Jury Duty

The Courthouse

Yesterday was the longest day of my life. I don't function well with NOTHING to do, so by the end of the day, I had a raging headache caused by sheer, mind-numbing boredom. I had taken two magazines and a book. I finished my magazines within the first two hours, and the book was pure "fluff"- Janet Evanovich - and therefore nothing stimulating for my brain. The instructions said you could bring books, magazines, but NO NEWSPAPERS. I didn't take my laptop, since ALL newspapers are available on-line these days, and I didn't want it taken away from me. Turns out, laptops are allowed. Go figure!

There is nothing I hate more than for someone to think their time is more valuable than mine., and thus keep me waiting. This is true for doctors as well as lawyers, and anyone else. By the time the County pays me the $30 for the day yesterday, I would have received less than $3.00 per hour. Fortunately, the City is supposed to pay the difference, but those people whose employers don't do that are just plain screwed. Equally aggravating is the fact that the people who were only there for an hour or so will receive the same $30.

My day started at 7:30. Of course, I got up way before then, but I'll give them that part, despite the need I felt to put on a dress and make-up. I have to note that I cannot fathom why some people think it is okay to wear blue-jeans for jury duty. To me, that is just disrespectful of the court and justice system. I guess it's the same reason that defendants come to court in all manner of dress. They just don't care. I knew that if I got to the Voir Dire, wearing blue jeans would reflect badly on the City as a whole, not to mention myself as an individual. But I digress.

Parking at the court house is horrendous, so I knew I needed to get there early. They open the doors at 7:30, and that is what time I got there. I actually got through the metal detectors without setting them off. Not that I was carrying anything I shouldn't, but I generally set them off as a rule.

I got to the jury assembly room and thus began my mind- and ass, -numbing day. First of all, they showed us a video. I found it particularly amusing since they used local people who work at the courthouse, so I recognized some of them. One was the wife of our City Clerk. Another was the wife of our Major.

There were probably three to four-hundred people in that room, and we started to play musical chairs. They randomly select between 40 and 100 people to be assigned to a judge's panel. My group was the third selected, and I was number 50 out of 50. You have to stay in your assigned seat until they are ready for you - with the exception of a restroom break.

So we sat. And we sat. And we sat some more. FINALLY, around 11:15, the bailiff came and said they would be taking us to the courtroom in about 10 minutes. At about 10 'til noon, he returned and said, "We're gonna give you a lunch break, be back in your seats at 1:00." Ugh! Can't we just get this over with???

So I went to our Headquarters, which is about a block away, and rounded up one of the detectives to go to lunch at a new French bakery about three doors down. I was back in my jury seat at 5 minutes to 1:00 to sit some more.

One of the people in our panel did not return from lunch. We had to wait about 45 minutes for them to decide to proceed without her. They said a deputy would go out to her house, but I have a feeling there isn't much in the way of penalty. I looked at my summons, and it doesn't say anything about "laying all other business aside" or "under penalty of ___" like a subpoena does.

They then took us to the courtroom where the judge introduced himself and the attorneys. He also said that this was a Burglary and Obstruction case, then the attorneys conducted the first phase of the voir dire. The questions were asked to the group as a whole, and you just raised your number if your answer was "yes". Of course, at this point, I know there is NO WAY the defense attorney is going to allow me on the jury. Not just because it was a criminal case, but also because of the Obstruction charge.

The District Attorney asked questions such as: Have you ever given sworn testimony in a court proceeding? Yes. Do you know the officers involved? No. Have you ever been the victim of a burglary? No. He did not, however, ask "Have you ever been the victim of an Obstruction?"

The defense attorney asked fewer questions, such as: Do you know my client? Do you know his twin brother? Do you know his mother? No, no, and no.

When they were done with this, they took us back to the assembly room and said that in about 10 minutes, they would begin to take us back, 14 at a time, for individual questions. Meanwhile, no one could leave until they had a jury seated. So all those people who said they could not, in good conscience, pass judgment on another, did not get off as easily or quickly as they had hoped they would. After about half an hour, they began. The first 14 took about an hour. They brought them back and got the next 14 standing. After about another 30 minutes, they took them to the courtroom. They were gone a little longer than the first group.

Then they took the next 14 back. They were gone about the same amount of time, but when they came back, the group said they didn't question all of them as apparently they had found enough to select a panel - Woo Hoo! - and that they would be taking us all back to the courtroom. So we sat a while longer, and they finally took us back in there. It was now a few minutes before 5 o'clock. I never got as far as the final phase of voir dire, since I was the LAST one in our group.

We trekked back to the courtroom and we sat. The judge gave a few more instructions, then we sat some more while the attorneys passed some papers back and forth.

Finally, they told us who was chosen. They shuffled some more paper, then gave us another small speech, and finally said, "You can go back to the assembly room then go home." They told us we didn't have to call last night to see if we had to report today, since it was after 5. I went with that, as I am working this part-time detail at the college this morning, and have City Court this afternoon. I'll call tonight, and if I'm supposed to report tomorrow, I won't be going to Forsyth tonight, or the rest of the week for that matter.

I finally left the courthouse at 6pm. I was exhausted from the absolute boredom, and was asleep by 10 o'clock.