Voices Telling You Not to Go to Jury Duty? Get a Better Excuse

November 19, 2009 7:46am Updated November 23, 2009 9:00am12commentsprint

Ignoring summonses and letters from the court can get prospective jurors in trouble, requiring an appearance at a special non-compliance hearing. Some, instead, get creative with the responses they mail to the clerk's office. (Shayna Jacobs/DNAinfo)

By Shayna Jacobs

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN SUPREME COURT — You can’t hide from jury duty in Manhattan. But that doesn’t stop New Yorkers from trying, resulting in excuses that range from the grotesque, to the just plain strange.

Take one Manhattan man, who sent a headshot to the clerk’s office to prove his 171 facial piercings would distract the courtroom. The court agreed, and he got a temporary pass.

In honor of Jury Appreciation Day in the city's courts, DNAinfo caught up with Vinny Homenick, chief clerk of the jury division and 37-year veteran of the jury system, to hear some of his all-time greatest excuses.

"The requests for excusals run the gamut," Homenick said. "Sometimes they're tragic, but sometimes they're quite humorous."

One of his favorites, Homenick said, involved a man who created a counterfeit “proof of service” receipt to pretend he recently served jury duty, claiming it was too soon for him to serve again.

Watch, in full, three prospective New York jurors explain absences and unanswered summonses to a non-compliance judge. (Shayna Jacobs/DNAinfo)

That scam might have worked, but for one oversight. He wrote his last appearances were on a Saturday and Sunday, although state courts are closed on weekends.

His trick earned him a $1,000 fine — and another order to serve.

Summonses and eligibility surveys are routinely mailed back to the clerk’s office with lewd messages or oddball excuses, Homenick said.

“Some of them are actually gross,” Homenick said. “I've had people that come in and they want to show me their scars. I had a woman who came in and said that she had pimples in a private part of hers.”

He's also seen jury duty become embroiled in people's domestic troubles.

Homenick recalled the time a woman mailed back a summons sent to her ex-husband.

“Dear jury clerk, if you find his fat [rear-end], please let me know. He owes me $1,100,” the woman wrote.

The chief clerk of the jury division in Manhattan, Vinny Homenick, discusses what can happen to residents who ignore court notifications pertaining to jury duty. (Shayna Jacobs/DNAinfo)

Roughly 1.5 million Manhattanites are eligible for jury duty, according to Homenick. Every day, his office mails 15,000 questionnaires to potential jurors.

The surveys are meant to sort out people who are automatically disqualified by a short list if limitations, such as age, immigration status or whether one has a felony conviction.

The common misconception is that only registered voters can be called for service, which Homenick said is the case in some other states.

“We think we’re actually getting most of the people in New York,” Homenick said.

The clerk's office grants postponements automatically on a first request. A phone call is all that's required, Homenick said.

"New Yorkers are very transient," Homenick said. It’s not like the other boroughs where there’s a lot of homes, so people move a lot here and we recognize that.”

Manhattan judges discuss how to detect attempts to deceive by delinquent jurors pleading their cases. (Shayna Jacobs/DNAinfo)

Further deferments can also be awarded, if necessary. Doctor’s notes, for example, are required for those who say they can’t serve because of medical issues.

Anyone who fails to respond to three appearance summonses or questionnaires becomes a “non-compliant” juror in the court’s record system.

The next notice is a summons to appear before a judge at a special hearing held Friday mornings at 60 Centre Street.

There, a summons holder has the chance to explain his or her delinquency to a judge, who can choose to issue a fine or default judgment. The latter can ruin the person’s credit and block them from receiving certain state services.

In 2008, there were 2,652 non-compliance cases on call. More than 1,700 default judgments were handed out in addition to more than $40,000 in fines.

The non-compliance hearings can be another forum for some of the city’s most entertaining absent juror stories.

State Supreme Court judge Frederic Berman presides over the hearings most weeks. On a given Friday morning, he will hear about mailbox and address change issues, along with the occasional great excuse.

“I’ve had some rather strange individuals,” Berman said. “I had one a few years ago who said he had voices telling him jury duty was not for him."