Summoned for Jury Selection / Duty | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Summoned for Jury Selection / Duty

hdsomeday said:
Your last chance is before the prosecuting and defense lawyers who pick the jurors. You are asked questions and are either selected or excused (there are precise words that I dont remember). I made it this far once and was rejected by the defense. To be honest it hurt, almost as bad as being dumped by a girlfriend.
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What was the question and how did you answer?
 
Relax said:
What was the question and how did you answer?
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At this point the accused is in the courtroom. I dont recall what the prosecution asked me but the defense asked if I had any racial prejudices. I answered 'no'. He conferred with his client and I was challenged (rejected). At least I passed the peremptory challenge, where they reject you and dont have to give any reason. My one proud moment :)

btw, during the previous selection, the judge will name the charges, arresting officers and the accused. This gives everyone a chance to be excused for things like knowing someone involved that you werent aware of before this point. etc. This particular case involved prostituion, kidnapping, procurement etc etc. Perhaps I looked too enthused, lol.
 
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Having a mortgage and basically not being able to afford missing work DOES work as an excuse to be released from duty. I did it twice. After that I had my employer (I'm a owner - partner now) white a letter saying they have contractual obligations and that if I wasn't there, they couldn't satisfy those contracts. Which was true. That worked twice as well. They have tried 4 times in the last 35 years. My father is 85 and has never been called up. He has the time.
 
I met my ex-wife on jury duty in 1990.Talk about financial hardship. Other than that it was a very positive experience. We put a guy away for 5 years that really needed it.Fortunately my benefit plan covered most of my wages for the two weeks I served on the jury and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
 
I may or may not have received the jury duty questionnaire in 2018 and never sent it back. Just likely the $20 bill in every birthday card a relative ever sent me, Canada Post probably "lost" it.

If they wanted to ensure I got it, they should have sent it registered mail.
 
Another one of my buddies was selected and asked about whether he’s racist or something.

He just looked at the guy and said ‘yup, all these guys are bastards’

Kicked out within a minute.

He’s not racist. Just didn’t want to bother with jury duty.
 
GreyGhost said:
Here's my source which is consistent with what I have heard before. Source is two years old so maybe something improved? Iirc theres also a mileage component if the courtroom is more than 40 km from your house but most people dont qualify for that.

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I couldn't get the link to work but your earlier post gave numbers similar to what I ran into as a witness some time back.

I did a job in Quebec, got stiffed and wrote it off. It wasn't worth fighting for a couple thou.

A few years later I got a call from a lawyer in Montreal asking if I would testify in the case. I basically said I didn't get paid and they could go fly a kite. Their response was a subpoena with a cheque to cover my expenses. IIRC it was $120 to travel to Montreal and attend the trial for a day. Mileage was calculated at a fraction of the government rate for compensation and $40 a day. $20 if I was only needed for a half day.

My day was a Thursday. If they had paid their bill I would have told the wife to plan for a slightly subsidized weekend in Montreal and taken the offer.

However the rate they gave me was that of a casual observer and I was to give expert testimony and that came with my terms and conditions.

1) Pay the bill with interest
2) Pay actual travel expenses
3) Pay my present daily rate
4) Pay for decent accommodation

Basically, send a cheque for $7,000 and I'll show up. It didn't happen.

There are two rates.

A) Bill Gates is having a latte at a bistro and sees someone get hit in the head by a falling computer. He is a casual witness and gets $40 a day.

B) If Gates is called to testify on the probability of a programming error causing the computer to jump, unaided, through a window and land on someone's head he is an expert witness and he gets big bucks.

The former (A) is the reason people don't want to get involved, losing hundreds or thousands of dollars over he said / she said.

Criminal is different but in civil cases the witnesses should get full compensation, paid by the loser of the case.
 
nobbie48 said:
Go to selection and fall asleep waiting. Snore loudly.
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Got the letter and got picked. Case lasted about a week. Work paid me while I was there (but I owned part of the company)
 
I have been called four times for jury selection. IME, if it is for the university court house in Toronto.... they let very few excuses slide. There will be a line up at the beginning of people trying to get out of it, 99% of them will be there for the week. You can deffer but they just get you at a later date. Ones outside of Toronto seem to be more lenient letting people off.

