Jury Duty

[Jill F]

So I open the mailbox today.

Useless coupons.  Toss.
Realtor propaganda.  Toss.
Credit card application.  Rip, toss.
Lingerie catalog for young, skinny girls.  *sigh*  Toss.
Car insurance bill.  File.
Jury summons. $%^&*(%$#%^&**@!@#$%^&^%#$%^&$#$%^ GDMFSOB!!!!!

My legal name change doesn't happen until July.  I am NOT going in "guy mode", I don't want to have to explain myself to every idiot in the courthouse and I can't just blow it off because of my wife being a prominent attorney.

If I can defer this until after my legal name change, do I still have to serve?

I can't be the first one here who got stuck with this, right?  Anyone here ever dealt with this?
 

[Eva Marie]

I'm sorry about that Jill - they just got me for Jury Duty recently so there is no chance my name change or presentation will be an issue.

I hope that it doesn't cause you issues and that you can work it out.

Like Liam said - they only check your name once and then they give you a number. In Ventura county where I got called to serve when they pulled a jury pool they put the names up on a display monitor so no one would know you had been called by name; you just saw your name and went to the jury room for voir dire. In the jury room you might have to disclose though; i'm not for sure how cali does it.

[Jessica Merriman]

Jury summons. $%^&*(%$#%^&**@!@#$%^&^%#$%^&$#$%^ GDMFSOB!!!!!

*giggle* Sorry Jill I was tickled I understood all of the letters.

If they do a jury selection process you, might not get picked. They may kick your name out because it could be distracting to the proceedings,  unless both council accept you. The defense might want you included, but I doubt the prosecutor would. Is the summons City, State or Federal?

[Andaya]

Your state will have different rules on whether you can defer and how many times and for what reasons. I'd give them a call and see what they say if you'd like a direct and fast answer.

What Liam said is true though. I'm an attorney and no one really cares. The majority of people who show up don't get picked, and your name is totally something they don't care about. When you're up for selection, you're "juror number 1" etc. They may have questions related to the case - eg if is a car accident case where someone is suing, they'll ask if you've been in a similar accident etc.

I don't think changing your name will elude needing to serve at some point. Most states take names from drivers license and voter registration lists and they'll match yours up to you eventually. I wouldn't worry to much about it, you'll do fine

[Jill F]

So I deferred it until October.  By then I won't have a shred of anything with my old name on it. (Sorry, no such person exists, and I'm definitely not him!) I hope that's enough to delay it until I get a summons with my new name on it.

FWIW- it's State criminal court.   I usually get excused from everything as soon as I tell them who my wife is.

[Jessica Merriman]

I usually get excused from everything as soon as I tell them who my wife is.

Way cool. They didn't like us Sheriff's Deputies on juries either.

[Samantha Stone]

I called the courthouse here and asked them if they had unisex bathrooms.  They didn't and they excused me.  If I was dressed enfemme ,  they would never select me.