Sarah Goes to Jury Duty

It’s a normal day in late April, I arrive home from a long day of work, tired and hungry and blissfully unaware of what awaited me on the kitchen table. I waltz in the house not even thinking there might be mail for me, as I walk down the hall I hear a voice trailing from the living room. “There’s something for you on the table, and you’re NOT going to like it”. My heart falls through my bowels. I turn and walk back to the kitchen. There it is, a 5×7 notecard, emblazoned in red letters “YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED”. Nooooo! The day I’ve dreaded for years. I had successfully avoided this moment 6 years in a row, now my number was up. I quickly got on the court website to see about disqualifying myself. No joy. (For you modern Mommie’s out there, you can automatically postpone service if you are breastfeeding, and may be excused if you are the only one who can care for your children.) There was nothing I could do. This was it, now all I could do was try to live normally for the next 2 weeks, and work to ignore the cloud looming overhead, jurydutiousonimbus. Looking back, it actually rained every day I had to be at the courthouse, odd for May in my hometown. It was like the universe was crying for me.

The day before I had to appear, I scoured the internet for tips. This helped me immensely, so I thought I’d add my testimony *wink wink* to the pile, in hopes that it will assist the many more souls desperately searching for refuge on the uncharted sea of jury duty.

Here’s what you should know:

Before you leave the house-

Pack a reusable water bottle and snacks if you aren’t a fan of vending machine fare. Be sure to bring distractions, a book, a smart phone, a tablet, sudoku, something, anything to stave off boredom while waiting around. Bring tissue, or as in my case, a wad of toilet paper just in case of snot. Hand sanitizer and lip balm are also a good idea. Also be sure to bring your summons. This is how you will gain access to the jury room.

Now that you are ready to go-

1. Be a little early to make sure you have time to get a good parking spot and walk to the courthouse. And go to the bathroom before check-in. And have enough time to go through security. So if proceedings start at 9 get there by at least 8:40. Don’t make everyone wait around for you, because things can’t get started until everyone is there.

2. Going through security. It’s less invasive than TSA but there are still metal detectors and gray bins. Leave everything in your bag, even large electronics, and only remove shoes if told to do so. They are only screening for weapons so feel free to walk through with your latte and full water bottle.

3. Follow the directions of the jury coordinators and check-in. Then just wait….. until further instructions are given.

4. After the initial orientation, one of the coordinators will start reading the potential jurors names off in alphabetical order. Pray your name isn’t called. If it isn’t you will be excused and will not have to return. If it is….

5. You will then be led into the courtroom for voir dire (the question and answer part). You will stand and be sworn in. Like to secrecy regarding all details you are about to hear regarding the trial. The judge will explain the charges against the defendant and introduce all court staff. The court clerk will call the names of all you potential jurors, this time at random. If and when your name is called, you and all the other fortunate souls will get in the jury box and answer questions about any hardship you may have or possible bias you might be harboring. This takes forever so be prepared. Be honest in your answers. Don’t try to make up a bias or hardship because you will be called out on it. But if you do have a genuine reason to be excused, speak up. They want you to be forthright, but do everyone a favor and keep your answers relevant to the case at hand. This is a long process so don’t make it any longer than necessary. For example, one young potential juror, when asked if anyone had ever previously been in a courtroom, went in to a several minute anecdote about the one time he almost had to attend court, but in the end never actually went. There are 7 minutes none of us will ever get back, and for what? An answer to a question that wasn’t even asked. So for the love of all that is right and pure, be reasonable when deciding what to say. When everyone has answered the judge and attorney’s questions. The attorney’s will dismiss any jurors they think are not right for the case. Then the process starts anew until all 12 spots and 1-3 alternate spots are filled. In my jury experience it took a day and a half to make the complete jury. Ugh.

6. By now hopefully you have been dismissed. If not, you will now be experiencing the trial. Either as one of the 12 or as an alternate. I was selected as alternate juror #1. As an alternate juror you must sit with the jury throughout the course of the trial listening and making notes etc. just like a regular juror, however you do not deliberate on a verdict with the 12 unless one of them is incapacitated in some way. When they are excused for deliberations, you are excused from court and put on call until a verdict is reached. Being on call means you promise to be reachable by phone and within about 30min of the courthouse on days and times the court is in session until a verdict is reached. Again, just in case one of the 12 jurors is incapable of continuing deliberations. I was never called to fill in on deliberations, so I unfortunately have no tips on how to survive that. As an alternate, when a verdict is reached you will be contacted with the option of attending court to hear it, or be told over the phone. After that happens, all jurors are excused from service and you can now live your life like a normal person.

What I learned from jury duty:

First off, while very inconvenient, jury duty is not as scary as I imagined it would be. Yes, as an introvert, answering questions in front of a courtroom full of people was intimidating. However, the judge and attorneys are actually quite nice and everyone else has to be quiet, so it was actually pretty ok. Secondly, there are specific instructions for everything so don’t worry that you won’t know what to do. You will be told how to conduct yourself and how to do your job ad nauseam, to borrow a lawyer’s phrase. Thirdly, details of the case can be graphic. So depending on the nature of the charges be prepared for things to get real. The case I was assigned to was not of a disturbing nature, however I did find myself crying during a witness testimony, due to the utterly depressing state of the individuals life, and had to quickly compose myself. This is real life, not a tv show, (the only previous experience I had of a courtroom) so just be ready for that. I’m a sensitive person by nature so that may have had something to do with the tears. If this isn’t something you’re comfortable with speak up in voir dire. Lastly, I learned how much I didn’t actually know about the legal system. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was an “enriching experience”, as the juror instructional videos would have you believe, it was interesting and enlightening.

All in all, jury duty is fine. It’s not that it’s enjoyable, but it’s not terrible either. The worst part is the time suck that is involved and sometimes the nature of the trial. While your jury experience might not be exactly like mine, I hope that what I went through can help prepare you for this little slice of life we all get served *wink again* sooner or later.

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