Jury Duty and planned travel

[Warks]

Took me about 20 or so years to get my first call up. At the time I was still working for a big corporation which encouraged us to do our civic duty. In addition I was not in a good place with my job and was thinking a few weeks of jury duty would be better than turning up at the office so it was a case of "Pick me! Pick me!" I went in and they selected the jurors for the trial which they said could last a couple of weeks. However they had a full panel before I got to the front of the queue. So that was it, my one morning of duty. I got a letter afterwards saying I'd done my duty for now and would be off the list for some period.

So the only time I wanted to be on it I couldn't be!

Since then I've left that employer and have my own business. I really couldn't afford to do it now. I hope they'd accept that.

 

[Major]

Took me about 20 or so years to get my first call up. At the time I was still working for a big corporation which encouraged us to do our civic duty. In addition I was not in a good place with my job and was thinking a few weeks of jury duty would be better than turning up at the office so it was a case of "Pick me! Pick me!" I went in and they selected the jurors for the trial which they said could last a couple of weeks. However they had a full panel before I got to the front of the queue. So that was it, my one morning of duty. I got a letter afterwards saying I'd done my duty for now and would be off the list for some period.

So the only time I wanted to be on it I couldn't be!

Since then I've left that employer and have my own business. I really couldn't afford to do it now. I hope they'd accept that.

They accept that in QLD. Your circumstances are exactly the same as mine and I have not heard anything since I advised them about 5 years ago

 

[Alanslegal]

My girlfiend was summoned for jury duty for this Wednesday for a possible 16-18 week criminal hearing.

We have holidays booked and paid for dep 22/8 ret 18/9 and the silly folks at the courts rejected that reasoning !

Now she has to turn up on Wednesday to explain that everything is booked etc etc and try to get out of it.

My girlfriend turned up to the District Court - that's where we met 9 year ago actually where I use to do simple court work eg. mentions, NOM, direction hearings, agency work - and she basically handed in the same form which they (someone else in the courts) rejected a few weeks earlier and said "no problem, thanks for coming" and she was excused.

 

[siri]

Make sure to fax ur ticket indicating dates.. I have done this so many times in Sydney and they accept it and you will be excused.

 

[Julesmac]

Seriously. Do you really want to go to court and be judged by 12 people not smart enough to get out of jury duty (it's a joke - but I rather like the line!)

 

[Alanslegal]

Make sure to fax ur ticket indicating dates.. I have done this so many times in Sydney and they accept it and you will be excused.

We did attach a copy of our flight bookings with USDM which would have showed when we were travelling and how we booked it many months ago, yet they still declined her request. Anyway, here's hoping that it was just an once-off oversight on their part.

 

[JohnK]

Seriously. Do you really want to go to court and be judged by 12 people not smart enough to get out of jury duty (it's a joke - but I rather like the line!)

I seriously think the person being tried is guilty.

Do you think they would want me for jury duty?

 

[harvyk]

I seriously think the person being tried is guilty.

Do you think they would want me for jury duty?

Ditto, I personally would have a whole lot of problems with the innocent until proven guilty bit. I would consistently be thinking that until I'm convinced otherwise, there must be a reason why you're here even if I was trying hard to think about this the other way around.

 

[erkpod]

Seriously. Do you really want to go to court and be judged by 12 people not smart enough to get out of jury duty (it's a joke - but I rather like the line!)

We have all these really educated people arguing about if the person is guilty but we expect some random group of numpties off the street to decide if a person is innocent.

 

[Pollywaffle]

My girlfiend was summoned for jury duty for this Wednesday for a possible 16-18 week criminal hearing.

We have holidays booked and paid for dep 22/8 ret 18/9 and the silly folks at the courts rejected that reasoning !

Now she has to turn up on Wednesday to explain that everything is booked etc etc and try to get out of it.

I pity the people that do get picked. That's just too long.

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Exempt under legislation due to occupation. Had to prove it once when I got the call up, but was summarily removed from the pool.

