What was your Miami-Dade jury duty experience? (home, building)

[Encode]

Hello everyone,

I've been summoned for jury duty at the Gernstein Justice Building this Tuesday. I've never attended jury duty before; I was selected once when my daughter was a baby, so I asked to be exempted then. I don't mind going now, but I'd like to hear others' experiences with jury duty. I've read some of the older threads here and saw a few anecdotes about jury duty day, but I'd like to see if there are any newer experiences or other people willing to share.

There is also only one issue I have with possibly being selected for a trial that isn't the same day. I currently stay at home to pick-up, drop-off, and generally take care of my kindergartner. My husband works full time over 40 hours a week Wednesday-Saturday and is unable to do any of the above given both his work times and work distance. I've read (from previous threads) that you can tell a judge your reason for being unable to serve on a jury. Would I be able to tell this to a judge and have it be seen as a valid reason to be excused if the trial is not same-day?

One trivial question now-- what do you do with any personal items you bring if you are called into the courtroom? Purses, cellphones, tablets? I'm afraid to bring these items if I cannot either keep them with me or lock them away securely, yet I've read that people do bring their tablets and phones so I assume there is a secure place for them..?

Thank you to any who can offer experiences and/or answers.




(Please excuse any possible errors in my post.)

[doom1001]

I also got jury duty tomorrow,but I got civil court downtown,I believe yours is criminal court.I've had civil court jury duty before and got to the selection phase for a jury but didn't get picked.I'm hoping for the same tomorrow as I have to work the rest of the week.

[Avalon08]

I was just on jury duty in Manatee County a few weeks ago (other side of FL, but probably similar). On the form we filled out, we were able to say briefly if being on a jury would present an extreme hardship and why. I was then called into the courtroom with a group of about 35 people. They also asked everyone in the room, and some people did raise their hands and explain they had situations similar to yours. They had told us this particular trial would probably only last two days, and they tried to see if there was any way the person could work around the problem for a few days.

So I did get selected. We were able to keep our cell phones (turned off in the courtroom, but they could be used in the jury room during the trial as long as we weren't looking up anything case-related). When deliberations started, they confiscated our cell phones and returned them after the verdict. We were able to leave our personal items in the jury room as it was locked when we were in court, but I kept my purse with me and that was OK.

Hope this helps.

[Encode]

Thank you both for your replies!

doom1001, good luck with your jury duty, hopefully it turns out as you need it to.

Avalon08, thank you. Like you said, it may not be the same county, but knowing that I might get a chance to explain (since the summons form had no option for my particular situation) helps me feel a little more at ease.