Jury Duty

Right before my brother came into town I got this in the mail.

Talk about scary! I've never had jury duty before and I had no idea what to expect. Everything I read and heard said "don't worry about it, you won't get chosen, they'll reach a plea agreement, it's no big deal." Well guess who got chosen to be on a jury!!! I so did not expect it at all!

I'm free to talk about the trial, and would be happy to share the case with anyone interested, but I thought it would be better if I just shared my overall experience here on the blog.

I had to get up before 6 am to get ready, take Zack to work, and get downtown (and find a parking spot!) before 8 am. I was extremely stressed out about going downtown on my own, but it ended up being extremely easy and not a big deal at all. After getting through the metal detectors I found the big room with all the other law abiding citizens sitting, waiting, giving up their day to essentially protect non law abiding citizens from our government (but Ashley, innocent till proven guilty! I know...I know..). It's all so silly really.

A little after 8, everyone was in their seat and a judge came in to explain the process to us, go over expectations, and tell some jokes. I chose to be amused, but most people were highly annoyed. After he stepped away to excuse people from duty (yep, you can be excused, but you have to have a legit reason......I guess 2 weeks of notice is enough to force you to cancel a trip or other life plans?) we all got our parking tickets stamped and then sat, and sat, and sat. Occasionally a woman would get up and read out names (often in groups of around 30 or 60 to make final juries of 6 or 12) to go line up in the hallway. Once called, people were escorted to a courtroom, and introduced to the case and those involved in it. Then you answer some questions to help them decide if they would like you or not. You then wait in the hall while they choose, go back in, and they call out the names of the chosen jurors to sit in the special juror chairs up by the stand.

I was called just before lunch, but they cancelled. Instead of letting us go, they made us go back and wait. We were told that if we hadn't been called by 3 pm we would be able to go home. It was almost 3....and the lady called my name! Argh! Ha! We went up to a courtroom, answered the questions (and the answers people give trying to obviously get out of it are hilarious and highly obnoxious), waited, and then came back in for the final choosing. I thought I was free, but then second to last they called my name! At this point it was the end of the day, so we were asked to come back at 10:30 am the next morning.

A case plays out pretty much exactly how you'd expect. Lots of formalities, drawn out explanations and playing to sympathies with a couple objections thrown in. The state was pressing charges against a drunk driver and while the state attorneys were very well put together and prepared, the defense seemed lost and uninformed. It was very odd. I honestly don't know what their problem was. It was painful to listen to either of them talk or ask questions. The judge and bailiff seemed annoyed with them too. The judge was on her computer the WHOLE time. All of us jurors wanted to know what she was doing. It looked like she and the bailiff were instant messaging each other their annoyances of the attorneys. Who knows. The court room was very worn down and sad looking. Same with the waiting room and building overall. We weren't in the old courthouse, which is actually fun to be in, but a large addition that I believe was built in the 80's. It was a long time to sit in uncomfortable worn down chairs.

There was a LOT of waiting even after the trial began. We'd show up in the morning, wait a half an hour or more to be called into the room, be in court for an hour, and then take a lunch break that without fail always lasted 2 hours. Who needs 2 hours to eat a sandwich? We'd often get out at the end of the day and get stuck in rush hour traffic.

It was a nice chunk of gas money and a huge chunk of time, but the state pays you! A whopping $6-10 a day! Most employers still pay you though. So if you are ever stuck with jury duty, definitely check that out (but know that they aren't required to if it isn't in your contract). There also was a bus pass option, but that would have taken even more time and there's the whole ick and scare factor there so I just drove and paid to park downtown.

The trial lasted several days, and while it lasted my time was no longer mine. With that said, it was still good to sit through the process and now I can say I have been on a jury!