[Hominid] Jury duty

[hominid]

I tried to increase my odds of serving on a jury.

Later, this helped me avoid serving on a jury.

[GalFisk]

I=you, Hominid? When you were able to avoid serving, did you want to avoid it? Did you learn something when trying to increase your odds, that you could use when avioding it? Did you join some group? Learn a rule or law? Jury nullification relevant?

[hominid]

I=you, Hominid? yes, this is basically a true story. When you were able to avoid serving, did you want to avoid it? assume yes. Did you learn something when trying to increase your odds, that you could use when avioding it? noish. Did you join some group? no. Learn a rule or law? no. Jury nullification relevant? no.

[GalFisk]

(I don't know much about jury duty) Did you relevantly interact with someone when trying to increase your odds? With something? Did someone make a decision that got you out of jury duty? Were you relevantly recognized by someone? Did others relevantly also try to increase their chances? To get out of the duty?

[hominid]

(I don't know much about jury duty) that's OK. The first part of the puzzle can be solved out without any knowledge of how jury duty works. The second part might be a little trickier, but still possible. Feel free to use Google if needed. Did you relevantly interact with someone when trying to increase your odds? yesish. With something? noish. Did someone make a decision that got you out of jury duty? in the second part, yes, but it was an easy decision given the circumstances. Were you relevantly recognized by someone? yope. Did others relevantly also try to increase their chances? no. To get out of the duty? no.

[trebor]

When you tried to increase your odds of serving on a jury, was that a by-product of doing something else? Such as obtaining citizenship? Moving? Turning 18? Quitting/being laid off from a job that had previously exempted you from jury duty? Improving your language abilities to the point that you were able to complete the qualification forms (if this happened in a non-English-speaking country, or English isn't your first language)? Getting married? Or divorced?

Do you reside in North America? Did this occur: where you reside? In a different place for each time? Is it relevant in which country/countries this took place? Is your profession relevant? Is there something about the judicial system(s) at play here where certain professions are more? less? likely to be chosen? Do you have a relevant illness/disability? (Claustrophobia, preventing you from being sequestered?)

Is it relevant who the accused was in the later instance where you avoided jury duty? If so, were they known to you personally? A relative? Partner? Friend? Co-worker? Was the accused the person that you were "yope"ly recognized by, from Galfisk's questions? If not, were they any of the above relations to you?

Serving on a jury = jury duty? Any wordplay here?

[hominid]

When you tried to increase your odds of serving on a jury, was that a by-product of doing something else? no. Such as obtaining citizenship? Moving? Turning 18? Quitting/being laid off from a job that had previously exempted you from jury duty? Improving your language abilities to the point that you were able to complete the qualification forms (if this happened in a non-English-speaking country, or English isn't your first language)? Getting married? Or divorced? no to all. I did do something relevant to increase my odds, but my primary goal was always to increase my odds of serving on a jury. (I suppose I also had a secondary goal, but that's less important.)

Do you reside in North America? yes. I don't have a full list of where this puzzle would and wouldn't be possible, so I'll just tell you that I live in Massachusetts. I would guess that it could happen anywhere that has jury duty. Did this occur: where you reside? in my county, yes. In a different place for each time? both times were in the same state. Anything more specific is irrelevant. Is it relevant in which country/countries this took place? no, as long as it's a country with juries that operate similar to those in my state. Is your profession relevant? no. Is there something about the judicial system(s) at play here where certain professions are more? less? likely to be chosen? no. Do you have a relevant illness/disability? no with a tiny ish. (Claustrophobia, preventing you from being sequestered?) no.

Is it relevant who the accused was in the later instance where you avoided jury duty? no, FA. If so, were they known to you personally? A relative? Partner? Friend? Co-worker? so no. Was the accused the person that you were "yope"ly recognized by, from Galfisk's questions? If not, were they any of the above relations to you? no.

Serving on a jury = jury duty? yes. Any wordplay here? no.

[emeraldink]

Are there rules on how often one may be called to serve?

Did you want to serve at a specific time, so not to serve at another?

[hominid]

Are there rules on how often one may be called to serve? yes, explore.

Did you want to serve at a specific time, so not to serve at another? no.

[emeraldink]

Are there rules on how often one may serve?

[hominid]

Are there rules on how often one may serve? yes, this is a more exact way of putting it. The other one DOYD on "called to serve" now that I think about it. You're OTRT.

[emeraldink]

Alright, I have seen the summons postcard, so there is no point for me to dig deeper in this direction. Let someone else explore it.

