boogieshoes | if it please the court... (Reply)

For those of you who are interested, I was called into Jury Duty this week. People are right, it’s a lot of waiting. But I thought it was interesting to see our judicial process in action. On Monday, you get there early, turn in your Court invitation, and take a seat. A judge comes in and reads the requirements for being a juror, and asks if anyone cannot serve based on those requirements (these are the ‘must be a US citizen, lived in the area for 12mos req’s). Then he asks for the emergency excuses – ‘I’m a doctor/ nurse/ cop’; ‘I have a doctor’s appointment this week I can’t miss’; etc.

I understand they don’t always do this, but this Monday, they empaneled a Grand Jury right away, and one of my seat-mates said he’d never seen them fill one so fast. After the GJ was led away and took their oath of service, the clerk came back and separated the rest of us into panels of 15. I was Panel 1, Seat 2. After this separation, Panels 4 and up were told to go home, some to report Tues, some Wed, some Thurs.

Panels 1 and 2 were led to a courtroom where a criminal trial was to take place. The voir dire process is what they call the part where the two lawyers questioned us to determine if they wanted us on the final Trial Jury. Three of us were asked to stay behind for clarification. I was one, because I said that I put more emphasis on physical evidence than personal testimony, despite the law saying that I was supposed to treat both equally. I had also said sometimes I think the law is wrong. I got to explain that comment to the judge, and he understood and explained the way the laws were broken down in categories – moral and social. Moral laws – stopping at stop lights, do not murder, etc, those I don’t have issues with. Things like Prohibition, yeah, I would have had a problem with, but I also believe in working via the legal system to change what I think is wrong. There was no censure to that up at the bench, but clarification was an interesting discussion.

I thought the most interesting question of the entire voir dire process was the defense attorney’s final question, which was ‘What is your favorite movie?’ My thought is that this was a great way to see which impulses lead a juror most. The young man next to me said ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’; I said ‘Star Wars’; ‘The Color Purple’ was a common answer, and someone said ‘Gone with the Wind’. I thought the best answer was ‘Godfather’. Very apropos, hah.

After the questioning was over, we waited outside while the attorneys decided who they wanted on the jury. Then the court reconvened, we were called back in, and they called up the jurors who made the cut. I did not. Most people will say it’s because I’m an engineer, I suppose, but given the ADA’s questioning, I’m wondering if she also didn’t want me there because I’d said I emphasize physical evidence more than personal testimony. Pure speculation, but I’m wondering if they had a lot of/ a reasonable amount of physical evidence in addition to witnesses.

At this point it was nearly 4.30pm, and they dismissed us for the day and told us to report back at 9.15am. I am under the impression that they thought we might have had another trial to witness on Tuesday, but when I arrived, only the first 8 panels had been called in, and roll call was taken. Then, panels 4-8 were dismissed until Wed. Panels 1-3 were given their documents/ reimbursement checks for participating in Jury Duty and dismissed for the week. I donated mine to the fundraiser of the week (it was $24US, not a whole lot).

One of the things I thought was interesting was that although the Court was a formal affair, the judge was fairly relaxed and every effort was made to make the jurors comfortable and not nervous. I still blush at getting up and talking in front of my 30 closest sardines – er, friends – so I still got red as a strawberry at one point while answering questions. Also interesting was the judge’s comments on trial length, that’d he’d never had one in 27yrs go 6mos, had only had a 1 trial go 3 weeks, and only a few go 2 weeks. Most of the trials, civil or criminal, were 1 day affairs or less, and the ‘big ones’ were 2-day trials once the jury was chosen.

If you ever get called up, do bring a book. But I was actually pretty glad I went, and I learned a lot.

-boogieshoes, proud of doing her civic duty