when I faced the two young defendants in the courtroom on that final day. I realized at that time that if I was selected, I held their lives in my hands.

They were found guilty. One got life in prison, the other got the death sentence.

I know it's considered to be a nuisance, but what greater privilege do we have as American citizens than to be the ones who shape our judicial system. Jurors perform a vital role in the American system of justice. The reward for a juror's services lies in the awareness that he or she has performed a high duty of citizenship, and in the realization that he or she has aided in the maintenance of law, order, and in the administration of justice among his or her fellow citizens.

Think about Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and other places where people are found guilty in make believe trials and taken out back and shot or hung. Even the Saddam Hussein execution was a circus. How about countries where women are executed for sexual activity.

I think I'll serve on Jury duty an time I'm called.

JLK

I was a trial paralegal for 25 years. I would be honored to serve on a jury. During the over 200 trials I participated in, I encountered the best and the brightest of American citizens. It's how the system works. If you were a plaintiff or a defendant, wouldn't you want a jury of your peers to decide your fate?

Jury Duty
 

I would not ignore a jury summons. In South Carolina, if you do not appear they send a sheriff's deputy to get you and take you.

Have not seen the Great Fumar for a while.
 

Wonder where the Great Fumar is?

On a more serious note, I received a Jury Duty notice for Sumter County in Friday's mail. I now have picked up these twice from Sumter County, once for Pinellas County in Florida, once from Sonoma County (part of the wine country of Northern California) and a Federal Court in Ocala.

I mentioned my victims' rights work and they excused me for jury duty in Sumter County about 8 years ago via mail. I just filled in a form. I probably will not try to get excused this time as this might be an interesting experience.

I have not actually served on a jury yet. I always have been bumped especially when I go into my explanation about my victims' right to access of information spiel. And, no, I do not describe it in terms of the identifiers I put on it since 1993 of 224 and 613 and this usually makes me come off as quite crazy. A quick refresher-- https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...49-post12.html

I may send the same group of 120 or so documents about some of my experiences with this advocacy I have had since 1990 to the Sumter County Clerk of Court http://www.sumterclerk.com/index.cfm/jury-duty so neither they or I blindside anyone with questions whose answers we do not want to go into all that much with a bunch of potential jurors listening. I had sent these 120 documents to the Federal Government last month while trying to apply for medical insurance.

Where do they pull potential jurors from i.e. voters or what?

They get your name from your driver license.In Pasco county I was called 4 years in a row.They can only call on you once a year.

I was summoned a few months ago. Went to Bushnell, as advised, along with quite a few other TV'ers. We sat for about an hour, then were released. The defendants all decided to forego the jury trial. I admit, I was a bit disappointed. I have been summoned in other areas where I lived, but have never actually served. I don't look at it so much as a duty, or a priviledge, (which it is), but I was looking forward to the experience and opportunity to be part of the "system". Maybe next year...

Thank you.
 

Excellent! I could not have expressed it better myself.

A long career in law enforcement (close to 40 years) has kept me off of juries, but lots of experience with the seriousness of trials (as a witness) has given me deep respect for those who serve as jurors.


My sincere thanks to those who serve on juries.

I don't know where you're from, but anyplace I've ever lived ignoring a jury summons is a great way to meet a couple of large humorless guys who look like they can bench press their own squad car, who will humorlessly cuff you & stuff you and present you to the judge. Not cool.

Also going to jury duty in flip flops and shorts could get you a contempt of court charge.
I didn't mind going I found it very interesting.It is your civic duty.

slight correction
 

There has not been an execution in Cuba since 2003. The last prisoner on death row was commuted in 2010. Lots of issues with the Cuban government but indiscriminate executions is not one of them. However, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan....

By the way, original post is over 4 years old

I do expect some Villagers will be there in Sumter County for Jury Duty. One even showed up on the jury panel for the Federal Courthouse a few years ago for a case involving the Claremont Police Department and a cop who claimed employment discrimination based on his writing some of his reports in Spanish. Some of the other cops evidently made fun of him or at least that what was alleged in the claims. I got bumped by the Judge as he thought I was hiding something. It is kind of hard to speak "the whole truth and nothing but the truth" if you have a very strange story to tell. So, I just told the Judge during voir dire what I could prove.

I do remember a Villager on the sitting jury as well as a retired CIA manager, a veterinarian assistant, and some others.

It was a nice trip to Ocala and I got to see Avatar in 3D in a movie theater near Paddock Mall.

I also liked some of the stuff TOTVers had written on this old thread, so I decided to use it rather than start a new one.

Timely resurrection, Tal... I got my first Florida summons for jury duty at the Circuit Court up in Ocala for next Monday, 4/28.

I certainly am willing to do my civic duty and do have an interest and curiosity about our legal system.

My only fear is to get picked for a trial that takes many days or weeks.

Anybody have recent experience in Ocala Circuit Court?

I got called for Federal Jury Duty in NH many years ago. A small town policeman was on trial for pedophilia, the child was his stepson and the child's mother knew that it had been going on for several years - thankfully his school teacher finally realized something was very wrong. Harrowing, disgusting and I will never forget it, but the great outcome was when the Judge asked to address us in the Jury room before we were dismissed. He told us the authorities had suspected, but had no proof of his misconduct, and he thanked us for putting him away!

Worth every rotten minute I spent listening to this disturbing trial. So the Jury pool does matter!

In my 43 years living in the NY suburbs I got called for jury duty a lot, but never served because my husband was a lawyer and I worked for a newspaper. Finally had to serve on a grand jury (12 days, 6 hours a day) looking to indict drug dealers. Totally boring but I did it and never got called again. I've only had one summons here in Sumter Co and excused myself for age.