META-QUESTION: What else do we need to find out: how you increased your odds? why you wanted to serve on one jury and not the other?

[trebor]

In between the first and second instances in the puzzle had you served on so many juries that you were prevented from serving on the later one?

[hominid]

Alright, I have seen the summons postcard, so there is no point for me to dig deeper in this direction. Let someone else explore it. I don't think it would be cheating for you to keep asking questions, as while factual information about juries is involved, the main crux of the puzzle is not rooted in this. Also I don't think there is any relevant information on the postcard itself.

META-QUESTION: What else do we need to find out: how you increased your odds? this, and how my attempt to increase my odds helped me avoid being placed on a jury later. why you wanted to serve on one jury and not the other? this is irrelevant. In reality, the first time I was at a point in my life when I was between jobs and had time on my hands, and thought it was a good opportunity to be part of the legal process, whereas the second time I was busy and didn't want to take that time out of my life. But all that matters is that I wanted to be placed on a jury the first time but not the second time. The reason why is irrelevant.

In between the first and second instances in the puzzle had you served on so many juries that you were prevented from serving on the later one? noish, but somewhat OTRT.

[Balin]

Is a change of address somehow involved?

[hominid]

Is a change of address somehow involved? no.

[Doriana]

Have you actually served on a jury at some point between trying to increase your odds and avoiding jury duty? Relevant?

Did your attempt to increase your odds give you relevant knowledge about the jury duty system that you could later use to get out of it?

[hominid]

Have you actually served on a jury at some point between trying to increase your odds and avoiding jury duty? no Relevant? yes.

Did your attempt to increase your odds give you relevant knowledge about the jury duty system that you could later use to get out of it? no.

[Balin]

Did you want to serve on a state jury? Federal jury? Relevant?

[hominid]

Did you want to serve on a state jury? yes. Federal jury? no. Relevant? no, I think the puzzle would work either way.

[Balin]

Did you explicitly request to serve on a jury?

[hominid]

Did you explicitly request to serve on a jury? irrelevant.

[Doriana]

You replied "yesish" to "Did you relevantly interact with someone when trying to increase your odds?". Did you relevantly contact someone? If so, via phone? e-mail? an online form?

[hominid]

You replied "yesish" to "Did you relevantly interact with someone when trying to increase your odds?". Did you relevantly contact someone? yes, in the most literal sense. If so, via phone? e-mail? an online form? no to all.

[Doriana]

Did you talk to someone in person? Did you physically contact someone? As in you touched them? you bumped into them?

[hominid]

Did you talk to someone in person? Yes. Did you physically contact someone? As in you touched them? you bumped into them? No/irrelevant to rest.

[Doriana]

Is the person you talked to involved in the jury duty system?

Has the person you talked to relevantly served on a jury themselves?

Relevant that you talked to them in person?

[hominid]

Is the person you talked to involved in the jury duty system? Yes.

Has the person you talked to relevantly served on a jury themselves? No.

Relevant that you talked to them in person? Not that I talked to them, per se. It's more the fact that I appeared in person.

[Doriana]

Is this relevant because the person knew what you looked like? Could put a face to your name?
Is the person you talked to the same person who later made the decision that eventually got you out of jury duty?

Is anything about your physical appearance relevant?

[hominid]

Is this relevant because the person knew what you looked like? No. Could put a face to your name? Irrelevant.
Is the person you talked to the same person who later made the decision that eventually got you out of jury duty? Irrelevant.

Is anything about your physical appearance relevant? Yope. DOYD of "physical appearance".

[Doriana]

Relevant what exactly the person's role is in the jury duty system?

When you talked to them, did you tell them you would like to serve on a jury? ask them how to increase your odds? reveal information about yourself that you thought would increase your odds?

Is your ethnicity relevant? (Dis)ability status? Religion?

[hominid]

Relevant what exactly the person's role is in the jury duty system? In reality, no one person is relevant, but rather the group of people that got to decide whether I served on the jury or not. For simplicity's sake, let's call this one person: the judge (HAF).

When you talked to them, did you tell them you would like to serve on a jury? ask them how to increase your odds? reveal information about yourself that you thought would increase your odds? No/irrelevant to all. It's not actually relevant that I was talking at all, except that some talking would inevitably have happened. But something else about my appearance in court matters.

Is your ethnicity relevant? No. (Dis)ability status? No. Religion? No.

[trebor]

Is your gender relevant? Your height? Hair colour? Eye colour? Something you were wearing? Or carrying? Tattoos relevant? Did something about your “appearance” make the judge think you’d be be partial to one side or the other during the trial?

