April 30, 2009
DOCUMENT: Stupid

New Wrinkle On Avoiding Jury Duty

In no uncertain terms, a Montana man tells judge why he won't serve

Jury duty

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New Wrinkle On Avoiding Jury Duty

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APRIL 30--There are probably better ways to avoid jury duty than the approach recently taken by a Montana man.

After Erik Slye, 36, received a jury notice earlier this year, he filed a notarized affidavit seeking to be excused from serving on a District Court panel in Gallatin County. Slye's caustic affidavit, which he prepared with help from his wife Jennifer, can be found here.

The document, of course, did not sit well with court officials and led a judge to threaten to jail Slye. But after being summoned to court, Slye apologized for the affidavit and avoided being cited on a criminal failure to appear rap. And he also was excused from serving on a jury. (1 page)

New Wrinkle On Avoiding Jury Duty

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jury duty, Montana

Comments (8)

Submitted by Mo Ma' on Fri, 2011-03-04 15:19.
Damaged DNA plus pencil and something to write on equals= expressed insanity.
Submitted by llloyd on Fri, 2011-03-04 12:47.
Well, he does have a point, he worded it very badly, admittedly. But a lot of employers, mine being one, don't pay for time off for jury duty and you make next to *nothing* while serving, if you are the sole supporter of your family you're putting them at risk by taking time off. California, where I live, has gotten a *lot* tougher on the Economic Hardship excuse. Kinda blows. in a bad way, for us. If they paid decently and on a weekly or two weekly basis, for jury duty, like it was a job then yeah, sure, I'll listen through the BS and try to judge someone's guilt. But if you get stuck on a 6 month or longer trial, that's no income for all that time and when you do get the money it's not enough to catch up, well, it's a load of horse pucky. :( You might as well bend over as you'll be getting it like it or not. :(
Submitted by Aegis on Fri, 2011-03-04 21:46.
Interesting take on the matter, llloyd. I'm curious on how you think people refusing to take time off from work to perform jury duty doesn't put your family at risk. Here's hoping, should you ever be wrongly accused, there is a jury there for you. I've never avoided that call, even though I only get paid $8 per day for showing up. Then again, I don't have a flat screen TV in my house. Still have the old piece of crap ...and money in the bank to cover things like jury duty, et al. Just thinking of the welfare of my family, that's all.
Submitted by Tee on Fri, 2011-03-04 13:16.
llloyd - I'm also in California and I'm curious as to what county you reside in, because where I live, you can submit a letter from your employer that states that you do not get paid for jury duty. Everyone I know who has done this has been dismissed after the first day. And usually, if you present that letter when you sign in, you're let go within an hour or so. Yep...that pretty much sucks that you miss a day's pay, but you avoid a an extended stay in jury duty.
Submitted by PBSCRAIG on Fri, 2011-03-04 12:23.
Jury duty is a responsibility that should be taken with all seriousness. A suggested method of being taken out of the pool of selection is to send an intelligently written letter in response to the summons stating that you believe that if a suspect has been charged with a crime the probability is that they are guilty regardless of what evidence or technicalities a lawyer presents. I did this over 20 years ago and have never heard from them since.
Submitted by rochatter on Fri, 2011-03-04 12:48.
Thank you. The thought of you serving on a jury and thereby in the position of making an ~intelligent~ decision as to the guilt or innocence of a defendant is utterly frightening.
Submitted by azoutlaw on Fri, 2011-03-04 10:52.
FYI...to avoid jury duty, just don't respond. They don't send the letter certified & can't prove you received it. They will finally call you & ask about it, & you say "I never got a thing in the mail about jury duty." I also like Doug Stanhope's advice to go ahead and serve & then say "Not Guilty"...no matter what!
Submitted by rochatter on Fri, 2011-03-04 12:31.
And to think that many people believe this country is presently make up of self-absorbed nitwits. Oh wait, you just confirmed it.
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