I just had the privilege of attending jury duty in Phoenix Arizona. After only living here for a year and a half, my name was pulled from the near 4 million residents that live in Phoenix. I know I was curious as to what happened at jury duty and how it all worked but upon searching on the Internet for answers I could not come up with the process. I will give a brief description of what happened on my time at jury duty.
The selection process begins at 8 am so one as to be there long before then to get parking and actually be in the building. I live in Tempe about 10 miles away and I left at about 7:15 to arrive at the parking ramp that all jurors who drive can park in for free. If you do not have a car, you will receive a bus pass in the mail good for one all day bus pass.
The parking lot is off of 8th avenue downtown and the courthouse is on 2nd avenue so you will have two choices. You can either walk the 6 blocks to the building, or you can take the shuttle which will drop you off for free at the front of the courthouse. I opted to go for the short walk. Upon arriving at the courthouse, you are required to walk through a security check point much like in airports except you get to keep your shoes on.
After walking in the building, there should be a large line of people heading to the waiting room where you present your summons to the group of people working for the state of Arizona checking people in for jury duty. When I arrived in the room it was rather large and I estimated about 350 people were in the room that day called to serve. The person you present your summons to gives you a form that you fill out and they then collect.
At this time, a short movie about jury duty is played on the TV’s throughout the room and upon completion, the person collecting the summons called the first group of people to go with the bailiff to proceed to the courthouse. This continued throughout the morning as random groups of 30-50 people were selected to appear before a judge and a group of attorneys for jury selection. This went on all morning and I was not selected or even had my name called to appear before a judge.
It was then lunch and everyone was excused at 11:30 for lunch and were to return at 1:00. I was curious as to why my name was not called and was wondering if something was wrong since I moved up my jury day. The person in charge said everything was fine and that sometimes people are not called all day, but they still need people there to select from a pool. I was then informed it was completely random and if someone was called in the morning, they could be called again in the afternoon before me as I might not even be used at all.
After an overpriced lunch at the food place in the building, I was back to wait around in the waiting room. I really wish that I would have brought something to do as I just basically sat there and played on my iPhone the entire time till the battery almost died and then was stuck watching whatever movie was playing.
The person in charge said they would call 5 groups in the afternoon and then everyone would be dismissed. I was called in group 4 as juror number 7 of 45. The next proceedings were once your number is called is to head to the front of the room and pick up your number. When they call your name you are supposed to say here so that way they can see who is there and not there in case they have to call more people.
After I picked up my number, I stood and waited for our bailiff to take us to the judge. The bailiff led our group to another part of the building where we ascended to the 11th floor. A brief wait of about 15 minutes followed and we were led into court room by number. Jurors are always referred to by number and not name as to remain confidentiality.
The case that I was to hear was for identity theft over $3000. The judge explained all the rules and started to disqualify potential jurors. Two jurors were immediately disqualified because of their inability to be fair. After the fairness and background info was given, the judge asked if the case would cause anyone a hardship or for any reason would not be able to attend. The judge went in order as the jurors explained why they would not be able to serve and the judge and attorneys took notes.
I explained to the judge that it would be a financial hardship at the time as I would be losing out on a potential large amount of money if required to serve on one certain day. After the judge had gone through everyone, the attorneys joined her in her chamber and returned to further dismiss jurors. I was one of the jurors dismissed and was sent back to the waiting room.
Upon returning to the waiting room at approximately 3:45, it was now empty and I went to the front where the person in charge gave me a piece of paper stating that I had completed jury duty on such and such a day. They also explained that I would be paid so much per mile to the center of my zip code and would receive a check in the mail in about two weeks for compensation for my gas. No compensation is given for jury selection. If you are selected though, you are to receive $12 per day of service.
That pretty much sums up what is involved in jury duty in Phoenix Arizona. The latest you could possibly be there is till 5 pm so if you are selected for jury duty in Arizona, plan to have the whole day off of work because you most likely will be there all day.
