Jury Duty: Jury Selection

I knew when I got my US Citizenship, I’ll be selected to do jury duty.  On January 31, I had my first experience going into the court house and went through the jury selection process. I heard many bad things about it.  The hardship that it could cause to spend weeks, without pay.  Some say it was a major inconvenience. Well, it might be all that, but at least I’m not laying my life down for the country, like enlisting in the military. This was the least I could do to give back.

The first time I stepped into the jury registration area, I was pleasantly surprised by the amenities.  The waiting area has comfortable seats, they showed a movie while we waited, and free Wi-Fi.  I was actually 30 minutes late of my appointment, but that didn’t seem to matter.  They had hundreds of people to process, so it took them a while anyway.  Everyone seemed relaxed.  There was a cafeteria near by and a patio area for smokers.    It may not be the most modern facility, but it was comfortable.  There were many people who brought their laptops and iPads.  I guess it’s a must since the wait took  hours.

My group went in around 11:30am and was told to come back at 2pm for the jury selection process.  I didn’t like the long breaks, but later on I found it was  necessary because they had to prepare the paperwork.  When they called us¹, we sat down and listened to the judge explained the civic duty of an American citizen, his own experience as a juror, and the court process.

I could tell the judge is a nice guy.  He tried his best to keep us informed, but at the same time, kept it light.  The case was actually a very serious criminal crime, so sometimes a little humor did lighten the stress and nervousness.

The jury selection went on to the second day, and by now everyone was feeling good they won’t be picked. To our surprise, they went through at least 4 rounds of jury alternates, and also removing some of the previously selected jurors.  To MY surprise, I was chosen.  The judge, DA, and defense lawyer asked me what I do for a living, whether or not I have bad experience with law enforcement, knew anyone involved in the case, my thoughts on rape/prostitution/pimping, my view on DNA science reliability, and my potential emotional state.  I told them my only concern was the age of this case (more than 14 years), but they assured me there would be explanations for it.  So I had no issues being selected.

By the end of the day, I was finally sworn in, along with 13 other jurors². I felt a sense of exhilaration, and some reprehension if I was up for the job. Either way, I was ready to dive right into the case.

1. About 125 people. [↩]
2. 12 official, 2 alternates [↩]

Tags: civic duty, court, jury, people