Panama Forum

llseldon
Joined 2013
Posts: 3205

10 years ago

Jury Duty in Panamá

10 years ago

From a Panama blogger:
Hey friends,

This is not meant to slam Panamanians, my wife is Panamanian, so I have her to answer to if I get out of line.

Jury Duty Kidnapping – I’ve never been summoned to jury duty, but I know in the U.S. you’re given a letter or some sort of advance notice before you’re required to show up for duty. In Panama, it’s nothing like that. How did I learn this? A couple of weeks ago, I got a somewhat frantic call from Marlene. She was at work. The call went something like this.

“Chris, I only have a minute. They’re taking me.”

“WTF? Who’s taking you? What do you mean?”

“I have jury duty. They said I have 10 minutes to gather my things, make my phone calls, and then they’re taking my phone and I won't get it back until they're finished with me.”

And that was pretty much the extent of the phone call. She hung up and I had no idea what was to happen next. Was she going to be picked for a short trial that would be finished early and she'd be home by the end of the day? Or was she about to embark on an O.J. Simpson-style, seemingly never-ending murder trial?

My mother-in-law, who'd also spoken with Marlene, called to break it down a little further. She explained how lucky Marlene was because she’s had friends and coworkers who were out walking down the street when they were grabbed for jury duty. They were just snatched right off the sidewalk (ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but still...). She also told me that if Marlene was stuck in a lengthy trial, we’d have to pack clothes so they could be taken to her.

It turned out the trial Marlene was involved with only lasted the day. She was home by about 9pm the same night. She told me she tried to get out of it by explaining that she had 4 kids she needed to take care of. The guy charged with finding my wife and bringing her in, the guy who basically kidnapped her for jury duty, simply looked at her and said, “Everyone has kids, and a spouse, and a grandmother...pack your stuff.”

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