Well, I’ve just completed a week of jury duty. I can’t even begin to explain the emotions and thoughts that went through my head as the trial progressed. Some parts were so boring that even the judge began to nod off. Other parts were so interesting that I had thoughts of becoming an attorney. (Not really!)
It didn’t take the 30 minutes like it does on Law & Order but did resemble parts of the show. There were 12 of us jurors – total of 14 if you count the alternates. The court reporter typed away at her machine anytime someone said something. There was the prosecutor, defense attorney and defendant sitting at several tables and a whole lot of witnesses came and went. At one point, when crime scene technicians were testifying, I felt like I had switched the TV channel to CSI: Miami.
The attorneys constantly asked to approach the bench or argued outright. During those times, the jury had to leave the courtroom so we spent a lot of time marching back and forth to the jury room. At least it gave us a chance to take those necessary ‘bio’ breaks and have some refreshments.
I was a bit overwhelmed by the responsibilities of serving on a jury but am proud that I was able to take an active role in exercising one of our citizen rights.
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