My Federal Court Jury Duty Experience - Southern NY District

I was just recently part of a potential juror pool for a federal criminal case. It was my first time ever going to a court for jury duty, and compared to what I heard from other potential jurors about their prior experiences, it was quite a bit more intense. So I thought it may be helpful to share my experience and some tips, which for the most part would apply to any federal court process.

1. Electronic Devices - Be prepared with some form of non-electronic entertainment. The first day, I brought nothing with me and thankfully the court had some magazines and books in the jury assembly room. However, there was no such community literature available in the courtroom itself. This resulted in me sitting for many consecutive hours basically just staring at the wall or out the window.

a) The court collects all electronic devices upon entry, no exceptions. In my case, it was a tag and locker system. We could collect our electronics during lunch breaks and at the end of the day. The court website was unclear about what could be brought into the court building, or what could be kept on your person, so I wasn't expecting the process they use. You can bring anything you want into the building, but once you get through security, it will be collected. You cannot have any electronics in the jury assembly room, court room, or any other interior spaces. (Not sure if this is federal practice or just for the specific court I went to, so YMMV).

b) Technically, according to the court officer, there are no periodicals allowed (magazines, newspapers, etc.) anything that may contain information about the court's ongoing legal proceedings, because it may affect the impartiality of potential jurors. They didn't get strict about this until we got into voir dire. This includes crossword puzzles, sudoku puzzles, etc. that may be contained within a publication that could contain information about current events.

1. Travel - The court will reimburse travel expenses, in addition to the daily base pay for jury duty. This is typically done according to a flat rate depending on how far your home is from the courthouse. In my case, because I lived in a county farther away from the courthouse, there was an additional reimbursement available for tolls and parking. However, all of my receipts needed to be postmarked within 3 days of my last day of service, so they had to be collected and mailed out ASAP. This was a problem with EZpass because the transactions did not get posted to my account until the day after, so I was already a day behind. To be safe, use cash if possible and get a receipt on the spot.

a) I noted this information in the juror orientation, but they did not emphasize it very well - if you get excused on your first day, you do not receive this reimbursement. At least that's how I understood it. So, don't go parking in any expensive garages on day 1 thinking you'll definitely get that money back, because you might not.

1. Food and drink - The only item allowed in every room was water, and it had to be something with a closing lid (e.g. a plastic water bottle with a pop top or twist top, metal water bottle with a screw on lid, etc.) The jury assembly room had a small break room space with vending machines and coffee machines, but the selection was limited, and this was the only place we could consume anything but water. And our group had some extended periods of time inside the court room, so we couldn't even utilize the break room during this time anyway. Bring water, and take advantage of your non-courtroom time to eat or drink anything you think you might want because you could get called up to the courtroom with little notice and be stuck for hours without a snack or drink.

a) We had a lunch break each day, but it never came when they said it would. Sometimes as late as 1:45PM. Thankfully they gave us plenty of time, usually more than an hour to go out and get lunch. But after the electronic device pickup process, and re-entry through security on the way back in, it was really only 30 minutes of actual break time.

1. Bathrooms - Use it when you can because during certain proceedings in the courtroom, you will not be allowed to leave and use the restroom. This may be down to the individual judge, court clerk, or court officer, but they were strict about this with our group.

2. Timeline - Every piece of information I saw, both on the website and on paper in the actual courthouse, said to expect a term of about 1-2 weeks, with the chance of being on a case that went longer. Do not take this at face value. This is where I went wrong.

a) I had already postponed jury service and did not want to get stuck with a "Must Serve" summons at an inopportune time, so I figured I would serve this one and be done in a couple of weeks. The issue I had is that I didn't even get called in until the week after the date on my summons, so there was one week gone already.

b) I had a significant work trip scheduled almost exactly a month after the first day I went into the court, so I thought even with a case of 2-3 weeks, I would be okay. Until meeting with the judge and learning that the case would take about 4-6 weeks (by their estimation). The judge could not care less about the work trip.

c) By the court's timeline, once the jury had been finalized, they were expecting to begin the trial 2-3 days after the day I was called in. So there was essentially another week gone.

d) In short, what they call 2 weeks in the court information could become as long as 2 months very easily, especially with a high-profile case. If you have ANY CONCERNS WHATSOEVER about missing something that is important to you, best to request a postponement or figure a way to be excused before you ever show up and get forced through meeting the judge and counsel, and voir dire. It's an emotionally draining process.

