5 am on Tuesday
why am I up so early
drive out to Santa Ana 'cause I've got jury duty
no breakfast short tempered
and I cut my head shaving
ten miles out I hit traffic
some days just aren't worth saving
You know I haven't had the best of days
But I want to stop and thank You anyway
At the courthouse I waited
And waited then I waited
At lunchtime my car stalled out
I couldn't get it started
Had a book by C.S. Lewis
I finished the last page and
Slept on my desk for three hours
Just like my high school days
(The O.C. Supertones - Jury Duty)
Well blog fans I did my civic duty and man was it PAINFUL. Yet important. I hated it but would do it again tomorrow. It was one of the few opportunities in life you get to participate directly with the constitution.
A little history refresher for all.
It is our right as citizens of the United States to a jury trial. On Wednesday, March 4, 1789 in the City of New York, New York and constitutional convention (con-con) was held at the result of that con-con was the creation of our Bill of Rights.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
SIXTH AMENDMENT
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
According to the judge who briefed us in the jury lounge the speedy trial is typically within six months if the defendant is incarcerated or twelve months if the defendant is free on bail.
As I stated it was painful but for more than one reason. When I arrived I checked in with 149 or more fellow Delaware Countians. I was given a little red button with Juror in white letters on it. I placed it on my shirt. I was also given a clipboard with a questionnaire on it and instructed to take a seat. I took a a seat in the back of the lounge. Man did they have us packed in. The representation of jurors was interesting. There appeared to be more white woman between the ages of 35 and 65 then anyone else. I also noted that there were only about fifteen black men and women in the room.
We all sat quietly and waited until a judge came into the room and spoke for about 30 minutes about how important it is for us all to exercise our civic duty and offer ourselves up for jury duty. Of course he added that our invitations were actually subpoenas and that had we chosen not to come to the party constables or sheriffs could have been sent to bring us to the part. I wondered how many people have ever been brought in by a sheriffs deputy or constable in custody to participate in a jury.
We were then shown an interactive video that walked us through the questionnaire. The questions were pretty straight forward but it was scary to see how many people were struggling with the answers. I wondered how they would be as jurors in a complicated case that would require their understanding of how evidence is processed at a crime scene.
One of the questions that stood out was, and I paraphrase; would you be more likely to believe the testimony of a police officer because he or she is a police officer than any other witness? The next question was would you be more likely to disbelieve a police officers testimony because they are a police officer? As a police officer I thought that was very interesting. Of course I tried to peek at my fellow juror's questionnaires to see whether someone would answer yes to either question but I only saw no answers.
Interestingly enough, several hours later I heard a overheard two older women talking about the questions and they said of course they would be more likely to believe a police officer over other witnesses.
About a half hour later we were told there were seven criminal trials that would need juries and they began to call panels of people to be interviewed and they were then escorted to a court room for the Voir Dire process.
Voir Dire comes from the French legal system and means an oath taken by a person to speak the truth in an examination testing his or her competence as a witness or juror.
The first panel was 45 people the next was 50 and the group I was chosen with was 48. I was number 31. We were taken into the hall way and lined up by what appeared to be escapes from the local senior citizens home. These folks who were all court officers were all over 65. Honestly, they all had gray hair and were not very happy. I couldn't believe how rude they were. They lined us against the walls and I felt like I was back in elementary school. They were all dressed in navy blue slacks and blazers with white shirts and blue ties. They all had round silver badges.
We were then marched to the court room and instructed to sit on the hardest wooden benches I have ever sat on (note to self bring a pillow next time). We all sat in number order and the judge came out and began the Voir Dire process. For the next hour and a half questions were asked and potential jurors would raise their hands if the question applied to them. During the whole process we are being watched by the prosecutors and the defendant and his attorney.
Every time someone answered a question in the affirmative the judge would have them come to the side bar and he and the attorneys would ask further questions but to ensure the rest of us didn't hear anything the judge would turn on a static making machine that would prevent us from hearing further questions of the prospective juror. It sounded like a TV that didn't have a station tuned in and all you heard was the shhhh sound for as long as the questions were being asked.
After two hours those of us who weren't picked were sent to lunch and told to return at 2PM. So I went to a nice restaurant had a good lunch. I then returned back to the jury lounge and thought that we would be released.
Man was I wrong. I have had jury duty many times before and have never been there that long. At 3PM we were told we would be a few minutes more. At 4PM people were getting very upset then five minutes later they called another panel! 55 people were called and yours truly was magic number 42. So off we go to another court room led by the geriatric gestapo.
We got to the court room and were greeted by a new judge who began the Voir Dire process again but this time with a twist. She kept the static noise generator on and each one of us was brought one-by-one to the bar (not for a drink) but questions. Needless to say we were there for what seemed like forever (2 hours).
We were finally released at 6:30PM!!! Now for the kicker. Those who know me know I am a gadget guy so guess who has an iPad? Me me me! My iPad has a lot of electronic books on it. So during the Voir Dire process I whipped it out and began to read for 30 seconds when the geriatric gestapo stopped me. Meine iPad was vorbotten (my iPad was forbidden)!! Why I asked? Well who the hell did I think I was to question the Gestapo? The head court officer or Gestapo agent then came over and informed me that there were satellites on the roof used to hold remote arraignments and that my iPad is going to interfere with the satellites and ruin the system. I swear it took every ounce of my self control not to first laugh in his face then scream in his face that this is 2010 not 1910. But I realized that I would only make things worse and wussed out. By the way the woman in front of me had a Kindle electronic book and I was so jealous that the Gestapo didn't stop her. I wanted to rat her out but didn't (note to self disguise your iPad around electronics Nazi's).
So at the end of a long day I had to decide was this a good experience or a bad experience and I have to admit it was a bad good experience. It could have been a good good experience but the idiotic behavior of the geriatric gestapo and the late panel and drawn out Voir Dire by the judge made it bad. The good experience was seeing my fellow citizens doing there part by suffering along side of me.
