ur apartment last night, I spotted this, and one other hand lettered sign posted up outside the Hollywood First Presbyterian Church. Carlos Street, which one side of th church faces, was barricaded off and guarded by a cop, and I saw some familiar looking grip trucks and other equipment which led me to believe that some sort of filming was in progress. This led me to believe that these signs advertising "Juror Parking" were probably props. Unless, of course, they were filming a sequel to the late 90's Alec Baldwin/Demi Moore vehicle "The Juror", and these were signs telling the crew where to park. Either way, it reminded me that I neglected to give an account here of my recent jury duty experience. I got summoned to report in early February, and after yukking it up at the pictures of celebrity jurors Lance Ito (see below), Harrison Ford and Weird Al Yankovic, I soon found myself sitting on the panel of a distinctly unfunny gang murder trial. Since I don't have the space to go into all the details here, I'l just give it to you by the numbers:
Total number of Jury days served: 17 (not counting President's Day, when the court was closed)The going rate in LA for Jury Service: $15/day
Length of daily lunch recess: 90 minutes
Number of counts in this particular indictment: 3 (Murder, Attempted Murder, firing at an occupied motor vehicle)
Number of counts on which we found the defendant guilty: 3
Number of Days Juror number 3 called in sick: 2
Number of Days the Defense Attorney called in sick: 1
Books I read commuting downtown and on breaks during the trial: 4 (see below)
Number of times I walked to the Library Bar for a pint after court let out: 3
Number of times the security guard at the courthouse metal detector complimented my shoes: 1
After I finally got back to work, I was told that the best way to get out of jury service is to simply throw the summons away when you get it. Since they don't mail them certified mail, they can't say for sure if you got it or not. Now they tell me.
Recommended Reading (All Available at the Downtown LA Central Library:)
Under the Net-Iris Murdoch
Little Green Men-Christopher Buckley
Boomsday-Christopher Buckley
The Dog of the South-Charles Portis
1 comment:
Dear Urban Juror #9,
You made the right choice by not throwing your summons away upon receipt. Although it would be difficult for the state to prove that you received the summons, they would not technically have to prove it. See we in the legal community have something we call a "presumption of receipt" that attaches when mailings are handled routinely and carefully and enter the postal stream. Assuming that the LA County Jury Commissioners could establish a regular procedure for mailing juror summonses (which is not a gimme by any means), it would then be incumbent upon you to prove that you did not receive the summons. If called to testify, you could lie, but perjury convictions are a bitch to explain in a job interview.
And really, now you know that at least one security guard at the courthouse likes your shoes.
Love,
Lance Ito
Post a Comment