Duty Call

Guess where I have been all day???? Jury duty!!!! I thought it will be a breeze, only four hours. That is what some friends and relatives said when they were called! They were wrong! wrong! wrong! I reported at 8:30 am and did not get out of the court house until 5:00 pm!!!! That is more than 8 hours!!!! There were 250 prospective jurors in the room at 8:30 am. First, there was an orientation for 10 minutes, followed by a video presentation for half an hour. Then a judge came to give a " pep" talk, that there used to be only slaves and followers. Then the citizens became involved and there came the government, with its three branches. He further said that we are exercising our rights as citizens of this country by being on jury duty. He also touched the Bill of Rights!!! I thought I was in school again!!! Boring!!! What do you mean boring? Do you still remember the 3 branches of the government? Of course!!! Excuse me!!! Oh, well, just think of it as a refresher course, in case you become a contestant in Jeopardy!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! This judge must really like to talk! It took him around 1 hour!!! I am not joking! Then there were 3 groups of around 40 per group that was carted off to the courtroom. By 11:45 am, 30 people were sent home! I was one of those not too lucky to stay. It was announced to us that there will still be jury selection after lunch! Before lunch, there was a break for 15 minutes. I thought the refreshments will be free! It was not! I paid $2.65 for a bottle of pop and granola bar. The lady beside me was smart, very smart! She brought her own apple, water and sandwich! I stayed in the building and had lunch. Do you know what I had? It gave me a stomach ache! A cup of some kind of a rice soup, that has few carrots and maybe chicken that passed through the soup! Ha! Ha! Ha! I also had grilled cheese and left over from break. Do you know how much my lunch cost, with the 10 % discount? $3.80! You are El Cheapo!!! There were other things in the menu which to me did not look too appetizing, like hamburger, lasagna and others. It seems the courthouse is making quite a bit of money everyday from would be jurors, or if it is not the government, the business that got the bid! Just think, 250 prospective jurors, snacks and lunches!!!! That is money spent in the building! Especially today, that the weather was bad outside!After lunch, about 2 hours, the clerk started calling juror numbers again! The lady beside me was laughing, because I stiffened listening to the numbers called. Shucks, my number was called! The 40 people were hauled in the courtroom. The jury selection and the elimination process began. The first 14 were called and questioned by both the prosecutor and defense attorney. Two people were eliminated because of their answers. They were replaced and questioned. Three more people were eliminated. All together there were 14 would be jurors excused because of their profession and answers. It is a good thing the judge, and attorneys showed compassion to women that have problems with small kids! Hurray!!! There are still compassionate people out there. I didn't know that jury selection can be that painful, tedious and long! I guess both sides want people that will give a good, unbiased verdict. Can you blame them? Each lawyer wants to win their case! The trial is scheduled for 2 to 3 days! You should have seen the remaining 15, that include me, when both sides said they were satisfied with their jury selection! You should have seen the relief in our faces. Alleluia!!! I didn't know it can be that tiring to sit in the uncomfortable bench in the court room! But it is also interesting and intriguing to watch the proceedings. The lawyers were questioning each jurors and if they were out of line, the judge reminds them! It is like a mini trial without the witnesses!!!! We, the 15 people, can go home and not worry about coming back tomorrow!! !! I also did not know that jury selection is up to 70 years old! The people over 70 is exempted unless they want to be on jury duty! I learn something new everyday!!! This is also an experience that you only see on television and here you are experiencing it today! Wow! I did my duty as a citizen today!!!!
Posted by vs at 4/6/2010 6:11 PM Add Comment