 

[Pablo]

I've been excused twice in the last 2 months for Jury duty in NSW. First time I had already flights booked for work and they excused me saying it won't happen next time. Then I got a second letter a few weeks back for this coming Monday and my boss wrote a letter saying why I can't be excused from work this week - significant meetings that I can't miss and I got off again. So maybe NSW isn't as strict as some here think. I would say the next time will be harder to be excused though.

 

[Julesmac]

I seriously think the person being tried is guilty.

Do you think they would want me for jury duty?

Im with you John K. Hang 'em high...

 

[NM]

Personally, if I was on trial I would prefer to have the decision in the hands of someone properly trained in understanding and interpreting the law, rather than a bunch of inexperienced, untrained armatures who could be coerced into making a wrong decision by a charismatic and enthusiastic legal councel.

 

[Major]

Personally, if I was on trial I would prefer to have the decision in the hands of someone properly trained in understanding and interpreting the law, rather than a bunch of inexperienced, untrained armatures who could be coerced into making a wrong decision by a charismatic and enthusiastic legal councel.

I totally agree, and the same can be said of a charismatic jury foreman. We saw this in the 1991 trial of Joh after which is was revealed that the jury foreman was a member of the Young Nationals

From Wiki

In 1991 Bjelke-Petersen faced criminal trial for perjury arising out of the evidence he had given to the Fitzgerald inquiry (an earlier proposed charge of corruption was incorporated into the perjury charge). Bjelke-Petersen's former police Special Branch bodyguard Sergeant Bob Carter told the court that in 1986 he had twice been given packages of cash totalling $210,000 at the premier's office. He was told to take them to a Brisbane city law firm and then watch as the money was deposited in a company bank account.[SUP][citation needed][/SUP] The money had been given over by developer Sng Swee Lee, and the bank account was in the name of Kaldeal, operated by Sir Edward Lyons a trustee of the National Party.[SUP][59][/SUP] John Huey, a Fitzgerald Inquiry investigator, later told Four Corners: "I said to Robert Sng, 'Well what did Sir Joh say to you when you gave him this large sum of money?' And he said, "All he said was, 'thank you, thank you, thank you'."[SUP][60][/SUP] The jury could not agree on a verdict. In 1992 it was revealed that the jury foreman, Luke Shaw, was a member of the Young Nationals and was identified with the "Friends of Joh" movement. A special prosecutor announced in 1992 there would be no retrial because Bjelke-Petersen, then aged 81, was too old. Developer Sng Swee Lee refused to return from Singapore for a retrial. Bjelke-Petersen said his defence costs sent him broke.[SUP][61][/SUP]

 

[basso]

Personally, if I was on trial I would prefer to have the decision in the hands of someone properly trained in understanding and interpreting the law, rather than a bunch of inexperienced, untrained armatures who could be coerced into making a wrong decision by a charismatic and enthusiastic legal councel.

What's wrong with armatures making decisions? (Juries do have the advantage of being more in touch with societal norms than judges though. Also harder to corrupt a jury of randoms, versus getting to a single judge)

 

[NM]

What's wrong with armatures making decisions? (Juries do have the advantage of being more in touch with societal norms than judges though. Also harder to corrupt a jury of randoms, versus getting to a single judge)

I would rather be judged against the actual law and not against social norms.

 

[carwashhair]

While it's not strictly to do with travel, today I found a lovely letter from NSW state debt recovery office requesting $1715 for failing to explain my absence from jury duty in august 2012. Which is funny, because it's the very first I've heard of it!

My defence rests on two things: 1) that I never received the original request or subsequent penalty notices, and 2) I work directly with the AG's in facilitating the very trials I would be a jury on ( hence affecting my impartiality)

What do folks here think would be a stronger case for avoiding this laughably large fine?

 

[UP4014]

My girlfiend was summoned for jury duty for this Wednesday for a possible 16-18 week criminal hearing.

We have holidays booked and paid for dep 22/8 ret 18/9 and the silly folks at the courts rejected that reasoning !

Now she has to turn up on Wednesday to explain that everything is booked etc etc and try to get out of it.

Go to Hillsong and buy a happy clapper tee shirt to wear on the day.

Matt

 

[infinity]

KPC. You are always on holidays anyway. They'd be lucky to find you at work or in the country