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Posted

I got one of these on Friday.  It says I am eligible to be called for jury duty in the US Southern District in Houston through 2021.  How likely am I to end up being called in between now and then?

Posted
Just now, kevwun said:

I got one of these on Friday.  It says I am eligible to be called for jury duty in the US Southern District in Houston through 2021.  How likely am I to end up being called in between now and then?

I would guess pretty likely.

Posted

Regular jury or grand jury?  Through 2021 sounds like grand jury duty  

I did 18 months on the federal grand jury in the southern discrick of Texas.    Walked in and they said “your in, mate.”   Not a lot of hoopla.  

Posted
I believe it was  regular jury duty.  Through 2021 was how long I will be in the pool of people that get picked for jury duty.

Yes. They use the questionnaire to determine your eligibility, and then keep you in the pool for a few years. If you’re selected, it will be for one jury on one trial.
Posted
1 hour ago, deadshank said:

Regular jury or grand jury?  Through 2021 sounds like grand jury duty  

I did 18 months on the federal grand jury in the southern discrick of Texas.    Walked in and they said “your in, mate.”   Not a lot of hoopla.  

Did they give you an option to decline service?  Moreso than a petit jury, it behooves them not to have reluctant grand jurors.

Posted

I got one and sure enough a few weeks later I got a notice to show up for Jury Duty for which I was chosen for a panel and served four days for drug smuggling case.

The upside is you are paid $50 a day vs the lower rate most counties pay and you get .58 cents a mile round trip to the courthouse.  

Posted
51 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I'm just hoping I don't end up on a case that takes weeks to finish.

I hear you and Federal Cases can take longer than State.   I think one of the reasons why is the Feds have mandatory minimums for many offenses which do not allow for a Judge to sentence someone to probation.   So it's worth the roll of the dice for some to go to trial and see if they can persuade the Jury for not guilty verdict.

With the case I sat on, it was a smuggling ring organized in Beaumont who sent unsuspecting residents from that area down to the McAllen area to pick up shipments.  The actual runners were already convicted or cut deals with the Feds before the trial .    The smuggling ring told these people who really never made it out of the Houston/Beaumont  areas they would go through a check point and all they had to do was say they were US Citizens and they would be clear.  One of them was driving a semi rig and had bundles of weed in plain sight.  Idiots.   They needed to watch a few episodes of Border Wars on Nat Geo to see it wasn't that simple.   Anyhow most of the trial focused on text messages and  cell phone records and who met who at what topless bar and stuff like that.  LOL.  

Posted
8 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Did they give you an option to decline service?  Moreso than a petit jury, it behooves them not to have reluctant grand jurors.

Not really.  Only extreme circumstances got to decline participation.  The time demand wasn't particularly onerous.  And, as you said, the Feds have the US marshals service to insure attendance.  

Posted
1 hour ago, deadshank said:

Not really.  Only extreme circumstances got to decline participation.  The time demand wasn't particularly onerous.  And, as you said, the Feds have the US marshals service to insure attendance.  

They use US Marshalls if you don't show up? That seems extreme. 

Posted
8 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

They use US Marshalls if you don't show up? That seems extreme. 

Nah - Extreme would be Detective Goines and his narc squad at HPD.

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Posted
8 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

They use US Marshalls if you don't show up? That seems extreme. 

I was in McAllen a few weeks ago to pick a jury in a civil case.  They brought a panel of 35 into the courtroom.  One panelist was missing as they had sent out summons for 36 people.  The judge, on the record, ordered a US Marshall to locate the missing panelist if possible to bring him/her to the courtroom and show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court.  Federal Court does not fuck around.  Do not just "not show up."

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Posted
9 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

They use US Marshalls if you don't show up? That seems extreme. 

The Marshals are the bailiffs/sheriffs of the federal world.  The state and county courts would do this too, but they call so many jurors every week that it's impossible to send a sheriff out to bring you in if you don't show up for a summons.  Every now and then, though, the district or county court will bring someone in.

