Jury Duty: Update

I left early this morning to ensure that I'd locate a decent parking spot since there's so much construction underway at the courthouse. My last trip into the place was at least a dozen years ago, and things have changed. The entry was a security checkpoint where I had to dump my keys, cellphone and belt in a bin and pass through a scanner. Hassle. Since I arrived at 8:00 am, I had to sit around twiddling my thumbs for an hour. Fortunately, I thought to wear my pedometer, so I passed the time pacing around the second floor of the courthouse, and did the same during every break in the action. All told, I accumulated enough steps today to equal about 2.68 miles.

By 9:00 am, roughly ninety potential jurors had shown up. We were called in and seated based on a predetermined numerical sequence. The district clerk started the show with a presentation on the role of his office in the process. For coming in as ordered, each potential juror who specified they wanted to receive the mandated jury pay was given a business envelope containing a Lincoln and a big George. I'm not sure how I'll spend my six dollars, but I'll waste it on something. Pay for all subsequent days is forty dollars per day.

At about 10:30, the voir dire process began with the prosecutor going first. The judge explained that the defendant in the case was charged with first degree murder, and that the trial was expected to last ten days to two weeks. I did the math and began to wonder if 400 bucks was worth two weeks of my life and passing through that goddamned security checkpoint every fucking day. On the other hand, I'd never been on the jury in a murder case. I began to be ambivalent about the possibility of being chosen.

Lunch break from 12:10 to 1:30 pm. I called Mrs. bee on the cellphone and asked her to pick me up, so I wouldn't lose my good parking space. I knew that gadget would come in handy someday. Mobile phones are pervasive in modern society -- I estimated that at least eight out of every ten people in this jury pool were carrying one, another big difference from jury duty in the 1990s.

1:30 to 3:30, more voir dire. This time the defense attorney runs the show. A lot of questions intended to unearth potential prejudicial thinking that might land his client in the slammer for up to 99 years. All in all, voir dire is a good refresher course in jurisprudence for the layman.

At 3:30, we're sent out into the corridors again while the two sides undertake the strike process, each team striking as many as ten prospective jurors to improve their chances of getting the verdict they want. I spend the time, roughly an hour, pacing and logging mileage. At 4:30 we're called back in. I'm on pins and needles. On the one hand, I want to be dismissed, but somewhere in my mind, there's a flicker of curiosity about what a two week murder trial might be like. One by one, the judge calls the twelve chosen jurors to their seats in the jury box, and my name is not among them. Finally, I breath a sigh of relief and decide this is probably for the best. As we head for the parking lot, a retired highway patrolman who I visited with briefly during that last long break asks me how I'm gonna spend my six dollars. I reply that I plan to piss it away that very afternoon to celebrate not having to come back to the courthouse tomorrow morning.