Are you an identical twin?

[hominid]

Is your gender relevant? Your height? Hair colour? Eye colour? Something you were wearing? Or carrying? Tattoos relevant? Did something about your “appearance” make the judge think you’d be be partial to one side or the other during the trial?

Are you an identical twin?

No/irrelevant to all. It's not something that was inherent about me, even for the entire time I was in court.

[GalFisk]

Did you resemble someone relevant? Could one see this by looking at you sitting still?

[hominid]

Did you resemble someone relevant? No. Could one see this by looking at you sitting still? No.

Also I just realized there's an FA that resulted from my bad phrasing. When I said "something about my appearance in court" I meant "something about the time that I appeared in court" and not "something about my physical appearance while in court". Sorry for the confusion.

[Doriana]

Relevant how many other people were there with you? Day of the week relevant? Date relevant? Time of day relevant?

[hominid]

Relevant how many other people were there with you? Day of the week relevant? Date relevant? Yesish. Explore. Time of day relevant? No to rest.

[Doriana]

Holidays relevant? Were you in court on a holiday? On a date close to a holiday?

[hominid]

Holidays relevant? Were you in court on a holiday? On a date close to a holiday? No/irrelevant to all.

[Doriana]

Season relevant? Weather?

Month relevant? Beginning/middle/end of the year relevant? Is there a rule how often per year you can serve on a jury? How much time has to elapse between appearances in court?

[hominid]

Season relevant? Broadly, yes. Weather? Yes.

Month relevant? It was September; this isn't too relevant though. Beginning/middle/end of the year relevant? No. Is there a rule how often per year you can serve on a jury? Yes, but more precisely... How much time has to elapse between appearances in court? Yes. This rule is very relevant.

[Doriana]

Weather - heat? cold? snow? rain? blizzard? storm? thunderstorm?

Just to make sure I'm getting this right - you relevantly appeared in court twice, first when you wanted to increase your odds to serve on a jury, and then when you wanted to avoid it, right? Is the weather at the time of your first appearance relevant? Second appearance? Was the weather similar in both cases?

[hominid]

Weather - heat? cold? snow? rain? blizzard? storm? This. thunderstorm?

Just to make sure I'm getting this right - you relevantly appeared in court twice No., first when you wanted to increase your odds to serve on a jury Yes., and then when you wanted to avoid it, right? No. Is the weather at the time of your first appearance relevant? Yes. Second appearance? FA, and no. Was the weather similar in both cases? Irrelevant, because only the weather the first time is relevant.

[Doriana]

Ah! So, there was a storm at the time of your first appearance? Did you think showing up would increase your odds because less people than usual would show up due to the weather?

When you wanted to get out of jury duty, did you say something like "Remember, I was the guy who showed up despite the storm", which made them realize that you had recently appeared in court and that not enough time has elapsed since?

[hominid]

Ah! So, there was a storm at the time of your first appearance? Yes.... Did you think showing up would increase your odds because less people than usual would show up due to the weather? No, FA.

When you wanted to get out of jury duty, did you say something like "Remember, I was the guy who showed up despite the storm", which made them realize that you had recently appeared in court and that not enough time has elapsed since? No, good thinking though.

[Doriana]

Did the storm start before you appeared in court? during your appearance? afterwards? Did the storm actually affect the area the court is in? Or did it happen somewhere else? Storm damage relevant? Transportation relevant?

[hominid]

Did the storm start before you appeared in court? This. during your appearance? afterwards? Did the storm actually affect the area the court is in? No! Or did it happen somewhere else? Yes! Storm damage relevant? Yes. Transportation relevant? No.

[Doriana]

Did it affect the area you lived in?

Was it a major storm that made (inter)national headlines?

Storm damage to buildings relevant? If so, residential? public? Damage to vehicles relevant? to roads? to power lines? to agriculture? to infrastructure?

[hominid]

Did it affect the area you lived in? No.

Was it a major storm that made (inter)national headlines? Yes.

Storm damage to buildings relevant? If so, residential? public? Damage to vehicles relevant? to roads? to power lines? to agriculture? to infrastructure? None of these are specifically relevant, just damage in general.

[Doriana]

Did you relevantly reference the storm on your first appearance? did someone else? Did you reference it when you wanted to get out of jury duty?

Did the storm hit the US? Another country? Relevant?

[hominid]

Did you relevantly reference the storm on your first appearance? No. did someone else? No. Did you reference it when you wanted to get out of jury duty? Noish, DOYD of "reference".