Posted

The other bummer about federal court is that they have limited voir dire, most often conducted by the judge, so if you're going to try to spin some bullshit about how "everyone did it" or "no one is ever guilty," or "I like drugs," you will have little opportunity to voice such an opinion, and will have to do it, most likely, directly to a federal district judge and answer his or her questions about it.

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Posted

I just got one too, so this thread hits close to home. I think mine gave the dates I was “available” as Sept 2017 thru Oct 2020 (maybe it was 2021).

Posted
41 minutes ago, smwhorn said:

I was in McAllen a few weeks ago to pick a jury in a civil case.  They brought a panel of 35 into the courtroom.  One panelist was missing as they had sent out summons for 36 people.  The judge, on the record, ordered a US Marshall to locate the missing panelist if possible to bring him/her to the courtroom and show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court.  Federal Court does not fuck around.  Do not just "not show up."

It's easier to BS to get out of county jury duty and it's a simple as saying your summon got lost in the mail if you are questioned later about it.   The summons  some  counties send out look like junk mailers and have been known to get mis delivered or not even reaching the potential juror at all.    The Federal summons is mailed in a standard envelope with US government mailing official mail markings.   Thank goodness my county has implemented  a system where you can respond on line and if you are lucky and get empaneled with a court who uses the full system, you won't have to show up until they actually need your jury pool for jury selection.  Some courts  still do it the old fashioned way which means this time of year sitting around people with snot coming  out their noses.  

The Federal Marshall Service is increasing becoming a multi level government paid bounty service.   They are all over the place picking up people on warrants who not even being charged on a Federal level.  So yea it wouldn't be that hard for them to make pit stop by your home or place of business if they get a call from court.  

Posted
10 minutes ago, Nueces River Rat said:

It's easier to BS to get out of county jury duty and it's a simple as saying your summon got lost in the mail if you are questioned later about it.   The summons  some  counties send out look like junk mailers and have been known to get mis delivered or not even reaching the potential juror at all.    The Federal summons is mailed in a standard envelope with US government mailing official mail markings.   Thank goodness my county has implemented  a system where you can respond on line and if you are lucky and get empaneled with a court who uses the full system, you won't have to show up until they actually need your jury pool for jury selection.  Some courts  still do it the old fashioned way which means this time of year sitting around people with snot coming  out their noses.  

The Federal Marshall Service is increasing becoming a multi level government paid bounty service.   They are all over the place picking up people on warrants who not even being charged on a Federal level.  So yea it wouldn't be that hard for them to make pit stop by your home or place of business if they get a call from court.  

"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance."

Posted

Responded online last week, got notice to appear 4/1 today in the mail. Figured it might at least take a couple months before I got called in.

Posted

This may be a dumbass question, but why are felons excluded from jury duty?

I get the argument that they have committed crimes etc... But they allow biased people on juries all the time (who aren't felons)

Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, SKJ said:

This may be a dumbass question, but why are felons excluded from jury duty?

I get the argument that they have committed crimes etc... But they allow biased people on juries all the time (who aren't felons)

It's becoming increasingly unpopular as an idea.  In Texas, once a sentence, including probation, is completed, the voting right is restored.

It was just another punitive measure.

Edited by TwiceHorn
Posted

I don't think the jury prohibition for felons is necessarily just vindictive.  There is probably some validity to the idea that some felons would just not vote to convict anyone.  Besides, I wouldn't want to be locked in a jury room with a convicted axe murderer.

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Posted

Yeah, I understand that, but then again, there are those that are just as unreasonable on the other side, those that believe that if they bring charges against someone that they're just guilty as hell.

I understand that it's never going to change, but there's an element to each end of the spectrum that should not serve for lack of fairness.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
Yeah, I understand that, but then again, there are those that are just as unreasonable on the other side, those that believe that if they bring charges against someone that they're just guilty as hell.
I understand that it's never going to change, but there's an element to each end of the spectrum that should not serve for lack of fairness.


That’s why each side gets strikes and there are also strikes for cause.

Normally defense gets 10 strikes and we get 6. Usually anyone too far either way is getting struck, personally I don’t like having engineers on our panels.

So if you want to be a higher candidate to get struck from a jury panel, get an EE degree.

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