My First Jury Duty Story: Long, Slow...Tedious

[Anonymous]

In the month of May of the year 2014, I was summoned to Jury Duty. I had been notified of the event one month in advance that I would participate in Jury Duty in late May. When the semester was over and I graduated from university, I observed that I had Jury Duty on my calendar. It was a mandatory meeting that was required of all registered voters, and there were a few waivers. I was actually very excited about the Jury Duty, because I felt it was my first time doing something important in the world. I even recorded the events in a journal, which might prove to be useful someday.

I began my Jury Duty on May 27, 2014 (Tuesday). I was dressed in a black professional suit. My father dropped me off at the courthouse, located on one of the busy downtown streets. It was a modern-style building with big windows and spacey rooms. As I walked in, I was stopped by the security guard to go through the special doorway to detect weapons or something threatening.

Then, I was escorted to the Jury Pool room. At the Jury Pool room, I watched an introductory video about the whole thing and how the American jury system was significantly better than the medieval "trial by ordeal". Then, I did a lot of waiting . . . and waiting . . . and waiting (during the course of the waiting, I received a lunch break and bought a wrap), before I finally received an assignment. It was a criminal court case, but since the day was getting late, I was allowed to go home.

On Wednesday, I was reported to Jury Duty again. The Jury Pool room busied the jurors with a movie, Avatar (2009). It was an exciting film, and since I was never called for jury service during any time of the film, I got to reach the end. Afterwards, I went to the coffee room and drank two small cups of coffee, with added milk and sugar. When noontime arrived, I bought a wrap again. Then, I was called to jury service. However, I never really entered the courtroom. All I did was wait. Minutes passed. Hours passed. When the courtroom finally opened up, the judge informed the jurors that the defendant plead guilty, so there would be no need for a jury. I was still called to Jury Duty the following day for a different case, a civil case.

On Thursday, I skipped the Jury Pool room and went straight to the courtroom. In the hallway outside the courtroom, I sat there and waited. I didn't wait too long, before the doors opened up and the court case began. The jurors were filed into a single row and filled up the jury seats row by row, from back to front. There were two rows. I got a front-row seat. The civil case was about an alleged traffic violation. I am not going to discuss further details of the court case, because that is confidential information. However, I am going to say that the first day of the court case merely allowed the plaintiff (the couple) to speak up.

On Friday, the second day of the same court case, the court allowed the defendant (a teenage girl) to speak up. The jury deliberated afterwards and made a decision. The case was closed, and everyone said goodbye.

There are two kinds of services that citizens are supposed to do. In times of war, citizens are drafted into the military. In times of peace, citizens are randomly selected from a pool of registered voters to serve the jury. My experience with jury service taught me that it is long, slow, and tedious. A single court case can consume a whole day, if not more. And as a juror, you are obligated to listen through the whole thing, as the jury's decision can have a lasting impact on the accuser and the accused.

Ideally, because you swear the juror's oath and receive the juror's instructions before the trial, you are supposed to judge and release an unbiased verdict. Forming an unbiased opinion can be difficult to do, if you are attached to one party in some way, as the attachment can color the reasoning. Fortunately, after the week of jury duty, you get paid. I received $80 for 4 days of service and just deposited that in the bank.

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[coolbreeze]

Sounds like it was fun. Lol nice mytake. Yes going to jury duty does take a lot of time and patience. I got picked once for a case so I know like you how long it takes and how much time goes by sitting and waiting, etc.