I got there at 8:00, sat around until 9:15 when the judge came in and said, "Hey, things are going along pretty well. Looks like we'll be doing things around 10:30 or so. You guys can tale a break but be back here by 10:00"
I went over to McDonalds to get some bad breakfast and was back in the jury room by 9:50.
At 10:30, they took us all (There were 18 of us) into the court room, had us raise our right hands and swear that we would be good jurors. Well, the words were a bit different than that but that's the gist.
After we swore to God about how good we were going to jurify, we all sat down and they called us up to meet the judge & the two attorneys (prosecutor and defense) at "side bar". I was excited by the prospect of going to a bar with the judge and the attorneys so you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that "side bar" meant standing to the side of the judges desk.
So anyways, they all had the questionnaires we had filled out explaining about what we did and who we knew and where we hung out and they asked me questions about what I had written. They were specially interested in the fact I had attended the Mass Sate Police academy and spent three years on the WENC Campus Police Dept.
After they asked me their questions and we all had a good chortle at something the judge said, I was told I was Juror Number One!!! and I that should take a seat over there in the jury box in Seat Number One!!!
After they had seated seven of us (the jury is six members and one alternate), the long-haired hippie looking defense attorney went back to his goatee & man-bun sportin' client to confer with him. They were mumbling about things & looking at our questionnaires and I knew they were talking about me because I heard my first name get mumbled a couple of times.
After about 30 seconds of mumbling and head shaking, the defense attorney said to the clerk, "Number One".
With those two words, I was relegated back to my previous status of non-juror, told by the judge that the commonwealth appreciated my service and then sent on my way.
I'd like to say that I enjoyed serving my civic duty of being a jury of someones peers but I can't because to be honest with you, it was boring as hell and I'm glad I don't have to go again for another three years.
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While I savor my 10 minutes of jury glory, you can click on these links:
- Yes, alcohol was involved.
- Yes, even more alcohol was involved.
- Good safety tip.
- Only in Pennsylvania.
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