For selection you sit there for up to a week in a big room, they call in groups for selection. Usually it does not last the entire week as people plead out or they fill all the jury positions. So Friday or maybe Thursday if you are lucky they let you go. If you are selected it will be longer of course. You can bring laptop, reading material, whatever for the selection waiting room as there will just be 100+ of you sitting around. Even work online if you can. The four times I have gone I only once got called to the court room for actual possible selection for a jury, crazy.

What stinks IMO is that some people will get called for jury selection multiple times (I have four times, I know people that have hit six!) while others may never in their entire life. The unofficial answer I got is the "system" likes to "randomly" select people that have gone for jury selection before, AND BTW it is your responsibility to check that the min number of years have passed since last time!

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Totally unrelated of course, I now find my mail service to be very unreliable.... you might need to send me something multiple times via regular mail.
 
I’m somewhat surprised at how many would not want to serve on jury duty (financial reasons aside). It’s your civic duty. They are probably the same people that complain when they open the papers and read about some criminal that got off lighty. The trial I was in involved an armed robbery, stolen firearms and a stolen car.We found the accused guilty , not knowing his previous convictions and he was sentenced to five years.When I later heard about his previous , lengthy criminal record I knew we did the right thing. I would have given him fifty years if it were up to me. As far as the jury selection, it was obvious that the Crown was looking for older ,professional jurors whereas the defence was leaning toward much younger jurors.We ended up being a pretty even mix of both. The reason for this became obvious as the trial unfolded. The older, more educated based their vote on the facts , the younger jurors were more easily swayed by emotion and the smoke screen that the defence was putting up. Part of the the problem was that the younger jurors were hesitant to vote guilty knowing that the accused was looking at a long stretch in a penitentiary, the older jurors had no problem at all with that. For the record I was only 27 at the time.
 
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Bobo said:
I’m somewhat surprised at how many would not want to serve on jury duty (financial reasons aside). It’s your civic duty. They are probably the same people that complain when they open the papers and read about some criminal that got off lighty. The trial I was in involved an armed robbery, stolen firearms and a stolen car.We found the accused guilty , not knowing his previous convictions and he was sentenced to five years.When I later heard about his previous , lengthy criminal record I knew we did the right thing. I would have given him fifty years if it were up to me. As far as the jury selection, it was obvious that the Crown was looking for older ,professional jurors whereas the defence was leaning toward much younger jurors.We ended up being a pretty even mix of both. The reason for this became obvious as the trial unfolded. The older, more educated based their vote on the facts , the younger jurors were more easily swayed by emotion and the smoke screen that the defence was putting up. Part of the the problem was that the younger jurors were hesitant to vote guilty knowing that the accused was looking at a long stretch in a penitentiary, the older jurors had no problem at all with that. For the record I was only 27 at the time.
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I would be interested in jury duty if it wasnt potentially devastating financially. Sadly there is no mechanism to limit your exposure. A week or two I could deal with. A month or two and it starts costing me too much. I don't know what a good solution is. Employers continuing to pay employees works for the province and employee but why is the employer left holding the bag? As a minimum, province should pay minimum wage (including screening days). At least that slows the spiral for most people.
 
I was called in Milton, picked , case lasted 3 days . I tried to look disinterested and bored , I think that’s what the defence was after . I suspect if your a keener and want in youll never be picked .
Was pretty sad , 50yr old drug dealer , successful business guy making a black hash side project . His brother owned a carpet company, brought in carpet from Pakistan and turkey, he was driving under suspension, found 30 lbs of hash in a vintage vet he owned and had stored in a common parking area . Halton cops completely botched the sting and arrest . He was guilty as sin , but not enough evidence to convict , he walked


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I got a letter while I was in college and went to selection and said I couldn't miss school.
Another thing my uncle told me recently is it's not registered mail requiring a signature, so don't show up, if anything arose from it claim you never got it....though I do understand the other side of it being a civic duty.
 
Years ago I was asked and said it would be awkward at this time as I still had students in the lab. They granted a deferral as I said I would be available a month later, after term ended. I was pretty much Juror Candidate 1 and was chosen with no questions. An assault case from one of the local bars. Found her guilty after 4 days I think it was. Luckily I was paid by the University. Only time I've been called in 66 years that I can remember.
 
I was called once. When asked if anyone was unable, I stood up. "Your honour, 2 days ago I was in a nasty motorcycle accident. My collarbone is broken, along with 5 ribs. I can barely breathe and I can't sit very long."
I was excused. It was a murder trial.
I've been hoping to get a recall, I've always wanted to be on a jury.
 
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