i had talked with a few people who had recently done jury duty and to summarize, they said you sit there for the first day and work on whatever you brought. then they either tell you to come back on the second day and you sit there for the second day or half of it, or they tell you that you're on call for the rest of the week and you're off the hook. easy as that.
so when my monday came around, i went to work, grabbed my laptop and a bunch of things to do and headed on my marry way. fully expecting to get a lot of work done, have a nice quiet day, and maybe get some of my book read (the hunger games!). i got there early, as i always do, found a seat in the back corner near an outlet and got set up. the lady came on the speaker to give us our instruction and i skimmed over the jury handbook. after our orientation, i got to work entering invoices for work. about 15 minutes later, the lady was back and indicated she would be calling about 30 of us for a trial. ok, there's gotta be a good 200+ people in the room so not too likely i will be called. they went in alphabetical order so of course i had to wait until the end. phew, i wasn't called. back to entering invoices. 15 minutes later she's back, says another 30 will be called and i know with my luck there's no way i'm escaping a second round. i sit and ponder if i will actually be called or not for a little bit but then figure it's gonna be me. so i begin to pack up my things as i know it will take me a while to get everything together. before i'm finished, i hear my name. well so much for my preconceived notions...
we are corraled into 2 elevators and taken up to the 13th floor. i will pause here for a moment to say that the ramsey county court house building is actually very cool to see. just about everything is original in the building including the wood panelling on the walls and the elevators. very cool to see, although the elevators were a bit nerve wracking. i wish i would have taken some pictures of the building itself and the cool, old, little features. for example, they still had the old mail tubes exposed so you could see them. i'll have to go back there sometime just to take pictures.
once we get to the 13th floor in the padded wall elevators we are guided into an empty court room. it is similar to what i was expecting in some regards but very different in others. it was very small. with the judge's raised seating area, the witness stand next to that, then the jurors box, a table in front of the jurors box for the defense and the prosecution (they share, strange to me), a fenced/gated area you have to go through to get to any of these areas, then a bunch of wooden benches for people to watch the trial. again i wish i would have taken pictures, even just of the empty one we were housed in.
we were given a short brief of what the trial we were up for consisted of: it involved the death of a 2 year old child and we would have to see autopsy pictures of the child's body. yikes! here is where my nerves started rolling and didn't really stop for the entire 2 weeks... after the briefing and little bit of q and a, we were given a long questionaire to fill out for the judge and attorney's to go over in order to begin the jury selection process. once we finished the questionaire, we were free for the day but had to return at 845 the next morning. i, unlike most of my jury-mates, went to work for the remainder of the day. the nerves stayed at bay a bit as i was in a comfortable place (work) and kept my mind busy with work.
tuesday morning we reported back to our empty courtroom on the 13th floor and were not given much direction/details. after about an hour we were called into the actual courtroom where the trial would take place and told that they were mulling over our questionaires and might pull some individual people in for questioning. and here is where the almost unbearable nerves set in for a couple of days. not only was i feeling nervous just being there and unsure of what was going to happen, but then i, who hates being the center of attention, would have to go into a room full of people and be in the spotlight and answer questions. tuesday was one of the longest days of my life. i spent 8 nervous hours on a wooden bench. thank goodness for my kindle, but still one can only divert the mind for so long. a lot of people were called in and some were let go shortly afterward, but in the end, i wasn't called in for individual questioning. i sighed a big breath of relief when we were dismissed at the end of the day. then i realized that i didn't know what that meant. was that because i wasn't going to be chosen? or was it because i was? or did they see in my questionaire that i was stressed due to wedding planning and thus didn't want me? i got to my car in the parking ramp and i couldn't keep the tears from coming. i had spent a horrible, nervous 8 hours on a wooden bench and had no idea what was to come for me.
