Finally…after all these years, I’m going to truly be an American. I’ve been called to jury duty.:o Well, maybe not. It’s just a summons to show up, who knows if I’ll actually sit a jury.
Of course there’s the time issue. Who really has time to sit in a courtroom for more than a day or so? None of us. But we are all assured of a trial before our peers and I would hope that would include people who had some other place to be and something else to do. So, that’s not really my concern. Maybe I’ve watched too many t.v. shows (not really) or read too many post-trial interviews with jurors (more likely) or it could be the time my friend sat a jury in a child molestation case and the defendant walked with only ten years of probation (despite testimony from his 14-year old mistress) because two female jury members “just weren’t sure.” My concern is the other eleven jurors:s.
The closest a long-standing friend and I ever came to ending our friendship was in a discussion over O.J. Simpson’s innocence or guilt — as if that was worth ending a friendship over. We’re both fairly intelligent, well-read, and opinionated. We finally had to agree to disagree, leave the issue and never revisit it. I can’t see that tactic working out well in jury deliberations.
Eek. OJ’s guilt or innocence definitely isn’t worth losing a friend over. :o
I’ve never been called to jury duty. You’ll have to let us know what it’s like.
Comment by Rhonda — August 30, 2006 @ 2:38 pm
i went once,it was not so bad. good luck :)
Comment by kim — August 30, 2006 @ 3:59 pm
Congrats on your ‘new assignment - be prepared, it’s a lot of ‘hurry up and wait.’ Hopefully, you will get a good case and have the opportunity to see our judicial system at work, first hand. I was excused twice - once for being 7 mos. pregnant for a rape trial… well they didn’t actually SAY that was why I was struck from the jury pool… So I never got to actually serve.
And no comment on the over-televised, media-hyped OJ trial.
Comment by Ellen — August 31, 2006 @ 6:58 am
Years ago I got the official letter saying that “at any time during the next year you may be contacted for jury duty”… I was actually quite excited about it.
Well, the year came and went, and nada. It was probably for the best, anyway. :)
Comment by Kris Starr — August 31, 2006 @ 7:49 am
LOL at being overlooked for the rape trial when you were 7 mos. preggers. Yep, probably not who they wanted sitting the jury.
Ha, I just read through my summons all the way. They’ve instructed me not to wear my shorts and/or tank top to court. :p
Comment by Jennifer — August 31, 2006 @ 8:02 am
I have served on several jury duties. One where a guy was up for 1st degree murder, he supposedly ran a red light and an elderly lady was killed. He got manslaughter. Another was a guy who was stopped by the police, he was eventually found “not guilty” of charges. The last one had to do with a lady suing someone, she ran a red light and wanted to sue the person that she hit. All the cases were really interesting. Another time I was called to serve, got on some cases but was striked from duty. I actually enjoyed them and had some great reading time.
Comment by Ginger — August 31, 2006 @ 2:48 pm
Wow, Ginger, you’ve put in some serious courthouse time.
Comment by jen — August 31, 2006 @ 10:07 pm