My Day at Court

I got a request to appear at court. Not for something I had done, but someone else. I was one of about 300 people who showed up that day to possibly act as a juror on an upcoming trial. We sat there for about three long hours trying to keep ourselves busy before the first group of us was called upstairs. I was among that group.

I was also among the 14 chosen to sit in judgment of the defendant. To get to that point was a lengthy process, though. It had actually started the week before for many of the other jurors. I was among the last four seats filled. There were a lot of questions we all had to answer and then explain the “yes” answers to the judge and the lawyers for both sides, their way of making sure we could be impartial, which is why I’m a little surprised I got chosen. I kinda back-peddled on one of my “yes” answers after a short discussion with them. I guess whatever I said made things okay with them.

I couldn’t tell you what I said. It’s a total blank now, because it’s nerve-wracking being up there before the judge. And I wasn’t even on trial. Thank you, Jesus.

I can’t tell you anything about the case either. Not because I went blank on that too. My memory’s not that bad. No, it’s because it’s still going on for another six or so days, and I’m under oath not to discuss it, more’s the pity. Some of it’s quite interesting, and it’s so tempting to spill the beans, but I have this thing about ethics and confidentiality, and well, you ain’t getting it outta me. Not yet, anyway.

But I can make some generalizations about the experience.

First, a word of advice. When you get your summons in the mail, which is usually like a month early, make sure you put it up on the refrigerator or something. Don’t be like me and tuck it away in a safe place that a month later you can’t recall. I was sweating bullets until midnight the night before I was to report, because I couldn’t find the sucker. Apparently, I had stuck it in an envelope along with several other non-related documents that I wanted to bring into work one day to follow up on during my lunch break. What made me look in that envelope at 12:05am, I don’t know, but lucky for me I did.

Now for the generalities.

It’s surprising how quickly the 14 of you become like a little family, and the court clerk like your mother hen, keeping you in line and telling you which way to go, even making sure you eat. “Mother” is funny as can be and a tough bird, all five feet of her. Nothing gets by her. So, don’t even try it.

It’s also surprising how much people forget over the long-term, and the short-term too. And we’ve only heard from the trained professionals so far. It’ll be interesting to see if non-professionals have any better memories. Oh, and us jurors too, since we’re not allowed to take notes. The judge told us that it’s been proven that jurors’ memories aren’t any better when taking notes, so they do without, and just hope that one juror will remember what the others have forgotten. I wonder what happens when the trials drag on for months.

The last thing that surprised me was the misconceptions people at work have of me. When I went back to work when we had a day reprieve from court, I got teased something awful. “I wouldn’t want to be on trial with you as a juror. You’d find me guilty in no time flat.” Sure, they were joking, but really, I don’t think they know how open minded I am and how much I believe in giving a person the benefit of the doubt, until they give me a reason to think otherwise. But maybe it’s me that’s got the misconceptions.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ll fill you in more when the trial’s over.