My civic responsibility

When I had to do it in Columbia, Mo., somehow, I was selected to serve in a jury of a man charged with stabbing another man 17 times.
Why should he have let me go?
I don't know -- maybe because I told the judge that an ex-roommate came after me with a samarai sword and I was still sort of bitter about it.
When the public defender didn't use about 3 or 4 different opportunities to boot me, I knew he thought his client was guiltier than holy hell.
Case took two days.
Deliberation took 25 min. And it only took that long because we couldn't decide on 1st or 2nd degree assault.

 

I've lived in some crime-infested hellholes in the past and had never been once called for jury duty. Then I move to a well-to-do suburban county and I've been summoned THREE TIMES in the last 3 1/2 years.

The one in the middle, I was exempted from because it was within 2 years of the previous summons. The first and third, I was never selected.

The most recent one, none other than Troy Aikman himself was in my jury pool! He got picked, I didn't. (He got practically a standing O when the lady read his name.)

The good news, that was just this past April, so I've got the better part of 2 more years before I get summoned again.

 

Jury duty, used the journalist card, was picked anyway and was foreman. Defense attorney told me afterward he purposely left me on because he thought I would pick up the distinction he was making in the guys' defense and relate it to the other jurors, and he was right.

 

I've always been really uncomfortable with the whole public grilling process for jurors. I'm a private person and I really don't think my background, etc. are anyone's business.

As for getting out of jury duty, a friend of a friend who works in a courthouse says a surefire method for getting dismissed if you're a guy is to show up wearing a bowtie.

 

Same thing happened to me. It's as if he was saying, "You're with 11 dumbasses, tell them what I'm talking about."

I also knew the judge because his daughter ran on the college track team I covered. He made note of it during jury selection, which I think in the end might've helped keep me on instead of boot me, dammit.

 

Got my summons for jury duty last week... have to serve at the end of August. Each night for a week I have to call and see if they need me for the next day. If I do have to report I wonder if the combination of being a journalist and having a sister-in-law who is an ADA in another city will get me off the hook.

 

Well, the experience this morning proved that even though I work for a media outlet, that has little say in determining status as a juror. I'll be sitting in a jury on a federal case for the next two weeks. However, federal court has it pretty good - in at 8:30, out by 2:30.

 

Good luck.

In case it comes up during cross-examination, do you know much about grits?

 

Sounds fine, except there's that whole "in at 8:30" part. Ugh. I hope you're a coffee person because you're going to need a lot the next two weeks.

 

Only if I have it for breakfast. With butter and maple syrup. Unless there's a joke that's about to fly over my head.

And Oz, lucky for me there's a Starbucks right around the corner from the court house. ;D

 

even now that you've been selected, expect a lot of waiting around.

 

Cougargirl,

The grits reference harkens to "My Cousin Vinny."



And just remember: It is much, much more polite simply to tell someone "See you in hell" than "See you in court."