My little foray into the judicial process proved to be educational, but as you can tell by the time stamp on this post, I am not on a jury today. Here's the story.
The hardest thing with me trying anything new is getting to wherever I have to go. I got directions online to the courthouse last night before going to bed, so I looked at them carefully before going to bed.
I got up a little after six and ate breakfast, like I would do on any work day. So with my directions (and after a quick stop at Burger King for a Diet Coke), I was on my way. It was pretty easy to get there, and after finding where I was supposed to park, I hiked to the entrance.
Entering a courthouse is quite an experience. At 7:45, they unlocked the door, and I was required to take my belt and watch off and walk through a metal detector (somehow, my jewelry didn't set it off). They scrutinized my cell phone to make sure it didn't have a camera, and when I finally collected all my belongings (my belt, watch, and handkerchief in a basket, my man bag from the x-ray), I went to the jury assembly room, where I encountered...another locked door. That door opened at eight.
We had our juror badges scanned by a woman who talked like Elmer Fudd, and then were given badge holders and herded into a room with a bunch of tables and told to sit down. At 8:30 or so, we were shown a video, in which the chief judge for the county thanked us for coming. Uh, you're welcome. The alternative would be jail.
After this video (which was alternating between a guy talking about his jury experience and the chief judge explaining what we were doing there), some other woman named Magda spoke for a bit about the procedure for selection, then told us of various conveniences. Then we were spoken to by some woman who was talking about a fund that provides these conveniences, and offered us forms to donate our jury money. Excuse me, but we are required by law to be here, and things like free local phone calls and a refrigerator for our lunches are something we don't get without a guilt trip and begging for money? Forget it!
At about 9:30, various deputies from the sheriff's office came and started calling names. The first three groups were taken away, leaving the rest of us waiting. I think the phrase "hurry up and wait," while primarily associated with the military, is also an accurate description of jury duty. By the grace of whatever higher power you pray to, my new issue of Reader's Digest had arrived yesterday, so I was able to thumb through that while waiting.
I was called in the next group, which was followed by, you guessed, more waiting, only this time it was outside the courtroom. When we were finally ushered in, thirteen people (including me) were told to sit in the jury box, and the rest were seated in the front row of seats. We were told that we were the potential jurors, and the rest were alternates in case of a need to strike a juror.
This was a civil case, so the thirteen of us were going to be reduced to seven for the trial. It was a case of vehicular injury due to negligence, and the judge started asking questions of the potential jury. When they asked if any of us had a family member who was in a car accident, and I answered that my mother had been killed in a car accident due to a hit-and-run driver, I pretty much knew that the defense would be telling me to take a hike.
Sure enough, I was among the six also-ran jurors, and we were told to go back to the jury waiting room. When I got there, I found a lot of people there, waiting to be called for another possible jury. We weren't there long, though; Magda showed back up and said that all of the trials had their juries empaneled, so we were done, and we were guaranteed that we would not be called for jury duty for at least three years.
I was close to a mall, so I stopped and walked three laps. I normally do four at this mall, but I was tired and extremely hungry (I had some pretzels at the courthouse, but it wasn't enough). So I came home and had lunch. I may go to another mall later and do a few more laps.
Justin is too tired to do anything this afternoon, so I am at loose ends for the rest of the day. But unlike last Tuesday, I don't have to deal with Julie today. And also unlike last Tuesday, I am not confined to the house. So we will see what happens. Now, where is my thirty bucks?
Eric Out.
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