Grand Jury Duty Question...

I received a summons in the mail today It specifically states... "Grand Jury service is 9am-5pm Monday to Friday for 4 weeks or longer"

I know that grand jury duty is different than regular jury duty so if you have received one for Grand Jury... Does this mean that they actually expect you to go Monday "thru" Friday or will it be one day a week?

They are crazy if that's the case, especially at the very lovely pay of "$40 per day"... Really?! I made more working my summer job at 15!

Anyone know how I can get out of this? I seriously cannot afford to be out of work making only $40 a day!

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I got called for jury duty for criminal court recently on what was going to be some kind of sexual abuse/assault case. One of the questions the judge asked the group was if anyone was not able to make the committment for at least 2 weeks to raise their hand. Half the room if not more did. We were all dismissed on the spot. Perhaps you will have the same luck.

Jury duty seems very interesting to me, but I too am in the type of position where I can't be away from work some days for 4 hours, let alone 4 weeks.

I would imagine most judges know that the average person is going to be in a similar position and will ask questions related to this that will be able to get you dismissed.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

A coworker of mine just served Grand Jury Duty. It was indeed everyday for 2 weeks.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I served Grand Jury a few years ago but only had to serve 2 weeks (I don't remember the specific reason but I do remember the court staff telling us we were the 'lucky ones'). We did attend everyday though, Monday-Friday and most days we were there until 6 or 7pm. That was definitely the part that shocked me

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

Oy! This is not good

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I got called for Grand Jury Duty but got out of it because I was breastfeeding. I had to sit through the whole thing before I got excused and they asked people to volunteer and a bunch of people did. They let everyone else leave. If you volunteered but didn't get picked you were exempt for like 6 years or something like that. They only thing was that if you did volunteer and did get picked you had to do it. So you will just have to go that first day and get out of it. I think you can be called back for regular jury duty though. Not 100% on that though.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I was called for Grand Jury duty at the Islip Courthouse about five years ago and the term was one day a week for two years! I felt as if I belonged to the government every Tuesday.

We were only allowed to skip four of our days so we had to choose wisely. The judge questioned all of us sternly in the beginning, and let me tell you, she didn't let many people off no matter how they whined. I served with teachers, bankers and small business owners from all over Long Island.

I had been called for regular jury duty several times over the years and several times I wrote back that I'd be happy to serve ... did they have a room where I could nurse my son? I got a letter by return mail telling me I was exempted. I guess they waited until they were sure I had no more nursing babies.

Message edited 4/14/2011 12:36:43 AM.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

my friend actually finished serving last week. She was there for five days a week for a month. That was in queens.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

It depends on where you are placed.... I was on grand jury a couple of years ago in Hauppauge. We went M-F but it would be from different times, somedays it was 9-3, others we didn't have to go in until 11 and were only needed for 2-3 hours. It really depended on the case load each day.

However, if you are placed in Riverhead, it is usually the full time (9-5) M-F...there case load is much higher

You should check with your job...mine paid me IN FULL for the entire month...

Message edited 4/14/2011 8:57:22 AM.

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I know someone who had to sit through for the full four weeks.

Sorry

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

Re: Grand Jury Duty Question...

I got called for Grand Jury Duty and only served one day a week for 4 months! It was actually fantastic b/c it was the summer and I was planning my wedding at the time. We would have to be there by 10 and usually be out by 1 and I wasn't required to go back to work that day even though I did sometimes. I actually really enjoyed it- we had one or two different cases a day and they were all very interesting.

ETA: My job also paid me in full in addition to the money I received from grand jury duty.

Message edited 4/14/2011 9:58:02 AM.