One of the key components of the US criminal justice system is the jury. A jury panel of 12 people listens to arguments and evidence presented by the prosecution and defense attorneys to determine a defendant’s guilt. Of course, in order to seat a panel of 12 people on a jury, every courthouse sends out jury duty summons and notices to prospective jurors. After having the privilege of serving on a jury (which admittedly is an interesting experience), as well as having been in the courthouse awaiting jury selection multiple times, I have heard a number of excuses in which individuals try to excuse themselves from jury duty. Search the web and you will undoubtedly find tips on the more common excuses people use to excuse themselves from jury duty. However, below are six odd and interesting jury duty excuses I have heard from individuals during jury selection. Some excuses seem so ridiculous you would think the prospective juror would not be excused. However, you may be surprised at which excuses did succeed in excusing the prospective juror from jury duty.
“If I do not physically see the crime taking place, I can’t judge a defendant’s innocence or guilt.”
Now doesn’t this jury duty excuse sound a bit odd? After all, the purpose of a jury is to listen to all evidence and testimony and then determine if a defendant is guilty or innocent. Furthermore, if a defendant has been brought to trial, doesn’t it mean the defendant has been accused of a crime that has taken place in the past? Not to mention, if you physically see a crime taking place, wouldn’t one of the attorneys want to summon you as a witness? This didn’t stop this juror from trying to use this excuse to get out of jury duty. This juror stubbornly insisted without being at the scene of the crime while the crime was taking place, he could not decide on a defendant’s guilt or innocence. Never mind that evidence would be presented at the trial or witnesses would give their testimony of events; this juror insisted he could not serve on a jury because he did not physically see the crime taking place! Suffice to say, his stubbornness won out and he was excused him from jury duty.
“I don’t think all lawyers are bad, but I hate [this particular] DA’s office because of what they did to me in the past.”
As many know, the District Attorney’s (DA’s) office commonly decides if there is enough evidence to charge a defendant with a crime. And many assistant DA’s are involved in prosecuting defendants in the courtroom. So you may think being biased against the DA’s office will get you excused from jury duty. However, this jury duty excuse clearly sounded like an attempt to get out of jury duty and the judge may believe it to be an outright lie, or an extreme exaggeration. This happened to the juror I observed who used this jury duty excuse. Even after vehemently stating he hated the local DA’s office, the judge did not excuse him from jury duty and surprisingly, both attorneys (with the prosecuting attorney from the local DA’s office) did not excuse him either and he was selected as a juror for the trial.
“In my religion it is taboo to speak about crime [in general]. Because of this I cannot participate in jury duty.”
You are reading that excuse correctly. This juror stated she was not eligible for jury duty because her religion prohibited her from talking about crime or criminal details. In a criminal trial or civil trial, all jurors must deliberate after the trial phase and agree on either a guilty or not guilty verdict, or end up as a hung jury. Due to the deliberation process, this juror stated she could not participate as her religion, as well as her upbringing, prohibited her from discussing any details she would learn regarding the crime, or any crime for that matter. After lengthy questioning, this juror was excused from jury duty.
“My comprehension of the English language is not good enough to serve on a jury.
Obviously a thorough comprehension and understanding of the English language is necessary to serve on jury duty. After all, the principal language in the US is English and all trials are conducted in English. Interpreters are provided for those defendants and witnesses who have trouble with the English language. So why is this excuse on this list? After all, if you’re English comprehension is sub-par you cannot serve on a jury right? Well…the problem with this jury duty excuse occurs when a prospective juror says he or she has an English comprehension problem, but seems to have no problem listening or speaking English. Many times I have noticed people say they have problems with the English language, but when questioned by the judge or the attorneys, seem to have little problem comprehending what they say or speaking English. Suffice to say a few of them were selected for jury duty as the judge and the attorneys did not believe their English was so poor that they could not serve on jury duty.
“I am eager and excited to serve on a jury because I have never served on one before!”
This is an interesting “excuse”. Not so much because it is an “excuse” for jury duty, but that it seems to work getting people excused from jury duty. During my latest jury duty summons, when questioned by the judge and attorneys, a handful of prospective jurors stated they were eager and optimistic to serve on a jury because they never done so and wanted the full jury duty experience. This caught the judge and the attorneys off guard, as they were used to dealing with people who would rather not be on a jury. Surprisingly enough, all these jurors were all excused from jury duty, not by the judge but by both the prosecution and the defense attorneys.
“I am uncomfortable to serve on a jury for this particular crime. I would be much more comfortable with another crime and trial.”
With this excuse, the juror said she felt she would be comfortable with another criminal trial instead of the one at hand. Similar to the religious excuse earlier, this juror felt uncomfortable with the trial that the jury was being selected for and when further questioned, mentioned she would be comfortable as a juror on another trial such as a murder or an assault trial. But while this excuse may sound like a made up one to get out of jury duty, apparently the juror did a good enough job of convincing the judge to get herself excused from jury duty. .
There you have it. Six interesting excuses jurors have used in an attempt to get out of jury duty. Some were successful, others were not. In my opinion, if you are a candidate for jury duty, simply being honest with the questionnaire and with both the judge and the attorneys offers you the best chance to be excused from jury duty. And if you do happen to be selected for jury duty, think of it as an experience. Remember, while many people shy away from jury duty, it is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system and a very important factor to ensure a fair trial for all.