Did the storm hit the US? Eventually, yes. Another country? Yes. Relevant? No. It was Hurricane Irma, but could have been any sufficiently bad news event that didn't affect me personally.

[Doriana]

Relevant how much time passed between your appearance in court and trying to get out of jury duty? If so, days? weeks? months? years?

[hominid]

Relevant how much time passed between your appearance in court and trying to get out of jury duty? If so, days? weeks? months? years? This, but the exact amount of time is not relevant.

[Doriana]

I feel like I'm not making any progress... could we get a hint please?

[hominid]

HINT: Thinking about the hurricane helped me increase my chances the first time, and decrease my chances the second time.

[gregoryuconn]

Did either case have anything to do with the hurricane, such as a lawsuit over an insurance claims?

[hominid]

Did either case have anything to do with the hurricane, such as a lawsuit over an insurance claims? No.

[GalFisk]

Relevant where the hurricane went? Was expected to go? Where the court was located? Did anyone else get out of jury duty with the same help of the hurricane? Travel relevant? Evacuations?

[hominid]

Relevant where the hurricane went? Was expected to go? Where the court was located? Did anyone else get out of jury duty with the same help of the hurricane? Travel relevant? Evacuations? No to all.

[trebor]

Is it relevant what the suspected crime was in either instance?

Do you have some expertise that would be relevant if a hurricane were to touch down in your area? During the first jury selection process, did you? anyone else? even mention the hurricane? Did you literally just have to think about the hurricane to achieve the intended result? Maybe you wanted to appear serious, and someone had just told you a joke? Or the opposite, somehow?

The second time, when you thought about the hurricane, were you thinking of the first jury selection? About something that happened that affected the trial? About the aftermath of the hurricane?

Had enough time actually elapsed between your time on the jury and the second jury selection to preclude you from being selected? Or did you just want the judge or whoever to think that was the case?

[hominid]

Is it relevant what the suspected crime was in either instance? Not at all.

Do you have some expertise that would be relevant if a hurricane were to touch down in your area? No. During the first jury selection process, did you? No. anyone else? No. even mention the hurricane? No, no one mentioned the hurricane. Did you literally just have to think about the hurricane to achieve the intended result? Yes! Maybe you wanted to appear serious, and someone had just told you a joke? YES! Not relevant what the joke was, just that something funny was going through my head so I was tempted to laugh. Or the opposite, somehow? No.

The second time, when you thought about the hurricane, were you thinking of the first jury selection? Yes. About something that happened that affected the trial? Only the thing that we've already established. About the aftermath of the hurricane? Not specifically.

Had enough time actually elapsed between your time on the jury and the second jury selection to preclude you from being selected? I am not allowed on a jury if I have appeared in the last three years. Less than three years have passed, so I am not allowed to serve the second time. Or did you just want the judge or whoever to think that was the case? I did want them to (correctly) think that, yes.

Excellent round of questions! Now all that's left is how I avoided jury duty the second time.

[trebor]

The second time, did thinking of the hurricane make you: more serious? More affable? Did it help you accurately recall what year it was when you first served? Maybe you couldn't remember exactly how long it had been, but the could place when the hurricane had happened? Did you refer to the hurricane, and that made the judge realize not enough time had passed? Did you tell the judge that the last time you'd been faced with jury selection you thought of the then-recent hurricane in order to help you not to laugh, and that made them realize you were ineligible?

[hominid]

The second time, did thinking of the hurricane make you: more serious? No. More affable? No. Did it help you accurately recall what year it was when you first served? Yes. Maybe you couldn't remember exactly how long it had been, but the could place when the hurricane had happened? Yes. Did you refer to the hurricane, and that made the judge realize not enough time had passed? No. Did you tell the judge that the last time you'd been faced with jury selection you thought of the then-recent hurricane in order to help you not to laugh, and that made them realize you were ineligible? No.

I think you're close enough for a

**************************************SPOILER**************************************

Nearly three years ago, I was called in for jury duty and wanted to serve. At some point there was an aspect of the trial that made me unintentionally start to laugh, but I stopped myself by thinking of something serious: the ongoing hurricane.

Recently, I got a mailer asking me to serve on a jury again. I had to fill out the form to let them know that I had already appeared in the past three years. I knew that I had appeared in the past three years, but I couldn't remember the exact date. Fortunately, I remembered thinking about the hurricane, and then I looked up exactly when the hurricane happened and when it made landfall.

Nice job solving, trebor, and great questions, GalFisk, emeraldink, Balin, Doriana, and gregoryuconn!