Jury Duty & Bipolar My Experience

*Might Trigger. Crime Mentioned*

In December, I got a summons for Jury Duty. I'll admit, I was not thrilled. Then this past Thursday or so, I suddenly had a thought to check the paper about it: its MONDAY! ACK!

Also scheduled for Sunday night is a sleep study for my eldest, 15, at the hospital. I'm worried about going from one to the other, getting there on time, and finding my way to and from both places, not to mention remembering where I parked! The study didn't go as well as it could: he didn't sleep much and neither did I. He has to repeat it. I'm running further behind than I'd hoped, but we make it out of the hospital and I'm on my way to find the courthouse. By the time I've parked in the nearby lot, I'm not only upset and shaking, but I've gone down the wrong way on a one-way street! (Cars were honking at me and all! Thank god no police were around!) I put to memory the second place that I've parked for the day and set off to find a small breakfast place. I only have time for coffee. They begrudgingly take my credit card for the $2 charge. I leave to find the courthouse again.

Inside, there is a metal detector and scanner similar to at the airport. I have my cellphone with me which, since it has a camera, is against the rules. I put it inside a small locker with the quarters I've brought just in case. I march upstairs with other prospective jurors toward our holding cell. We check in. We sit. We get fed danishes in plastic bags and bad coffee. We get the lo-down on how it might happen in the court room. We are taken to the court room.

Once in the court room itself, the judge, three lawyers, defendant and secretary and a few others are seated. Twelve names are called at random to sit in the jury seats. The rest of us sit in the back and watch and wait. From then on, its a matter of asking each in the box a series of questions. If you'd rather not have everyone hear your answer, you can go up to the judge and answer in private. Several times, this happens, and the juror is dismissed of his duties and may go home. They are asked if they have any reason they think they should go home, and some give reasons like they have to work, or they are going on vacation. Some of the reasons are denied. This process continues over and over and over. Lots of times, the attorneys ask the prospective jurors questions about their specific statements and situations. Its as if they are being examined in a trial! So I'm watching, glad I hadn't had much coffee this morning, sitting on that hard bench indefinitely, when my name is called! I walk up to the jury box of red seats and sit down. I start shaking like a leaf. His Honor asks me if I know anyone named in the list of names read previously. I answered that yes, I did, and that that person was an attorney on the case where my great-grandmother was murdered. A lawyer asks me to elaborate on the case surrounding my great-grandmother's murder. I'm still shaking. So I say that she was raped and murdered by a serial rapist and the case was brought back out due to DNA evidence. The judge then asks if I could be impartial if this lawyer were to be involved in our case and I said no, I could not, honestly. He then asks if I have any medical conditions and if I'm on medications for them. "Yes, I'm bipolar," I answer. "Did you take your medication today?" he inquires. "Yes," I reply. The lawyers and the judge have one of their little meetings for a minute or two and then tell me that my duty is over and I may leave.

I went back down the hall to the juror room, get my pay card for $17 and left. I found my car okay and went out to eat for about as much money. Now I'm back home in my pajamas. Its been snowing all day and its just feels good to be home and comfortable! I don't know what the reason is for not wanting me- if its the brain meds, or if its just mental illness in general, but whatever it is, it works for me. I didn't want to go there every day, park, and most of all try to remember all the details of the case. That *is* something that my brain drugs do- make it difficult to remember things sometimes! Especially Topomax.

So there it is. I got kicked out for one or two reasons and it was all well that ended well.

Oh shitsters! you just reminded me I have to mail in my thing about why I can't do jury duty! I was called last week, they said I just have to mail it in within 10 days of when mine would start/last monday.

I didn't know that about your great grandmother, that's so horrible, I'm sorry to hear that.

What is your reason for not doing it?

Thank you about my great grandmother. It wasn't recently. This was 1982.

I didn't know about your great-grandmother. That is terrible. I had a cousin who was also raped and murdered only days before I was born. They have never found her killer, either.

I went to jury duty only like 2-3 months after I was daignosed! I should have had the doctor fax in that I couldn't, because I was cycling horribly and had 0 attention span. Luckily, I never even got called up. I was at the back of the line and was like admiring the old fashioned trim on the walls. LOL. And, it was good I was at the back because the case was an extremely boring corporate case with one company suing another, so it was going to be a lot of details and having to pay close attention...

They only let 2 people off from the original jury box. The first was a guy who couldn't speak English. The judge was telling him that's a valid reason to send in a notice that you can't attend a case. The other was a guy whose wife was due to go into labor before the end of the month. The case was supposed to last 3 weeks minimum! So everyone was scrambling, saying how busy work was it was important they not miss projects. But the judge didn't care about any of that, it wasn't a valid reason to her. It was pretty crazy.

Dark I don't know if they didn't want me bacause of my grandmas case or the bipolar but oh well I've never been so happy to be rejected.

I bet your happy to be rejected. jury duty sucks. I was called up once and luckily the guy plead no contest before we even had to go to court so it was nice. Sorry to hear about your great grandma thats terrible.

Clinte that sounds good if you have to be on the jury.

If I ever have to do it, I hope it's an interesting case but not a life or death one or one involving children being hurt. Those are two things I don't think I can take.

It could have been a bit of both why they didn't take you. Since you said you can't be impartial knowing the lawyer, that's a big deal. Also perhaps if the defendant has bipolar or something, maybe that's a thing. It might not just because you're bipolar, but because it has to do with the case. But, there are so many things. All those tricks to get out of it are not often going to work.

I know that sometimes they still call you for jury duty after you die. My dad's wife recently got a jury summons for her first husband who passed away in 1997. LOL...