wednesday morning we reported to our empty courtroom again and were told we'd be ushered into the actual court room for some group questions. we were told to once again sit in the wooden benches in the back of the courtroom but that they would be seating people in the jury box as a start to get jury members but that it was no way indicative of who would be on the jury. so we all sit down and they were explaining where the first person was to sit when they were called. during this time i'm thinking, 'ok hopefully i'm not called but if i am, i'm a "w" so i should be at the end so i can see where/how everyone else goes up there.' then, in a flash, the first name is called: it's my name (heart sinks). seriously? first? gulp. i almost trip on my way up to the box and luckily they call the second name right away so i can feel like the pressure is off me. once they sat the 14 of us in the box and 6 more of us in front of the box they were ready to begin the questioning. and of course, i'm first. i'm never first. i don't like to be first. i don't want to be first. i'm NEVER first. i'm a "w" or at the very least a "v." i'm do NOT want to go first, i don't know what they're gonna ask about, i am freaking out at this point! but here comes the questions, no turning back now.
the defense starts. i get absolutely drilled by her regarding my answers to questions on the questionaire. everything from al and his criminal justice degree to my relationship with cops to my wedding planning stress to my beliefs and morals to whether or not i think i can be true and fair to if i can deal with seeing autopsy pictures to if i can focus for a multiple day trial. she drills me for 15 minutes. it was horrible (actually in hind sight not that bad, i was just really nervous and felt like i was being tested or that my being a good person was being questioned. in reality, they were just trying to get to know me). then the prosecution drills me less hard for 5 more minutes. then they move on. finally! we have to sit there for most of the day listening to all 20 people get questioned. and mostly, the same questions over and over again. another long day but at least the chairs are comfortable. we are sent back to the empty court room. we sit for a while then are told they will seat the actual jury and we are to go back and sit in the wooden bench area again so they can seat the actual jury. i am hoping that i will be dismissed (i'd like to see a trial but i already had stress and i'd had enough of the nerves). they call the first name. i'm pretty sure i gasped. it was me. i was number one juror all along; not a doubt in anyone's mind (except mine) that i'd be up there....
they sat the rest of the jury and i didn't even listen, i couldn't. i had too much running through my mind and i was having a hard time holding back the tears. we were dismissed and i bolted for the elevator. of course, it was packed and it stopped at almost every floor on the way down. i needed to get out of there and i needed to be alone. when we reached the ground floor i took off. i walked as fast as i could while trying to look/act normal. i got to my truck and the flood gates opened. i balled straight for a good 5 minutes. how could i be expected to make a desicion that affected the rest of someone's life? especially when i can't even decide what to eat for lunch? or what i'm gonna do on a given night because i don't want to affect someone else, especially negatively. or when i over think everything and still can't make a decision to save my life. i am probably one of the most indecisive people in the world. and now i am responsible for what may or may not happen to the life of a 22 year old boy.
i didn't want to do it. i think i repeated that sentence 300 times within those 2 weeks. i didn't want to do it. i had no idea what to expect (i like to be prepared and i totally wasn't for this). i eventually bucked up and realized i'd just have to do it and do it to the best of my ability. i didn't sleep well that night even though i was exhausted. it's funny how being nervous and worrying for so many days in a row can really take it out of you.
i didn't want to do it. i think i repeated that sentence 300 times within those 2 weeks. i didn't want to do it. i had no idea what to expect (i like to be prepared and i totally wasn't for this). i eventually bucked up and realized i'd just have to do it and do it to the best of my ability. i didn't sleep well that night even though i was exhausted. it's funny how being nervous and worrying for so many days in a row can really take it out of you.
the next day (thursday) was the start of the trial. we had to report to the empty court room every morning before going into trial. we waited for about an hour until we were called in. we took a seat, the judge reminded us that we were still under oath and that we were not supposed to talk about the case to anyone or look up anything on the case online or other places. rumor had it that our trial was in the local news at the time. then the trial started, the first witness was called. i was so relieved that the trial had started and the first witness was done; i kind of knew what to expect for the trial from then on out. although i knew the deliberations were coming and that part may be hard for me, i figured that was still a ways off. so i focused on the trial.
jury duty - part 2: "the trial" coming soon.
jury duty - part 2: "the trial" coming soon.
1 comment:
Keep going please....
Love, Stretch
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