Bringing Doctor's Note To Jury Duty

[Brittany Gonord]

It's tomorrow...after being diagnosed with PTSD, I know what my triggers are. Being inside all day, sitting down long periods of time, being around strangers, my need to visit the restroom more than frequently...and if the case triggers me, what then? My anxiety is through the roof on this! If you have a doctor's note, do you take it with you to the court room? I just requested one...How does this work?

 

[Deleted member 541]

I believe that when you are called in front of the judge, you explain to him/her you circumstance and that you have a Dr note that will further explain. You will then be let go, and usually they will keep on record that you are not a good call for jury duty.

That is IF you haven't already been picked to sit on a jury.

 

[Brittany Gonord]

They have not done any jury selections. We are just to show up and go from there. Thanks for the info!

 

[Ocean5]

Call the court house. Depending where you live there might be a fax number to take care of it before you go. But tomorrow would be close. Just call, and see what they say.

 

[Panda Bear]

Okay, I just had to faced this issue a few months ago.

I called the courthouse information line after my juror number was drawn(you call in the day before to see if your number is to report the next day) and asked what I had to provide. They gave me an address to mail the letter from my T, and made a note that I wouldn't be reporting pending the letter. T made the letter and I mailed it. End of story. Lucky form me, T had previous county mental health/corrections work, so he knew exactly what to say. They never questioned my letter and I didn't hear anything otherwise.

One thing T did say was that this was a 'prolonged condition' and was expected to cause me to be unable to serve for a long period of time.

 

[Brittany Gonord]

Thank you! My T gave me a letter and I am to bring it to the courthouse tomorrow morning. I hope everything goes in my favor!

 

[Silver.]

@Brittany Gonord you won't have any problems. They don't force people to serve as jurors that have medical conditions prohibiting them from doing it. Should be easy peasy for you :)

 

[PTSDfree]

Hope everything went your way today. :hug:

Where I live, the judge asks a bunch of personal questions during the juror selection process and dismisses anyone who gives an even slightly vague answer. My dad has gotten out of it twice for saying crap like "Yes, I have a job. Yes, I work in an industry. Yes, I have children. No, I don't believe it's possible to know who is right or wrong." just to annoy them.

 

[Silver.]

In the future, (for anyone that may encounter this), they usually give you a notice of jury duty ahead of time (ie: not that you have to show up tomorrow, in most states it's can range from 15 to 30 days). You can get your doctor's note to the court ahead of time and not even have to deal with sitting in on the jury selection. You just go to the courthouse and bring it to the clerk.

 

[Brittany Gonord]

I just did that this morning. They are going to notify me what the judge says today...nervous...hope things work out!

 

[Panda Bear]

It'll all work out...try not to worry.

 

[EveHarrington]

In the future, (for anyone that may encounter this), they usually give you a notice of jury duty ahead...

Yep!

It's like this in many states.

In my state, doctors note not even required. Just fill out the form explaining why you can't serve-----and case closed. Of course they could always request verification, but they didn't in my case. I don't think most people would fake a mental illness on official government records that never go away.