It's official! I am now mired in the jury selection process...ARRGHHH!! After an unsatisfying lunch, I reported back to court and was brought into the courtroom with 65-70 other people that compose the potential pool for our trial. All my Facebook karma gave me absolutely no love today! I got stuck on a CRIMINAL trial of the worst kind - gang involved shooting. The judge seems to think it will take about a week including deliberations, but I have my doubts given how much time she spent today questioning just the first 12 candidates.
Of course, some of these folks are not only dumb as rocks but have never served on a jury before, so I guess I have a little sympathy for the judge. But for those of us not living under rocks that have been watching Law and Order for years, it was a boring doctoral dissertation on the American justice system and our responsibility to set our opinions aside and consider only the evidence in reaching a verdict. Although occasionally the questions bordered on bullying, in my opinion. Here's a sample exchange from today:
Judge: "Have you ever been a victim of a crime involving gang activity?"
Juror: "Well, I grew up in East LA and gangs were pretty much a way of life. Two of my cousins were killed in drive-by shootings, my brother is paralyzed from being shot, and I've been shot myself."
Judge: "But do you think you can objectively evaluate the evidence in this case and be impartial when reaching a verdict?"
Really??? Personally I think this guy deserves a free pass on being "impartial." If you're really honest with yourself, how can your judgment not be impacted by that much personal trauma? If this was Runaway Jury, Gene Hackman would have already gotten this dude dismissed and started moving on to the rest of the pool. We've still got 60 people left!! But our judge seems determined to get everyone to promise to be impartial regardless of their personal history. Let's get real already!
So after 2 1/2 hours of stupid Q&A and idiot answers, we all get to come back tomorrow and do it again. Since tomorrow is Friday and it's been a crappy day, I think a Top Ten list is in order to cheer me up....
Top Ten Reasons to Hate Jury Duty
10) 2 hours of traffic getting home9) Lousy cafeteria food
8) Courthouse equipped with slowest elevators on the planet
7) Flip flops violate court dress code
6) Free parking 5 blocks from the courthouse...uphill!
5) Stare-down from bailiff prevents nap time during boring patches
4) Unattractive "Juror" badge clashes with otherwise perfect outfit
3) No time for mid-afternoon Starbucks refresher
2) Uncomfortable chairs
1) No Internet access for hourly Sully contract watch
I'm hoping some better karma kicks in tomorrow and I get kicked out!
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