Jury Duty
Well, I had my first afternoon of jury duty. There were about 50 of us. 12 were called up and went through voir-dire. I was not one of them. First the judge asked each juror about a dozen questions. Then the ADA asked each juror another 40 or so. Then the defense attorney asked another 20 or so to each of them. Geez, couldn't they have given us a questionaire!?
One guy REALLY did not want to be there. Had he ever been the victim of a crime, did he know anyone who had been on trial, yada, yada. He said yes to almost everything, but when asked if he thought he could still be fair, he had to say yes. Then, finally, at the very end, he raised his hand and said he was predjudiced. The defendant was black. They finally let him off, for this trial. We all have to call in Tuesday evening to see if we are needed on Wednesday! Interesting!
One guy REALLY did not want to be there. Had he ever been the victim of a crime, did he know anyone who had been on trial, yada, yada. He said yes to almost everything, but when asked if he thought he could still be fair, he had to say yes. Then, finally, at the very end, he raised his hand and said he was predjudiced. The defendant was black. They finally let him off, for this trial. We all have to call in Tuesday evening to see if we are needed on Wednesday! Interesting!
Grammylew in Jax
When I was in college, I got called up for jury duty in Cook County, Ill., while I was in DeKalb County for college. My mom was all worried about me missing class, so she did what anyone in Cook Co. does ... call their Democratic committeeman and get a favor. He got me out ... but it turns out that in Illinois, anyone who works on a newspaper doing any function (even janitorial!) can't serve on a jury. At the time, I was working on the college newspaper, so I couldn't serve. The committeeman told mom that, and my college newspaper adviser also told me that.
I don't mind serving. I'm retired, i'm missing nothing.
It is just a little aggravating to sit ther for 4 hours while everyone asks the 12 chosen ones a bazillion questions. I mean really, lots of that stuff could have been covered in a questionaire. Then each attorney could read 'oh, I see you served on a jury before, what kind of experience was that for you!?' ans skip over all the questions we mentioned no to.
Oh, well, I guess they have their process. At least now we are all familiar with it and know what to expect! I call this evening to see if they need me tomorrow. This time, I'll take a bottle of water and a protein bar.
It is just a little aggravating to sit ther for 4 hours while everyone asks the 12 chosen ones a bazillion questions. I mean really, lots of that stuff could have been covered in a questionaire. Then each attorney could read 'oh, I see you served on a jury before, what kind of experience was that for you!?' ans skip over all the questions we mentioned no to.
Oh, well, I guess they have their process. At least now we are all familiar with it and know what to expect! I call this evening to see if they need me tomorrow. This time, I'll take a bottle of water and a protein bar.
Grammylew in Jax
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