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How good should your English be to sit on a jury?

clifffaith

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From time to time I've mentioned our Italian friends. I do a fair amount of smiling and nodding and not understanding completely when she tells a story, and vice versa. He is better at pronunciation because he was in the working world here for 30 years. But neither of them "hear" us if they are distracted or if we change the subject abruptly (like apropos of nothing I blurt out "oh, we are now at the top of the waitlist at Carlsbad" -- no comment, no indication either of them heard me at the card table). So he got selected to be on a jury yesterday, in spite of protesting that he wouldn't be able to understand well enough to render a verdict. He was told "if you don't understand, ask us to repeat or explain it". Huh? In the middle of the trial he's supposed to say excuse me, I don't understand?! Sounds like basis for a retrial to me.
 

JohnPaul

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Often times people make excuses to get off jury duty so they don't take them very seriously. I was on a trial with a man who didn't hear well and after a short bit of trial they excused him. My guess is your friend will go the same. If the judge decides he really doesn't understand they will release him.
 

Luanne

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Your friend may not even make it past jury selection.
 

clifffaith

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Your friend may not even make it past jury selection.

That's what I told Antonella, and that he'd probably just report one day and be released. Nope. They picked him as one of 14 for a jury, and she didn't mention he was an alternate, although that concept may not register with her. He's 73 today and would just as soon be getting paid for doing customs paperwork for the Italian fruit & veggie imports for a company owned by a family friend, rather than missing work sitting on a jury.
 

Luanne

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That's what I told Antonella, and that he'd probably just report one day and be released. Nope. They picked him as one of 14 for a jury, and she didn't mention he was an alternate, although that concept may not register with her. He's 73 today and would just as soon be getting paid for doing customs paperwork for the Italian fruit & veggie imports for a company owned by a family friend, rather than missing work sitting on a jury.
Didn't realize he was already on a jury. Where we live if you are 70 (or older) you can be permanently excused from jury duty.
 

IngridN

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In CA, if you're over 70, you can be excused from jury duty. DH just did this, but for mobility issues rather than for shirking the duty.
 

Luanne

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In CA, if you're over 70, you can be excused from jury duty. DH just did this, but for mobility issues rather than for shirking the duty.
My dh is over 70 and is permanently excused. I think all he had to do was when he received the summons send it back indicating his age. He did it more because he was afraid he'd fall asleep in the afternoons. He has served (not here, but in other places he lived) and even served on a grand jury in New York City.

Interesting, I just went in and checked and supposedly it's 75 in New Mexico. But I know dh was permanently excused before he reached 75.
 

Passepartout

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Thanks for bringing this up. I just checked and in Idaho, 70 is the magic number to be excused. I have served the few times I've been called but didn't know there was an age limit. WooHoo!

Jim
 

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Attorneys from both sides, as well as the Judge, in a process known as voir dire, pick the members of the jury. Any questions and/or concerns about anyone in the pool should be raised at that time. If your friend is determined to be not competent or suitable he would have been excused at that time.

I suppose the fun will take place when the other jurors are trying to reach a decision. :doh:
 

clifffaith

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In CA, if you're over 70, you can be excused from jury duty. DH just did this, but for mobility issues rather than for shirking the duty.

Thanks so much! I know Cliff, Mom & Dad have all served on a jury past the age of 70, and we had no idea this would excuse you. I just left a message for Antonella to be aware in the future that Liborio does not need to serve.
 

Luanne

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Thanks so much! I know Cliff, Mom & Dad have all served on a jury past the age of 70, and we had no idea this would excuse you. I just left a message for Antonella to be aware in the future that Liborio does not need to serve.
If he has been selected for a jury he will not have to serve again for a number of years anyway.

Sometimes everyone who shows up gets excused. This will happen when the trials are all settled. Usually happens in municipal courts. And this counts as your jury duty and excuses you for the next few years.
 

clifffaith

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If he has been selected for a jury he will not have to serve again for a number of years anyway.

Sometimes everyone who shows up gets excused. This will happen when the trials are all settled. Usually happens in municipal courts. And this counts as your jury duty and excuses you for the next few years.

