Got a jury summons some time back - but it got buried in paperwork and by time it popped up it was past due, so I ignored it. Figured I could tell them I didn't have one.

Sure enough, a few months later a robot called up and complained. I pushed the selection key for not having a summons. The robot told me a new one would arrive in a few weeks.

So, it came in, and I dutifully filled it out, then went to www.lasuperiorcourt.org/jury and registered. That's a really nice, straight forward Web site.

So I now had a date and location for start of jury duty. A few months later it was getting close - about a week away. It bothered me that it was in the LA Civic Center courthouse, rather inconvenient for me, what with morning traffic and all.

So I went back to the Web site, and found the nature of my business qualified as a valid reason for asking for a transfer, especially the part about doing emergency service at medical facilities.

So I filled out the on-line form for a transfer. This immediately canceled my appointed date. A month or more later I checked the Web site and it said I was transfered to Burbank, with a date a few months away.

By this time I'd dragged it out for almost a year.

So, the date was finally getting close, so I took the on-line orientation. It takes an hour, but it's sure a whole lot more convenient than showing up at a courthouse at 8:00 in morning and hanging out there for half a day or more.

So the fateful week finally came - and I realize it was the week with the Columbus day holiday. I figured this was probably a very favorable week for this.

I carefully signed into the Web site every evening right after 6:00pm to get my instructions for the next day (if you miss a day you get rescheduled, but I figured this was as good a time as any - maybe next time I'll try that).

Sure enough, this evening's message says "Your jury duty has been completed" - I didn't get called in. Cool!

The first time I was called up in recent years, I had to, after at-the-courthouse orientation, sit through jury selection. The defense really wanted me on the jury but knew he couldn't have me, so he asked a lot of pointed questions to make sure the other prospective jurors heard what I had to say - before the prosecution attorney sent me home.

A year later I got another summons, but a few months later it washed out just like this one. So now I have another year before they can send me another summons.

That's better than 5 years of escaping jury duty without having to really try.

Well, that depends on just how much justice you can afford.