An interesting turn of events... as I started to research the circuit court, it became apparent that my summons was intended for Marion County only, not a multi county circuit. Called the Marion County Clerk and they said my DMV record must reflect Marion vs Sumter as that is the source for their jury pool. Been here almost 8 years now and never had any indication that DMV had me as Marion. Called DMV this morning to get it straightened out.

So, no jury duty to deal with at this time....

I would go to Jury duty in a heartbeat. Would be proud to serve in this capacity. I love my country and if my little brain could help someone then I'll be there.

Interesting that you can be excused due to your age - what do they think happens to your ability to think at age 70?
I've gotten called several times but have always been excused during jury selection due to my husband working in law enforcement. Guess they don't think I have a mind of my own!

Roughing It by Mark Twain
 

Actually, the fear is that you know too much about the law, having had conversations with your husband about cases he had worked. They put a premium on finding jurors who "know nothing."

Mark Twain is one of my favorite authors. He discusses the farce of jury selection in his book Roughing It, an autobiographical account of his life as a youth in the West . The following excerpt is a little long, but well worth reading. (His reference to Virginia is Virginia City, Nevada.)

I remember one of those sorrowful farces, in Virginia, which we call a jury trial. A noted desperado killed Mr. B., a good citizen, in the most wanton and cold-blooded way. Of course the papers were full of it, and all men capable of reading, read about it. And of course all men not deaf and dumb and idiotic, talked about it. A jury-list was made out, and Mr. B. L., a prominent banker and a valued citizen, was questioned precisely as he would have been questioned in any court in America:

"Have you heard of this homicide?"

"Yes."

"Have you held conversations upon the subject?"

"Yes."

"Have you formed or expressed opinions about it?"

"Yes."

"Have you read the newspaper accounts of it?"

"Yes."

"We do not want you."

A minister, intelligent, esteemed, and greatly respected; a merchant of high character and known probity; a mining superintendent of intelligence and unblemished reputation; a quartz mill owner of excellent standing, were all questioned in the same way, and all set aside. Each said the public talk and the newspaper reports had not so biased his mind but that sworn testimony would overthrow his previously formed opinions and enable him to render a verdict without prejudice and in accordance with the facts. But of course such men could not be trusted with the case. Ignoramuses alone could mete out unsullied justice.

When the peremptory challenges were all exhausted, a jury of twelve men was impaneled--a jury who swore they had neither heard, read, talked about nor expressed an opinion concerning a murder which the very cattle in the corrals, the Indians in the sage-brush and the stones in the streets were cognizant of! It was a jury composed of two desperadoes, two low beer-house politicians, three bar-keepers, two ranchmen who could not read, and three dull, stupid, human donkeys! It actually came out afterward, that one of these latter thought that incest and arson were the same thing.

The verdict rendered by this jury was, Not Guilty. What else could one expect?

The jury system puts a ban upon intelligence and honesty, and a premium upon ignorance, stupidity and perjury.

I got excused from serving:

I knew the judge

I knew the prosecutor

I knew the defense attorney

I was a police officer

They said I knew too much.........:a040:

They have asked those kind of questions in all the other jury duty pools I have been in since 1993 or so. I was surprised though that they put a San Francisco lawyer on the jury in Sonoma County, at least up to the point that they bumped me. The judge had mentioned that he had seen me in their law library. I had been checking their holdings for practical value for victims/survivors of crimes. Something I have been doing in all the libraries I go into since the end of February 1976 because of the Michelle Mitchell murder in Reno, Nevada on 2-24 in 1976 while I was a student of Mrs. Barbara Mitchell at Earl Wooster High School.

Never said I was trying to get out of it. I've been summoned twice since I've lived here in the Villages. First time I called and was told not to show up. Second time I had to report but was not picked.

After 34 years in public service I'm not afraid to fulfill my civic duty.

I was called for jury duty twice and did not have to serve. It might have something to do with that "I'm watching you" thingie I do to the defendants.

http://quotespics.com/wp-content/quo...tching-you.jpg

Now if I wanted to get out of jury duty.... :0000000000luvmyhors

That Claremont police department Federal Employment Discrimination Claim case I was in the jury panel for but then got bumped by the judge had a retired CIA manager from Inverness on the jury. I was wondering why any Judge would pick a retired CIA official as a jury member as this would seem to be the person who would quickly take over the inner politics of any jury.

It is the "I'M watching you" reputation that the CIA has even if they spy only abroad.

Maybe having a trial involving a police department though had some affect on this choice?

By the way, the jury found against the cop who wanted to write his reports partly in Spanish and felt that he was discrimination against at his workplace because of harassment.

I sent the Sumter County Clerk of Court an e-mail.
 

This morning, I sent the Clerk of the Sumter County Court a short e-mail about my work since February 1976 fighting for access to practical information accessible in or through libraries for victims/survivors of crimes. I did mention the February 24, 1976 murder of Michelle Mitchell in Reno, Nevada as well as the study on the unemployed at the UCSF Health Campus (San Francisco) back in 1992-1993 when I was subject #613. In addition, I also mentioned that I had tried to do as much of this work as possible in writing as Law School did teach me to leave a paper trail. Also mentioned my four degrees and when and where I earned these.


I do hope that I get to serve on a Jury for once. After four tries, the fifth will be the one.

For those of us that have served on murder trials. IT EFFECTS you! For those that get out of it or show up and don't get picked you know nothing till you actually have to make decision that effects both sides for the rest of their life's and probably yours. I was amazed how the movie 12 angry men was similar to murder trial I served on. Yes, it is duty and Yes it is pain in the @##. If you get picked.