Grand Jury Duty, NYC, Help!

[StockwellDay]

I've been summoned by the New York State Court to serve on a Grand Jury. It was sent to my old address. The only reason I know I received the notice is because my ex-girlfriend lives there.

1) If you are summoned for Grand Jury duty, is it similar to Jury duty in that I might not be selected.

2) Do I have plausible deniability given that I don't live at the address to which the notice was sent.

3) Any general advice from the attorney's here to get out of this. I really can't miss all this work.

Thanks!

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by StockwellDay

I've been summoned by the New York State Court to serve on a Grand Jury. It was sent to my old address. The only reason I know I received the notice is because my ex-girlfriend lives there.

1) If you are summoned for Grand Jury duty, is it similar to Jury duty in that I might not be selected.

2) Do I have plausible deniability given that I don't live at the address to which the notice was sent.

3) Any general advice from the attorney's here to get out of this. I really can't miss all this work.

Thanks!

I know bupkis about NY law (some would say you could substitute "California law" in that sentence without making it less true). That said, it's common for economic hardship to be an excuse for not serving on a jury. Does your employer pay for jury duty?

The fact that it was sent to your former address probably gets you off the hook (again, NY may differ, but I doubt it). I would imagine that it is not valid service (even in CA, it's been quite some time since I reviewed the actual language of one of those notices or the relevant statutes). At the very least, I think it ensures that if you ever were called in and asked to explain why you didn't show up, your assumption that you were not required to show up would almost certainly be enough to prevent the imposition of any sanctions.

 

[odoreater]

Do I need to do another lecture about why it's important for everyone to perform their jury duty? "I can't miss all this work" has never been a good excuse for skipping out on jury duty.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Do I need to do another lecture about why it's important for everyone to perform their jury duty? "I can't miss all this work" has never been a good excuse for skipping out on jury duty.

LOL, I consciously bit my tongue on that one and tried to just provide the information requested. But if OE did his lecture, I'd second it. Also, in many jurisdictions you can request that your service be continued to a later date if it really is an impossible time for work or personal reasons.

Also -- although I don't really know how NY state grand juries function -- it could be a very interesting and educational experience.

 

[keykoo]

Pretty weak excuse to skip out on your civic duty XD

 

[Dmax]

I served on a grand Jury of one of the NYC counties about two years ago.

If you no longer live in the same county (Richmond, Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens) you can usually don't have to serve. Look at your summons, there should be some place where you can mark that you are not a resident of the county in question which would normally disqualify from serving on any jury in that county.

From my understanding, if you still live in the same county you will have to appear and raise your hand if you are prepared to serve. If you are not you can get two postponements. If you are prepared to serve, then your summons card may or may not get picked. If your card does not get picked you are usually marked as served on your summons card and you can go home and do not have to serve on any other jury for 18-36 months.

If you do get picked, you will have to show up for several days and listen to assistant DAs try to indict some of your fellow citizens for felonies. It can actually be fun. It is a lot more interesting to listen to several cases a day than to serve on a petit jury trying to convict a drug dealer. The only disadvantage is that if you don't agree with the rest of your jurors, your voice does not matter as long as 12 of your peers feel like indicting (or "let's vote already and go home&quot. As one NYC chief Judge said: 'A Grand Jury would indict a ham sandwich" and I found it true in most cases. A typical grand jury in NY State is 23 people with 16 people needed to be present at all indictment hearings.

I served for 11 days but it varies somewhat by counties.

 

[DNW]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Do I need to do another lecture about why it's important for everyone to perform their jury duty? "I can't miss all this work" has never been a good excuse for skipping out on jury duty.

Said the lawyer who doesn't have to serve.

 

[FidelCashflow]

"Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say you're prejudiced against all races." - Homer Simpson

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by DarkNWorn

Said the lawyer who doesn't have to serve.

Lawyers aren't automatically exempted from jury duty in NJ.

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by odoreater

Lawyers aren't automatically exempted from jury duty in NJ.

or in NY, for that matter.

 

[Stax]

Originally Posted by taxgenius69

or in NY, for that matter.

or in California.

 

[JBZ]

or Connecticut.

 

[StockwellDay]

Thanks for the responses. Quite helpful.

 

[hermes]

we are automatically exempt for life in ontario, canada, thankfully

 

[LabelKing]

Wear a boutonniere.