Jurors have all the excuses
PSYCHIC abilities, a sick pet, or cannabis-themed clothing are among the excuses and behaviour hampering the nation’s jury trials.
The Ministry of Justice doesn’t keep official records of how the reluctant jurors try to get out of their civic duty, but a survey of senior members of the judiciary revealed they had heard some creative excuses.
Some of them involved wilful stupidity, provocative dress, or simply the use of the word ‘‘whanau’’ to indicate a connection to the defendant.
Criminal defence lawyer Stephen Bonnar, QC, said appearance was definitely a factor.
‘‘I hear anecdotal stories about people deciding to wear Norml t-shirts with a marijuana leaf or something like that which would almost guarantee they would be challenged by the Crown,’’ he said.
Jury duty is touted as the most important public service most people will ever likely perform.
But this crucial role in deciding a person’s guilt or innocence pays minimum wage and can involve being exposed to trying evidence for weeks on end, so it’s hardly surprising that every year tens of thousands of people try to avoid it.
A long-time district court judge, who didn’t want to be named, said people proffered a variety of legitimate excuses such as work and childcare commitments, ill-health, or not speaking English.
But there were those who simply said they didn’t want to do it, he said.
‘‘I sort of say to people, ‘what about your civic responsibility?’ But this is the 21st century, we’re the inheritors of the 90s where ‘it’s all about me.’.’’ LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAXNZ University where he completed two years of an accounting and management degree.
He plans 10 more franchises by the end of the year, and to put a ‘‘master franchise’’ in Australia in the next year. He’s also got his sights set on the UK, and the United States – where he said the flat-pack industry is worth $24 billion.
The secret to his success is ‘‘passion and drive’’, and developing partnerships with hardware giants including Mitre 10 and Placemakers.
The partnership worked both ways, Ellis said, as the stores ended up with more customers that were ‘‘really satisfied’’ with their product.
Ellis said becoming the country’s youngest franchisor had been ‘‘a bit of a goal’’. ‘‘You may as well work hard while you’re young.’’
‘ The most common one we get is when the wife calls us after the male has tried to assemble it.’ JORGEN ELLIS