Reply to: Jury Service - Has it affected you

[miffy]

Surely all you need to do is wait until the accused gets marched in and then give them a big wave and a loud "Allright matey! How's it going? Fancy seeing you here" etc etc.

Either that or a loud comment to your fellow jurors along the lines of "hey, he looks guilty as sin eh eh?"

I haven't been stung by it yet.

I know another permie that was on some murder trial in london for about 8 weeks! The management were going crazy as you can imagine.

[VectraMan]

It's never happened to me.

[Gonzo]

Would like to gauge how often this would be likely to come up during a period of say 20 years.

1. Who's been stung by this, for how many days/weeks and did you lose money due to it
2. Who managed to get out of it. What excuses/valid reasons did you use.
3. Anyone got jury service insurance that paid out

I know it's a civic duty etc, so please no 'why ask this....blah etc'. Just want to know some raw facts and figures.

1. I have been called twice in eighteen years. The second time took seven days out.
2. I got out of it the first time because I had moved out of the area.
3. I didn't have insurance at the time, but PCG+ does provide some.

I had to feel sorry for another bloke who was in the juror pool last time I was there. He was a self-employed shop fitter and was in the middle of a job so he couldn't stop work for two weeks and then pick it up later. He was turning up on site at 6 in the morning, doing a few hours, then going back in the evening to do some more.

To add insult to injury, he didn't get called onto any cases.

[moorfield]

Just pop your summons back in the post with "Return to Sender - No longer at this address" on it.

Worked for me.

[bogeyman]

Jury Service - Has it affected you

Yes! I should say it's affected me!

I was up on a charge a couple of years ago, and because of this so-called bloody Jury Service, a mob of people who I'd never even seen before showed up in the court and convicted me!

18 months for squirrel fondling, but let out after 14 for good behaviour.

Bloody Jury Service - do away with it I say!

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Best not, the judge might lock you up for contempt.

On the case I was on, one of jurors was late coming back for the afternoon session and the start time was delayed by 15 minutes or so. When we were all seated the judge asked why she had been late and she said she was very sorry but she had been to buy a coat but that the queue at the shop was long and she had to wait to pay.

The judge asked her if it was the coat she was wearing when she came in. She said it was and he told her it was a very nice coat. She thanked him and he asked her how much it had cost. She said £175 and he replied in that case the fine for wasting the court's time time is double that, £350. Can she please make arrangements to pay before she leaves the building this evening.

Cool as a cucumber he was.

Whilst it is inappropriate for the that woman to have wasted everyone's time, it is a shame that the same standards aren't applied when judges and lawyers can't be bothered - they can just ask for an adjournment and off they go!

[BrilloPad]

He looked guilty anyway.

You should have got yourself elected foreman - then coerced the other jurors.

[ChimpMaster]

Cool as a cucumber he was.

That is so cool. I feel like I must become like that.

[Lucifer Box]

Either that or a loud comment to your fellow jurors along the lines of "hey, he looks guilty as sin eh eh?"

Best not, the judge might lock you up for contempt.

On the case I was on, one of jurors was late coming back for the afternoon session and the start time was delayed by 15 minutes or so. When we were all seated the judge asked why she had been late and she said she was very sorry but she had been to buy a coat but that the queue at the shop was long and she had to wait to pay.

The judge asked her if it was the coat she was wearing when she came in. She said it was and he told her it was a very nice coat. She thanked him and he asked her how much it had cost. She said £175 and he replied in that case the fine for wasting the court's time time is double that, £350. Can she please make arrangements to pay before she leaves the building this evening.

Cool as a cucumber he was.

[TheFaQQer]

£300/day IIRC.

It's not bad - sometimes I quite fancy a cushy break away from work getting paid to read a book.

I really enjoyed it when I did it - shame the guy was found not guilty though, since I reckon he did it. He looked guilty anyway.

[Marina]

Surely all you need to do is wait until the accused gets marched in and then give them a big wave and a loud "Allright matey! How's it going? Fancy seeing you here" etc etc.

Either that or a loud comment to your fellow jurors along the lines of "hey, he looks guilty as sin eh eh?"

But if you're too blatant you could be clobbered for contempt of court - I think judges can dish out several-month prison sentences on the spot for that.

[Alf W]

Surely all you need to do is wait until the accused gets marched in and then give them a big wave and a loud "Allright matey! How's it going? Fancy seeing you here" etc etc.

Either that or a loud comment to your fellow jurors along the lines of "hey, he looks guilty as sin eh eh?"

[Lucifer Box]

Surely by this stage she'd have already had a few days of hanging around waiting to be assigned to a case?

This ploy depends on knowing what the case is - no point in saying that at the outset as they could assign you to a long boring fraud case or something.

Exactly. She didn't mind doing jury service per se, but did not want to be on a long case so came up with the racist card when she was called to a big case. Six weeks or something I seem to recall.

[Lucifer Box]

Basically in economic terms it makes no sense for us to do Jury service as we stand to lose substantial cash if 2 weeks is taken. Unlike permies who get reimbursed. So how to legitimately escape, as they have tightened the rules in recent years.

The Racist ploy was interesting. Certainly a blunt way of getting out of it, but she still had to turn up and tell the judge. If you were on a remote project, it's still a wasted day. For me a doctors sick note would be the way. Go to a walk in surgery, pay the £60, walk out with a get out of Jury service card that could be worth £5k or more!

Tsk, tsk, as the accompanying blurb says it is one of the most important duties a citizen can be asked to perform and it is your responsibility and duty to carry it out as one who enjoys this country's freedoms.

As to permies being reimbursed, employers are under no legal obligation to pay staff called for jury service and many don't. In fact, they are not even obliged to keep your job open if it's a long case and are quite entitled to fire staff called to lengthy trials. Shocking, but true.

[Peoplesoft bloke]

Friend of my mother's got called to some lengthy trial and got excused by saying she was a racist and therefore would not be impartial in any cases involving ethnic minorities. It wasn't true, but she was desperate not to serve on a lengthy case. The judge even thanked her for her honesty in being frank about such a sensitive matter.

Surely by this stage she'd have already had a few days of hanging around waiting to be assigned to a case?

This ploy depends on knowing what the case is - no point in saying that at the outset as they could assign you to a long boring fraud case or something.