I was selected several years ago, then they sent us to a room to chill before the trial started. Got called back in 40 minutes later and the judge said "she took one look at you and decided to take a plea deal instead". He then talked to us for 10 minutes about the importance of our having shown up to take part in the process, and thanking us for our time. I was quite impressed with him.
 

pedro47

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My dh is over 70 and is permanently excused. I think all he had to do was when he received the summons send it back indicating his age. He did it more because he was afraid he'd fall asleep in the afternoons. He has served (not here, but in other places he lived) and even served on a grand jury in New York City.

Interesting, I just went in and checked and supposedly it's 75 in New Mexico. But I know dh was permanently excused before he reached 75.

This is the same for VA. 70 is the age you are permanently excused.
 

Luanne

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I was selected several years ago, then they sent us to a room to chill before the trial started. Got called back in 40 minutes later and the judge said "she took one look at you and decided to take a plea deal instead". He then talked to us for 10 minutes about the importance of our having shown up to take part in the process, and thanking us for our time. I was quite impressed with him.
It's nice when they do that. Each time this has happened when I've been called the judge has come out and given up the same spiel.
 

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In FL you can be excused from jury duty if you are aged 70 or more. You can also be excused if you are pregnant.

I have been called for jury duty 4 times so far. Three criminal trials and 1 civil trial. I was actually picked as a juror for 2 of them. The excuses people try to make to the judge to get dismissed from serving on the jury are something else. In the trials I observed, the judges were not very tolerant of people's excuses not to serve.
 

Grammarhero

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I never get selected to a jury. I explained that I did some AUSA prosecution assistance work, and that I might have some pro-prosecution biases. Defense attorneys always excuse me.
 

DaveNV

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I was selected several years ago, then they sent us to a room to chill before the trial started. Got called back in 40 minutes later and the judge said "she took one look at you and decided to take a plea deal instead". He then talked to us for 10 minutes about the importance of our having shown up to take part in the process, and thanking us for our time. I was quite impressed with him.

I had an exact experience one time. Was selected for a jury in the morning. We broke for lunch. Came back ready to start the trial, and after a half hour, they said the plaintiff took a plea deal. Judge thanked us for being there and sent us home.

It was a few years before I was called again for jury duty, but I was selected again. I served as Foreman on that case.

Dave
 

pedro47

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I feel a perspective jury member needs to be able to hear clearly what everyone is saying and understanding the testimonials of both parties in a court of law. A jury member ability to speak proper English is secondary in making the correct jury decision. IMHO.
 

am1

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I would suggest that if one cannot serve on a jury for lack of understanding of the English language then they should have to pay a tax and I am against most taxes. It is a needed sacrifice that if someone cannot do it others are called more often. My guess there is a reason why the prosecution/government does not push for that.
 

WinniWoman

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I would suggest that if one cannot serve on a jury for lack of understanding of the English language then they should have to pay a tax and I am against most taxes. It is a needed sacrifice that if someone cannot do it others are called more often. My guess there is a reason why the prosecution/government does not push for that.

We had this situation in the county we used to live in. There are a lot of huge religious groups whose members do not serve (amazing how they buy up the land to settle on, Non profits (and tax exempt- smh....) and therefore, being it is a rural country- everyone else gets called to serve numerous times. I know people in other counties who have never been called ever, yet my husband and I were constantly called as soon as our term limit was up!
 

Ralph Sir Edward

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I remember what one lawyer said in the jury selection pool portion.

"Feel free to ask questions. We have a name for potential jurors who don't ask questions. we call them jurors. . ."

Funny, I have never been selected for a sitting juror. . . :D
 

geekette

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Your friend may not even make it past jury selection.
exactly what I was thinking. I have been called for jury duty A LOT, had to show up several times, only once made it to the courtroom but never to the jury. Lawyers would figure it out through their simple questioning.
 

geekette

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I would suggest that if one cannot serve on a jury for lack of understanding of the English language then they should have to pay a tax and I am against most taxes. It is a needed sacrifice that if someone cannot do it others are called more often. My guess there is a reason why the prosecution/government does not push for that.
No, no tax on this! That's gross. The reason it isn't pushed for is that it's plain Wrong.
 

Brett

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I would suggest that if one cannot serve on a jury for lack of understanding of the English language then they should have to pay a tax and I am against most taxes. It is a needed sacrifice that if someone cannot do it others are called more often. My guess there is a reason why the prosecution/government does not push for that.

yeah, there's probably a reason why governments don't tax people who have trouble with the English language
 
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