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Monday, November 29, 2021

#MicroblogMondays: He, the jury...

I am home alone today -- and possibly for days (or even weeks, or longer) to come. As I mentioned in a recent post, a few weeks ago, dh received a summons to appear at the regional courthouse today, a 40-minute drive from here, for possible jury duty (!). This doesn't necessarily mean he's going to serve on a jury -- yet. The way it works is you're summoned to participate in a "panel," a pool of potential jurors that they can draw upon to form juries (accept or reject potential jurors) for upcoming cases. He could be there every weekday, 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., for up to three weeks before being chosen to serve, or excused. 

(I received a questionnaire in the mail four years ago to determine whether I was eligible for jury duty here, but -- so far...! -- have not been called. I was summoned to report for jury duty in our old community/region back in 2015 -- similar to what dh is doing today -- but the panel was cancelled and I was excused just a few days before I had to report.  Younger Nephew told us he's been summoned FOUR TIMES in recent years, but the panel was cancelled every time. No such luck for dh, yet!)     

Dh has no objection to serving on a jury -- although he admits he'd feel a bit queasy about sitting through a murder trial. ("Give me a nice juicy corporate malfeasance case," he joked.) (SIL was actually summoned when they were choosing the jury for the Paul Bernardo trial in the mid-1990s. She got a letter from her employer and managed to be excused. Was she relieved!!)  The main issue both of us have right now with his potential service is that we're due to fly to Manitoba for the Christmas holidays, less than three weeks from now, after missing Christmas with my family last year because of covid (as if the prospect of travelling while covid cases rise, both here & there, wasn't stressful enough to deal with...!). Although I can't imagine they would be running trials over Christmas??  Anyway, I've given him copies of our travel documents and receipts to show the court officials, and hopefully that will be enough to excuse him, or secure a deferral, if there is a conflict with dates.   

He had to be there for 8:30 this morning. We took a drive up there on Saturday afternoon to find the place, familiarize him with the route, and establish how long it would take for him to get there (it took us almost 40 minutes, although I suppose that could vary, depending on traffic). Out of an abundance of caution, he got up at 5:30 a.m. and left at 7, just to be safe, and to give him some extra time to find his way around the building once he gets there. (I did NOT get up at 5:30 with him! -- perks of retirement, lol -- but I did get up in time to see him off.)  

It's not often these days that I have an entire day (or more) to myself like this -- certainly not since retirement, and *definitely* not since covid!! I have a list of projects that I could (might?) tackle -- including my Christmas cards -- but I'm also just going to go with the flow and enjoy the "me time."  ;)  And hope it doesn't last that long!  

Have you ever been summoned for jury duty, and/or served on a jury? 

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here

6 comments:

  1. UPDATE: Dh was chosen to serve on a jury, starting tomorrow. He told the judge about our travel plans, but the judge doesn't think it will take more than two weeks. Cross your fingers!!

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  2. Fingers crossed for you!

    I've been summoned twice - once for the High Court, and once for the District (lower) Court. By the end of the morning, we knew if we were on a jury or not. In the High Court, I was cut in the first draw I think. A few years later, in the lower court, I was selected to go through to the courtroom, saw the defendant and heard the charge, but the jury was selected before they got to me. It was a child smacking case, and I am so pleased I wasn't on it. It was expected to only last for a day or two.

    Being asked to turn up every day for three weeks seems to be an unreasonable burden on individuals and businesses. Needing to turn up on just one morning or day for jury selection makes it less likely that people can be excused, and therefore the jury pool is larger.

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  3. The jury selection process sounds so different than in the states! That's a long time to be wrapped up, what do employers do?

    We get numbers and have to call in, eventually you report if your number range is called, then you do the training and then they select from the group that's in the building. Then the attorneys do voir dire, so you could get dismissed at that point. I get summoned every 6 years like clockwork, but only served once, as an alternate. It was fascinating! No murder, lol. Larceny and assault, but nothing scary.

    I'm glad this shouldn't mess with your Christmas plans! And I'll holler for a malfeasance case.

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  4. I've gotten a couple summonses for jury duty, but when I call, they conveniently choose the half of the alphabet that doesn't include me, so I haven't had to go yet. OTOH, since I have to testify in court as part of my job...I'd probably get excused pretty quickly. I've only been involved in one trial that's lasted longer than 4 days, if I remember correctly. That one went on and on. I always wonder what they're talking about in these trials that take weeks or months.

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  5. What Jess said about the different processes between the 2 countries.

    I once got to the voir dire stage. The defense attorney asked me if I thought his client was guilty or not, and I said "I don't know; I don't know anything about this case yet."

    That got me the boot. The right answer was, I suppose, that he was not guilty, since that's the presumed starting point.

    Pulling for corp malfeasance and non-holiday-plan-interference.

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