I did jury duty once when I lived in California & when I was working as an engineer.....had no problem with that trial...as it was a robbery case & no where close to where I lived.

Got called again after I lost my career & major depression & anxiety set in......my pdoc made sure I didn't have to even go in for that.

Interesting because the very first thing after moving 2100 miles away, to a little town of 8000, I got notice for jury duty. I wrote a letter along with the request explaining that I live alone out in the middle of the country & didn't feel it was safe to be on any jury duty in a new place where anyone could get angry at the outcome & come after me....a 50+ year old female living alone.....also explained that I also was on disability for major depression & major anxiety & didn't feel that it would be good for me to deal with a trial in the 2nd place. I also explained that I was permanently off the jury duty list where I previously lived in California. I expressed that I felt that there were other ways that I could offer my civic duty to the town in ways that were not dangerous to myself.

With that, I got a nice reply back saying not to worry about being called for jury duty again.....& I haven't received a call since then....so they must have made sure it was filed appropriately.

Moose....I am so sorry about what happened to your great-grandmother....what a horrible thing to know she went through in her life. I am glad that they released you from jury duty.....I am sure that it was all of the things put together that allowed them to release you from duty & probably will never receive another jury duty call again if they take your name off the list permanently like they should.

Eskie thank you. I hope you're right!

Glad to hear it went your way there, J.

Cuz i'm the sole caretaker for 2 children/dependants, I just had to write a statement that I can't be available everyday from 8-5.

"I'm still shaking. So I say that she was raped and murdered by a serial rapist and the case was brought back out due to DNA evidence. The judge then asks if I could be impartial if this lawyer were to be involved in our case and I said no, I could not, honestly. He then asks if I have any medical conditions and if I'm on medications for them. "Yes, I'm bipolar," I answer. "Did you take your medication today?" he inquires. "Yes," I reply. The lawyers and the judge have one of their little meetings for a minute or two and then tell me that my duty is over and I may leave."

You were dismissed because you admitted you couldn't be impartial, under circumstances that made your statement believable. Sometimes people will say that can't be impartial just to get out of jury duty, but you probably weren't sending those signals.

Being bipolar and on meds alone wouldn't be enough to excuse you, unless your symptoms weren't being controlled. The judge may have asked you these questions to verify the cause of your emotional reaction.

When picking jurors, judges and lawyers try to eliminate not only those with biases, but also anyone who, for whatever reason, may not be able to pay attention to the evidence presented in the case.

Curiously, it's normal for jurors, even those who want to get out of service, to feel a bit let down when they're dismissed -- "Why wasn't I good enough to be a juror?" That may be part of why you're asking the question now. :-)

Btw, I'm a lawyer with years of experience in picking juries in civil (no criminal) cases. I'm not able to do jury trials any more because of worsening bipolar disorder.

Even without such a sad history in my family, I was worried jury duty would stress me out too much. So, I informed them about my bipolar and was dismissed. I, too, have a really poor memory.....

Gaijin,

Regardless of the reason she was dismissed .. The fact remains she suffered a horrible loss of a family member.. That would cause anyone bipolar or not to have a HUGE problem being a juror, and No I don't think everyone leaves wondering why they weren't selected.

Yes, of course, to your first point.

As for your second, I agree not everyone is conflicted about being dismissed from jury service. But people who would choose to skip the experience on their own can still be disappointed or miffed about being dismissed on someone else's call.

Of all people in the world, those with bipolar disorder should understand it's possible to have multiple, even contradictory, feelings at the same time.

Just an update: I went to bed last night and watched "All Creatures Great and Small" on DVD that I got from the library. Such a relaxing show and I haven't seen it except years ago. I've read the books. I woke up at 8, but went back to sleep until 12! (Lack of sleep from the sleep study with my son.) Then I got a shower and now I'm out with my friend at Starbucks. I do have to wonder if they noticed how shaky I was. Maybe why they asked if I took my meds. Not taking my meds has never made me shaky that I know of. Except maybe if I didn't take Ativan. lol

When I'm really nervous I shake really bad. I think it's just normal for some people. I think it's common to ask "are you on your meds" when you reveal you have bipolar. when I was at the hospital about every single person asked me over and again if I was on meds.

I suppose I was nervous. I don't often get that way. That's where a bit of mania would've come in handy!
Why would they have asked if I was on meds, out of hand in that situation?
And why did they ask you at the hospital? Which hospital and what for? They aught to know what meds you're on there!

In July I was in the hospital to get my gall bladder out but I was there 2 weeks because I got pancreatitis. They ask you every 10 minutes what you're allergic to and I always have to list abilify and lamictle and then they are "why did you have to take those?" And you say, "I have bipolar." Then they say "what med are you taking now?" I think I answered that question 50 times. Haha.

They had wrote who my "social worker" was on the board. Do you think one ever came to see me? No. I actually was interested but wasn't going to ask since I was not really well.

I think whenever you say "I have bipolar" people who know anything about it ask what med you're on. I don't think they were singling you out, I think it's a common question.

My husband just got a jury summons, which I was able to get him out of because he is partially disabled and is a caregiver for my sister. That means I'll be getting called soon, because we always receive summonses withing weeks of each other. However, the last time I was called I didn't have the bipolar diagnosis, and according to the notice from the court, people who have a serious mental illness are automatically excused. Hello, that's my one-way ticket out of jury duty for the rest of my life.....guess BP does have a few benefits after all.

Yeah, but if you wind up in a government data-base of the mentally ill, there may be a price to pay for that benefit.

Like what ?

Gun ownership? Professional licensing? Even driver's licensing?

Don't wish to sound paranoid, but who knows what someone might do with such a data-base? I like to think that my diagnosis is between me and my doctor.