8/13 Ebby AMPS 380 +4 197 JURY DUTY! ??

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MelissaEbby

MelissaEbby

Member Since 2012
AMPS 380
+4 197

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Well, I got a jury summons in the mail today. I am having so much anxiety at the thought of having to leave Ebby to go do this. They won't excuse me to take care of an animal...I already checked. Has anyone dealt with this? I might try to postpone...just causing me a lot of stress right now.
 
Oh Melissa, I can imagine your anxiety. I have always dreaded the thought, and wondered what people do in that situation.
I don't even know if one can be excused for ones one health reasons, let alone a pet...and a cat is considered even less than a dog. But I don't want to get started on that! grr_red
I'm interested to hear what others have done.
 
Barb & Checkers said:
and a cat is considered even less than a dog.
Click to expand...
:lol: That's the truth.

Yeah, I'm so upset. The lady I talked to about this actually said, "What happens if you die, what are you going to do with the cat then?"
 
Melissa,

I work in the Court system here in Georgia. The Judges here are also pretty strict about who they excuse from Jury Duty. All I can suggest to you is to go ahead and appear for Jury Duty.
If you are called from the Jury Assembly room (where all Jurors assemble waiting to be choosen to hear a case) to hear a case that is when a panel of Jurors is brought before the Court (a/k/a Judge). The panel is first sworn in then questioned. Usually one of the questioned the panel is asked is "Do you have any just cause that would keep you from being able to appear on a daily basis until the case has concluded?" Go ahead and raise your hand and tell them that you care for a sick animal or animals. Let the Judge know that it is an insulin dependent animal and medications have to be given on a time schedule. You have time concerns with giving your animal it's medication and that you have no one else that you can ask to take on this burden. Your animal's lively hood depends on you being consistent and timely with it's medications. You realize that this may not be an appropriate excuse but you would like it to be taken into consideration because your animal's life is totally dependent upon it's medications and you. Unless questioned further about which kind of animal (Dog or Cat) don't offer. It's worth a try. Hope this is helpful.
 
And if you note it will be difficult to concentrate on testimony if you are held past when the shot is due. At least one attorney will want you to pay attention, so they may not select you for that reason.
 
Thank you guys.

Dianne, this is very helpful. The lady I talked to said I could plead my case to the judge, but she wasn't very clear how this was done, so this helped me to understand. Do you think I should consider postponing, in hopes Ebby might go into remission before they called on me again?

BJM said:
And if you note it will be difficult to concentrate on testimony if you are held past when the shot is due. At least one attorney will want you to pay attention, so they may not select you for that reason.
Click to expand...

BJ, Yes, this is a very valid point, and so true. I honestly think I'd be too distracted worrying all day about Ebby.

I guess I should also work on a plan b just in case. This has my stomach in knots. :cry:
 
Different states have different ways of doing things Melissa, but when I had to get out of Jury Duty (due to my own health), I went in on the day I was called, and told the court clerk that I needed to talk to the judge about getting excused. I had to hang around awhile, but they got the Judge, the court reporter, and the attorneys together and then I just had to go into the courtroom and "plead my case" (I felt like a defendant but in the end, I was excused)

Hope you get a judge who's an animal lover and will understand!!
 
Jury duty would cause me stress too. I think that was pretty rude of the lady on the phone. I would plead that you would have trouble concentrating. I hope you can get out of it. Good Luck! I think I would postpone and hope for OTJ.

Have a good day!
 
This may be silly, but i'd print out and bring a copy of Ebby's ss. And i'd be inclined to print out a copy of Handling Low Numbers so they can see that protocol keeps you busy every 20 minutes some days. Hopefully you can get them to understand that you don't just give your cat a shot of insulin and then take off for 12 hours.
Depending on Ebby's numbers, you might have to... be late?....bring your cat, testing supplies, food, etc?
That woman who said "what if you died"...grrrrr :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Best of luck and sending lots and lots of No Jury Duty vines ;-) ;-) ;-)
 
Wink was on his 2nd OTJ trial when I had to go for jury duty. If he had needed me more, I would have postponed jury duty to a later time.
 
Aww, Lantus Land is the best! Thanks for the support. I've been in panic all day over this, and usually I'm a pretty calm person. I'm also having anxiety in just having to explain to them my situation. Most people don't take it seriously, and I'm not always the most assertive person and hate confrontations.

Yeah, Doreen, I'm leaning towards possibly postponing....although Ebby hasn't exactly given me much hope for remission yet. It's a shot though.

ecurie said:
This may be silly, but i'd print out and bring a copy of Ebby's ss.
Click to expand...
Oh yes, I thought about doing that. The Handling Low Numbers is a good idea too. Heck, they might just consider excusing me because I'm a "crazy cat lady." Maybe I should wear a t-shirt with Ebby's picture printed on it. :lol:

Also, does anyone know how long a juror is usually needed? I mean, if we're just talking one day, than I wouldn't be as stressed. Does it mean anything that my summons papers say petit juror?
 
A "petit jury" is one like you see on courtroom drama's on TV...usually 6-12 people are chosen to listen to the facts of the case and then determine guilt or liability.

Different states do it differently, but when I went, there was a courtroom FULL of people. Each lawyer on the case we were called for asked a bunch of questions and if a particular question set off a question or required you to answer, we held up our hands and explained. At the end of both sets of lawyers, we were all sent out while the lawyers "disqualified" the people they didn't want as "automatic strikes" and at the end of it all, 12 people (and some alternates) are chosen. Everyone else was sent home.

The other kind of jury is a "Grand Jury"....those you can have to serve on for up to 6 months at a time and are used to determine if there's enough evidence to bring a case to trial in the first place
 
As a contingency plan, check into pet sitters. Maybe see if one would like to be trained in feline diabetes monitoring as then the person would have an additional skill set to offer as a pet sitter.
 
my DH says to go in as a hardline conservative.... everything is black and white and you believe in the death penalty and they probably won't take you.....

the defense attorneys want someone they can convince to let their defendant off....

be the opposite of what they want.....



just sayin'...... :lol: :roll:
 
Well, I got out of the house for awhile and gained some perspective. No matter what happens, it will be ok. At least I'm not the one on trial. I think I will postpone for now. I know my time will come again, but this will buy me a little time.

When the time comes, hopefully I can be excused, or wouldn't get picked, or at least serve on a short trial, or best yet have Ebby in remission.

I'll look into pet sitters, but not sure I could afford it, especially if I'm missing work. Not a bad idea though to look into.

rhiannon and shadow said:
my DH says to go in as a hardline conservative.... everything is black and white and you believe in the death penalty and they probably won't take you.....
Click to expand...

:lol: Rhiannon, Yes, this might be an angle I could take. I might have to work on my acting skills though. Anything to keep our kitties safe and healthy, right? We have a big deal murder that happened here, so thinking the jury pool might be for that.
 
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