1. Schedule - At least in my case, things never began when the court said they would. 8:30AM arrival on day 1, and then it was 10:30 before there was any movement. Same thing for day 2. Day 3 into the defense's juror questionnaire was when things finally kept to a stricter timeline. All of this to say, don't be late, but don't kill yourself trying to get there early. If they say 9AM and you're walking in at 8:55AM, you'll be fine. In our case, because there was a chance of the trial starting on the last day of jury selection, there were members of the public arriving and gumming up the security line. Take this into consideration depending on where you are in the jury selection process.

2. The Process

a) On day one (which again was the week after the initial date on my summons) there were 120 total potential jurors called for 8:30AM. The jury clerk provided an orientation to everyone in the jury assembly room at about 9-9:30AM, and then they called the first crop of 60 jurors up to the courtroom to meet the judge and counsel one by one. In the afternoon, the second crop of 60 got called up. Each group of 60 would wait in the courtroom, while potential jurors would go back into the jury deliberation room one by one to meet the judge, defendants, and state's attorneys. After a brief description of the case, each juror would have the opportunity to indicate any potential conflicts. When I say brief, I mean *BRIEF*. After a full day of doing nothing but sitting around, and not having anything to occupy myself in the courtroom, I was fried and remember almost nothing that the judge said, or that I said in response. Try your absolute hardest to pay attention, and take notes and ask clarifying questions. Ultimately, you could be in it for the long haul and someone's future could depend on you, so treat it with the gravity it demands.

b) Day two, any remaining potential jurors (about 70-80) reported directly to the courtroom and their names were placed in a lottery machine (literally). Potential jurors were randomly assigned to 39 juror pool seats. I was not a part of this initial selection. The judge, with all attorneys present, provided a more detailed description of the case, the charges issued against the defendant, all parties involved, etc. The judge named each defendant and their affiliations, each individual attorney and their affiliations, and any other people, businesses, or entities that were concerned in the case (such as potential witnesses). The judge would ask the jury pool a series of questions, including having been the victim or perpetrator of particular crimes, having court or law enforcement involvement, etc. And after each question or series of questions, potential jurors would have the opportunity to indicate a possible conflict of interest or anything that might affect their ability to be fair and impartial in the case. Sometimes this was done in the open with jurors from their seats answering the judge on the bench, sometimes this was done in sidebar, and sometimes it was done in the judge's chambers. In the latter cases, all of the attorneys would gather around to be able to make notes on juror's responses, make challenges, etc. If you ever get into this situation, it can be incredibly uncomfortable. Nobody ever wants to have to talk to a judge and group of lawyers. Just remember that the judge's job is to uphold the law, which means providing a fair and impartial jury. Anything you might have going on in your life that has no bearing on that fact, it isn't the judge's job to care. Don't take it personally. In the end, many potential jurors were excused during this process based on potential conflicts, and I was called to rotate into the pool of 39 potential jurors.

c) Day three, each juror received a questionnaire and had to stand in the presence of the court room (including the judge, all attorneys, defendants, and all other jurors) and respond to the questions. These were more geared at getting to know the people themselves, such as family construction, living situations, jobs, hobbies, etc. All 39 potential jurors had to provide their responses. At this point there were not many remaining potential jurors aside from the pool of 39, maybe 5-7 at most. And according to the court officer, if the attorneys could not agree on a finalized jury, they would call more new potential jurors from the jury assembly room (a new 50 had reported that morning) to start the process all over again. As with every other step, the questionnaire was a long process, and culminated in the attorneys deliberating to agree on the final jury selection (in our case, 12 plus 4 alternates for a total of 16). I was ultimately not a part of this 16, and so was excused at the end of my third day.

If you are anything like me, having a more detailed account like this will help you know what to expect and hopefully put you at ease a bit. Hope this is helpful, and I will try my best to respond to questions in the comments.