Jury Duty

Last week, for the third time in my life, I was summoned for jury duty. I was also a juror, for the third time in my life. Yup, that’s right, three times summoned three times a juror in three different jurisdictions.

What’s been interesting about these three experiences is how much has changed over the years. My first and second times on a jury I was summoned the old fashioned way, you had to show up at the courthouse on Monday of the week you were scheduled and sit there and wait to see if there were any juries needed. In both cases I’m fairly sure I sat at least one full day before being picked for a pool.

Last week it was a whole new world, I was able to go online to see if I was needed after 5pm the night before, such a better way of doing things. On Monday, no jurors were needed, on Tuesday a small group was needed, but on Wednesday over 90 of us were called in. Two trials were ready to go and they needed pools for two 12 member juries. It’s amazing how many people they call in for that, over 40 people per pool.

As soon as I sat in the courtroom in the jury box I knew I’d be on the jury. It’s all about luck of the draw and I was one of the first 13 people to be called in my pool which means I started out in the jury box and they had to find a reason to get me out of that box. No reason came and so I and 12 other people listened to a case. One of us was an alternate but we didn’t know who it was until the end of the presentations by both sides.

What was different this time around was that the presentations of both the prosecution and the defense was over at around 4:30pm and we went into deliberations. We were kept there until we’d made a decision. I assumed we’d go home and come back, but nope. That meant a very long day, but they bought us pizza.

What I always tell people about jury duty is that it’s hard. It’s really hard. Many of my fellow jurors were excited at the beginning of the day, before we went to lunch, about seeing the process. By the end of the day, which was roughly 8:30pm, all of us were exhausted. This was a criminal case with three separate charges against the defendent and it was by far the hardest of the three cases on which I’ve served.

Understanding the law, what the words mean, when you aren’t a lawyer and used to thinking in these ways, is hard. Processing all that you’ve seen in the courtroom and then putting that together with the physical evidence and the law is hard. Getting 12 people to agree is really hard. Doing all of this while being aware of any bias you may have adds yet another layer on top.

It takes me a long while to process through things and I needed to read and reread both the charges, the definitions, and the instructions from the judge to fully understand what we were being asked to decide. I’m also amazed that we did come to a unanimous decision by the time we did. The people I served with took it seriously and we all wanted to get it right, it made me grateful that this is our system. One of my fellow jurors said several times as we wrestled with the decision that if he ever was a defendent he wanted people to do the same as we were and I agree with him.

It isn’t easy to do the job of a juror and I know most people complain a lot when they get summoned, but it’s absolutely necessary. The other thing most people don’t realize is that it’s usually a short trial, a day or two, at most. Last Wednesday was a very long day for me, I was in the court house for roughly 12 hours, but it was only the one day. That being said, I sincerely hope this is the last time I’m on a jury, three times is enough for one lifetime.