Jury duty is one of those things I wish I could write about in great detail, except, of course, it’s one of those things I can only write about in the vaguest of terms. I can’t, of course, talk about the case at all, but at least I can talk about the process.
So, yes, I was selected. The trial is a long one, partly due to the fact that it is a complex, serious criminal case, and partly due to the fact that (unlike in television and the movies) the criminal justice system in the real world moves at what sometimes seems a glacially slow pace.
To wit – the jury selection process. Panel C (yes, there were panels A, and B as well) arrived on a Thursday morning at 8:30. At around 10:00 we were called into the courtroom where the basics of the case were announced, and we were asked if we had any hardship exemptions (fitting into a narrow set of categories). Those who did were allowed to hang out and plead their case, those who did not (or whose exemptions were not granted) were sent back to the main jury assembly room to fill out a 20+ page questionnaire.
We all returned on Monday afternoon, at which point a few more folks were dismissed based on information in their questionnaires. Sum total of time spent was about 45 minutes. We were asked to return the following morning.
The next day, what was left of panels A, B, and C (about 100 people) then entered the formal voir dire process. Twelve people were called to the jury box, and the judge began the process of questioning each person, one by one. If something in the responses indicated a bias, the person was dismissed, and a new person was called, and that person was then questioned. This went on until the judge had 12 people in the jury box who he felt were not biased. I was the last of the people to be seated in this way.
At this point, the attorneys had a chance to ask questions of the jurors. Each of them went through a list of questions, then they were given a chance to dismiss for cause, or to make peremptory challenges. Several jurors were eliminated through this process, as each was dismissed, a new person was brought up, and the questioning process (first from the judge, then by the attorneys) started again for each new person, until finally there were twelve jurors and no requests to dismiss.
Then we repeated the same process to get the alternate jurors. The entire voir dire/selection process took two full days. Since they’d allotted another day to select the jury, and Fridays are often off (judge attends to other business), and Monday was a holiday, we returned the following Tuesday to start the actual trial.
This was last week. The schedule only had us in court on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday as planned off days, but since the judge was sick on Wednesday, we all showed up… and were sent right back home.
Starting tomorrow, we’re supposed to have five straight days. Of course, even “full days” aren’t that full. We arrive at 9:30, are dismissed for lunch from 12:00-1:30, and are dismissed at 4:30. There’s at least one break (of about 15 minutes) in the morning and in the afternoon, though often there are more breaks. Each break, the jury has to file in and out, and retreat to the jury deliberation room. Often, the breaks go over by a few minutes, so overall, the actual time in the courtroom is less.
I’m not sure I’d wish the days to be longer – time in the courtroom is exhausting. Having to stay as mentally focused as we do and listen to complex arguments and testimony is exhausting, but at the same time, part of me wishes that the days could be somehow made more efficient so that we had to show up for fewer of them.
Meanwhile, I’m doing my best to keep up with my job in the early mornings, and via BlackBerry during the day. I could also bring my laptop (there’s wifi available) but so far I’ve been able to keep up with what I need to by emailing on the BlackBerry and joining a few calls here and there. It’s one less thing for me to schlep back and forth each day, too!
The weather’s been (mostly) great, so it’s been nice to leave the courthouse at lunch and go out to the picnic tables out back, or to sit on a bench or in the grass closer to Lake Merritt. This week’s weather will be a bit more iffy, but hopefully I can get out and get some fresh air anyway. Plus, it’s close enough to walk (about a 30 minute walk), so I’ll get the morning and afternoon time outside.
The jury room is cozy for the 16 of us, but comfortable enough, with private bathrooms for the jurors (much better than being out in the public areas, where the bathrooms are woefully small for the number of people using them), plus a water cooler, fridge, microwave, and coffee maker. At least that makes it easier to bring a lunch!