Jury Duty Fun
By NONOBADKITTY! 2:33 pm Friday December 2nd, 2011
Yes, people, I got called for jury duty this week and ended up not only having to go down to the courthouse but ended up on a jury. Fortunately it wasn’t a long drawn out trial like that marijuana trial goin’ on down there (which started jury selection the same week I had jury duty.) Good thing too because I don’t think I could be impartial because I know a bit about that case.
Anyway, I was bummed to find out that the new courthouse they’ve been threatening to build still isn’t done (not even close, most recent estimate is it will be done end of 2013 which means realistically it’ll be done in 2015.) Too bad too because the current courthouse uhm … shall we say leaves a lot to be desired, from the urine smell penetrating the hallways, to the cramped jury assembly room, to the seriously overcrowded conditions and lack of courtrooms, to the lack of parking, to the ceilings falling down in bathrooms, to the escalators that STILL don’t work (EVERY time I’ve been to the courthouse in the last thirty years at least one of those damn escalators didn’t work. This time I think they’ve finally given up on them, I only saw ONE in working order in the 6 floor building, so do the math.
And this time I was stuck there for three days. Ugh. Oh well, on the bright side California now pays jurors $15/day after their first day (instead of the $5/day they paid for years and years.) Oh, and there was a Subway across the street LOL. Most of the eating joints in the area are WAY overpriced so it was nice to be able to find my old reliable “lunch of choice” nearby. Oh and one other highlight was the protestors for one of those “Occupy” things there … maybe 10-20 people woot! But they didn’t seem to actually be “protesting”, most of what I saw were just people standing around talking or sleeping in the park (the park is one that used to be full of homeless people, and if it hadn’t been for a few signs, I would have thought that’s all it was.) There were also a few protestors outside the court house because of that marijuana trial too, I SO wanted to talk to ‘em but the judge’s instructions were not to talk to ANYONE lest it be misconstrued (you never know who might be somehow linked to the case you’re on.)
Anyway, as for the actual trial, I won’t give out details for privacy reasons (mine and the people involved) but I have to say that I was impressed with the other jurors, it was a diverse group and no one was a prick who insisted they were right and everyone else was wrong, and everyone was willing to discuss things out, go over things that were troubling, etc. I would have been glad to have ALL of them on a jury if I was ever accused of something. And I feel good about the decision we made. It’s always hard to have someone’s fate in your hands but I think we did the right thing, based on the evidence.
So, all in all I have to say it wasn’t bad doing my duty. I’ve whined a bit about “having to” serve before, and I was on a trial once eons ago, when I was somewhat tormented by the case and the decision we made (even though I still think we did make the right one, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for people sometimes.) But this time I feel good about it and what the outcome was.
So all you out there who bitch and moan about jury duty, get over it! If you REALLY don’t want to serve, commit a felony haha. Or just don’t bother to register to vote or get a driver’s license/ID card from the DMV (but don’t drive without a license or you just might end up on the “wrong side” of a trial someday.)


















