I have been on call for jury duty this week and when I called into the jury duty phone number Tuesday night, hopefully assumed that I would be clear or I was overly optimistic. Why I thought that really had no basis, except that I am to busy at work to be away from the office.. But I was told to report at 8:30am Wednesday to the Bellflower court (how convenient .30 from home).. Now I have been known to enjoy serving on a jury trial, but the process from check in to actually getting into a courtroom is just tedious and monotonous. It can be somewhat obvious how difficult it is for some people to survive on their own out in the world when simple instructions are mind boggling for them and therefore you are the recipient of delay because of them. And than the paperwork they hand you to read upon arrival, they end up READING TO YOU in it's entirety.. (see comment one sentence prior). Perhaps this is to kill time while the courts are dilly dallying about details in pre trial motions... But I am not one for "down time" that is forced on me, nor sitting around waiting.. and tick tock tick tock it's torture.
So at 10am we are informed that perhaps 1/2 of us will be transferred to the Downey court to fill the need they have with jury trial pools.. come 11:20 am they announce that EVERYONE is going to go to the Downey courts EXCEPT for those who were dropped off or took public transit ~ they apparently were given there green one day completion notices and home they went. Why didn't I think of that, I could have ridden my bike or walked since it's close to my home.. but no, I had to drive so as to get some time in at the office afterward. We are now given a map to new courthouse and a lunch break (from doing absolutely nothing) and were to report at 1:00pm to Downey Courthouse. So home for lunch, grab a sweater and over to Downey to report like the obedient citizen I am.
Now when your supposed to be somewhere at 1:00pm I am generally of the opinion that you show up about twenty minutes earlier... well that's great except at security they inform me that the jury room doesn't open until 1:30pm here........... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We all assemble, quick roll call, and than within 10 minutes they are calling out two courtrooms for two groups to report to.. second group I am called into and away we go...
In this courtroom they started jury selection yesterday (Tuesday) and there are 11 people still standing from that group, and it's still dragging on. Apparently they need ONE juror and two alternates out of our pool of fifteen people.. that seems easy enough.. but the questioning just goes on and on and on, cause 6-8 people have issues with the subject matter, or past jobs or we served on a felony trial (me) and need to answer really important questions.. Three people right off the bat are dismissed back to the jury assembly room cuz nobody wants them. One yokle was pretty impressed with his tawdry life and the similarity to the case and he was a sidebar more than once, and called into the hallway to explain his vague responses... Frustrating thing was he never took a jury seat cuz they both exercised a preemptive something something when he went to fill a seat left vacant.. Now really, couldn't they both have just decided that with the initial three they dismissed. Now I am JUROR #26 of 27 in line as they eventually get to filling a seat, eliminate someone, fill that seat, eliminate someone.. and so on.. as this process goes forward, I'm feeling at first like theres no way I will be put into this.. The lawyers like the twelve they have and swear them in ~ we are out of here, right, and than.... they need two alternates, and the process of the last six of us starts with dismissing etc, can you believe it, I get the last alternate seat mainly I think because #27 was not understanding the english questions nor very easily understood when he responded and so I was the last best hope they had.. BUT I'm thinking, please not me, take him, it would be good for him to participate in the justice system... AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.. next thing I know alternate #1 and I are standing with our right hands up to be sworn in... At 3:25 pm...
Now, I'm all for calling it a day for the jurors, let the lawyers finish up there pre trial stuff and start in the morning.. (so I can get to the office). BUT NO, we are given a TWENTY MINUTE break, and than witness #1 comes in and we start.... During the break I asked a "yesterday" juror picked "did they ever give you an indication as to how long this trial will last?" cause I'm thinking 1 maybe 2 days tops. His response was "4-6 days" WHAT??? OMG I can't believe that and my mind is racing as to how is this possible that the case based on these charges could go that long. Hopefully they are including the two days just to pick a dang jury in that estimate.
So I'm cut loose at 4:30 for the ten minute trek to parked car and am at the office in Cerritos at 5:05.. Where I hastily put in 2 hours on a project, speak to supv about what items I need to move forward and than out the door to head to church for phone calling for the next Alpha session.. Now lets see, Friday is good Friday services at 7:30pm with family dinner beforehand at 5pm.. I guess I will be at the office on Saturday instead.. geez..
Make that $15. a day jury check out to ..........
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