Note: Get a cup of coffee. This is going to be a long post.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, civic duty...cornerstone of our justice system...best in all the world...blah, blah, blah. Let me just be clear: I HATE JURY DUTY!!! Hate it, hate it, hate it. I have yet to have a "good" experience, or, at the very least, a "that wasn't so bad" experience, and yesterday was NO exception.
My court experience this time: Municipal court. Misdemeanors. Usually one day trials that aren't too exciting. I've been called by this court before, but always had the case settle the night before so that I didn't have to go.
Wednesday night I called the number, fully expecting the case to be settled, but alas, that was not so. I was not so lucky this time. And I was disappointed.
But I got to the courthouse early enough to get a parking spot...something that didn't happen the last time I was called, and then waited with other prospective jurors for the court to actually open. It was past 8:00, and I was already thinking..."Not a good sign." It wasn't.
Eventually we got going. They numbered us, started asking their questions, and somewhere in the process announced that it's really jury elimination, not selection. We'll start eliminating and then go through the first 6 (plus an alternate) who are left, and that will be our jury. Uh-oh. I was number 14. There was a good chance I would be left.
The basics of the case were that an elder lady, leaving a nail salon and pulling out onto a busy road, failed to see or stop as a bicycler on the sidewalk rode by. She clipped the front of the bicycle, throwing bike and rider out into the street. A car had to slam on its breaks to avoid the bike and was rear-ended by the car behind him. Meanwhile, elderly lady glared and possibly exchanged words at bike and then drove off. Ambulances were called to treat biker and driver of second car.
Eventually the lady was tracked down (there was a third car that got her license plate), denied hitting anyone (there were not scratches or dents on her vehicle), remembered seeing the bike "walk" by, and was charged with failure to remain at the scene of an accident and failure to report an accident.
After all this info and questioning, I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooo lucky to be the alternate juror. The judge said it's sort of like Miss America without the crown. Great! But it was a new experience. I've never been the alternate before.
I should back-track and say that I have, in the past, been known to be chosen to serve on juries the way that some people win lotteries. I can't win a lottery, but I've got a really good chance of getting called to serve, and probably even being chosen for the jury. I'm just "lucky" that way.
I should also back-track and say that I was having the best hair day in months! I knew when I left the house that they would probably choose me because my hair was lookin' so darn great. I also think that's why I was made the alternate. The lawyers knew that with hair like mine, it would totally distract the other jurors from the facts. What a waste of a good-hair day.
There turned out to be a lot more "behind the scenes" wrangling than is usually the case. We were sent out of the court room several times for longer than anticipated while they worked out technicalities. This put everything behind schedule. They ended up even ordering in lunch for us (which was the highlight of the day for me--besides my awesome hair) so they could try to make up time. It didn't work.
The prosecution called 3 witnesses. The guy who's car was rear-ended. The girl in the third car who wrote the licence plate number down. And the lady on the bike, who ended up having more serious injuries than first suspected. (By the way, she was wearing a bright yellow biker shirt with reflectors on it, and a bright pink helmet. It's illegal to ride on a sidewalk in a business district here, but the police officer said it didn't affect the charges against the other lady, and the biker was not ticketed for that.) The police lady who investigated the scene.
The defense only called one person. The elderly lady, and even that was after some wrangling about "if she doesn't testify it doesn't mean she's guilty" and scoldings of that sort from the judge directed toward us. Hello???? Have we watched a little too much LA Law?
Finally, about 4:00, the case went to the jury. I was thinking, "SLAM DUNK." Guilty. Let's go home. But I was not really a part of the process now. As an alternate I did not get to go in the jury room. I had to sit--IN THE HALL. And wait. And sit. And wait. And sit. And wait. Seriously.
At about 6:00 I was told to come back into the court room. It seemed the jury had reached an impasse. They were stuck at a vote of 4-2, but I do not know in which direction they were stuck.
The judge spanked them a little, told them it was their duty, blah, blah, blah...and sent them back in to continue working it out.
At 7:00 they came back out and said they might be able to get the job done if they could just see a copy of the transcript. She said, "No...that's what your notes are for." Personally, this is the second trial I've sat on where they said no to that request, and I don't get it. At the first trail we weren't even allowed to take notes (it was the 1980's), but at this one they did provide a note pad. My thinking is, if it helps have a "fair trail" then shouldn't the transcript be available??? If I were the defendant and the transcript my save me, I'd want it made available.
She gave them three options:
1) Go back and finish.
2) Come back in the morning and finish.
3) She would order in dinner if they thought they wanted to stay into the night. (Hello! We were already into the night.)
They opted for choice #1. Forty minutes later they returned a verdict of Guilty on both counts (which was the way I was leaning after hearing all the evidence). Sentencing was postponed until December. The biker broke down crying. I'm thinking she was waiting to see how this trail went before deciding to sue for damages, but that's just my guess.
I got home at 8:00, and made $25 for the day. Vegas, baby!
Really, I know that, thought he system is flawed, it's a good system, but I HATE JURY DUTY!!!!
The good news is that on Monday I can call the court and ask to be excused for the rest of my term since I have now served. You can bet I'll be making that call! :)
