Jurors use their ESP to dodge civic duty

Would-be jurors are getting imaginative in their ways of avoiding doing their civic duty, with excuses ranging from having a sick cat to claims of psychic abilities.

Others are donning cannabisthemed clothing for their day in court.

The Ministry of Justice doesn’t keep official records of the jurors excuses for not serving but senior court staff have seen or heard it all.

Some citizens display wilful stupidity, other dress provocatively or simply utter the word ‘whanau’ to indicate they could be related to the defendant, they say.

‘‘Appearance definitely comes into it,’’ says lawyer Steve Bonnar, QC. ‘‘If it’s a drug case and someone turns up with dreadlocks and looking like a Rastafarian, you might find the Crown will challenge them.’’

Senior lawyer Heeni Phillips Williams said among the more novel excuses she’d heard were jurors making ‘‘bigoted statements’’ in front of other jurors prior to being selected and claiming they don’t think they could make an unbiased decision.

All agree that if someone really didn’t want to serve, it was best to let them go.

Auckland barrister Gary Gotlieb said ‘‘if they’re unhappy and worrying about their business they’re not going to concentrate’’.

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 being on a jury.

However recent figures show the number of excusals granted to reluctant would-be jurors has halved, following the introduction of a scheme which allows those summonsed to ‘defer’ to another time.

In the 2011 to 2012 financial period, 74,300 excusals were granted. Three years later, only 33,325 jurors were excused, according to the Ministry of Justice.

A long-time District Court Judge, who didn’t want to be named, said people plenty of legitimate excuses for avoiding jury duty but many of those called up offered simply said they did not want to do it.

‘‘I sort of say to people but what about your civic responsibility? (But) this is the 21st century, we’re the inheritors of the 90s where ‘it’s all about me. I’ve got a job to do, I’ve got children to look after, I’ve got a life to lead, I don’t need the state to come in and tell me what I should and should not do’’’.

In Northland the excuse of knowing the defendant was a common one, he said.

‘‘Up in Kaitaia somebody would sort of slope up and look at you with a dark look and say, ‘whanau’. One word- family- it just conveyed it all, ‘He’s a rellie and I’m not sending him to jail’.’’