Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Confessions of a Juror!


On Tuesday, I had the luxury of having Jury Duty. I was to arrive in our city's court room at 10am. After having to wait outside for 30 minutes, 50+ of us herded into the small courtroom keeping in mind that our courtroom is so old; looking like something from the 1950's era without any upgrades except a metal detector, TV/DVD player, etc.. As we went to lunch, there was 18 other people in the jury seats waiting for additional questioning. I thought my odds looked good. No such luck. After lunch, juror by juror were dismissed. There was need for additional jurors to make up their 12 juror requirement. I held my breath, but I was the 2nd one called out of 6 more people. Long story short; I ended up being juror #11. The case was to go until Thursday, but today after only 1 hour in the courtroom, the case was dismissed. I'm not sure on the full story as to why it was not dismissed because a lot of the discussion regarding some evidence was behind closed doors/the judge's chambers. I glad the case was dismissed as I was starting to feel for the poor defendant who was accused of grand theft of his employer. The District Attorney did not seem to have his act together. I know that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but I had a strong feeling from the beginning that this employee was very innocent even though I did not really hear much of the evidence. Obviously they did not have proof to prove otherwise and the defendant can go home and be with his wife and 3 kids. I'm really thankful that this case was short as my kids are on off-track right now and I was having to find someone to watch the kids for the next couple of days which I don't like to have to do. Thankfully, I have a really good friend and my parents!! Don't get me wrong, I do love the legal system and love being a juror, it's just that I'm not working right now and don't have regular day-care, it's just harder. The last time I was a juror was on a 6 week civil case in Stockton. I guess I'm just destined to be a juror. My sister says I get picked all the time is because I look alert, fair, and attentive.

1 comment:

Buzzings of a Queen Bee! said...

Wow, I've never been called in for jury duty, so this is new to me. Sounds like a good thing you didn't have to serve this time! :)
Carrie