Jury Duty
Jury Duty
I was summoned to sit for jury duty this week and next. There were several hundred of us in a "waiting room". We were shown a video on what to expect and listened to a talk by a judge, the clerk of courts and the jury commissioner. We were told there would be a lunch break starting at 11:30 or 12:00. At 12:15, about the time I just couldn't take anymore of this waiting around, we were released for lunch and the day with instructions to return at 8:30 the following day.
8:30 day two and more sitting around. It gets to be 11:30 and no one is called to sit on a jury.
11:45 - no one is called. Soon to be released for lunch. My hopes are up that I will be finished for the week. 11:50 - my name is called along with 25 others. We are sent to lunch and told to return as we have been selected for a trial. Well, not really selected. We have been selected to be considered.
After lunch, we are led from the assembly area to the jury room. This room is big enough to hold 12 people. Squeeze in 18. There are 26 of us in this room, so it is a bit tight. I need to back up a bit. We walk down the hallway and through a door for the jury. This door leads to another hallway, much more narrow, and it runs parallel to the main hallway. (who designed this)
I guess it is an ante-hallway. It is used for storage. There are boxes, water cooler bottles, filing cabinets, chairs and assorted stuff in this hallway. There are several doors and one is labeled "Jury Room". We go there for instructions. The bailiff lines us up to enter the courtroom and I am number 13. Damn. But once we are in the courtroom I am number 18 and I feel better - until - the bailiff tells us to make one more move and upon doing so I am number 13 again. I realize this makes me the first one to fill in when they start dismissing people.
Four are dismissed, the two alternates so I guess I would have been on this jury either way.
Backing up again. The questioning of the first 12 jury members takes about 90 minutes. Then the replacements takes another 45. Once the jury is seated the first day is over and we are instructed to return at 10:00 the next day for the trial. The trial eventually started at 11:00 or so. We heard opening arguments, then went to lunch. After lunch, we waited around some more then went back to the trial.
During all of this waiting around, there are other things going on in the courtroom such as plea bargaining and sentencing. I wonder if we are set to wait around so long so all of this incarceration in on our minds when it comes to make a decision.
I was summoned to sit for jury duty this week and next. There were several hundred of us in a "waiting room". We were shown a video on what to expect and listened to a talk by a judge, the clerk of courts and the jury commissioner. We were told there would be a lunch break starting at 11:30 or 12:00. At 12:15, about the time I just couldn't take anymore of this waiting around, we were released for lunch and the day with instructions to return at 8:30 the following day.
8:30 day two and more sitting around. It gets to be 11:30 and no one is called to sit on a jury.
11:45 - no one is called. Soon to be released for lunch. My hopes are up that I will be finished for the week. 11:50 - my name is called along with 25 others. We are sent to lunch and told to return as we have been selected for a trial. Well, not really selected. We have been selected to be considered.
After lunch, we are led from the assembly area to the jury room. This room is big enough to hold 12 people. Squeeze in 18. There are 26 of us in this room, so it is a bit tight. I need to back up a bit. We walk down the hallway and through a door for the jury. This door leads to another hallway, much more narrow, and it runs parallel to the main hallway. (who designed this)
I guess it is an ante-hallway. It is used for storage. There are boxes, water cooler bottles, filing cabinets, chairs and assorted stuff in this hallway. There are several doors and one is labeled "Jury Room". We go there for instructions. The bailiff lines us up to enter the courtroom and I am number 13. Damn. But once we are in the courtroom I am number 18 and I feel better - until - the bailiff tells us to make one more move and upon doing so I am number 13 again. I realize this makes me the first one to fill in when they start dismissing people.
Four are dismissed, the two alternates so I guess I would have been on this jury either way.
Backing up again. The questioning of the first 12 jury members takes about 90 minutes. Then the replacements takes another 45. Once the jury is seated the first day is over and we are instructed to return at 10:00 the next day for the trial. The trial eventually started at 11:00 or so. We heard opening arguments, then went to lunch. After lunch, we waited around some more then went back to the trial.
During all of this waiting around, there are other things going on in the courtroom such as plea bargaining and sentencing. I wonder if we are set to wait around so long so all of this incarceration in on our minds when it comes to make a decision.