Monday Funday- Jury Duty

Monday, I fulfilled my civic duty and reported to the county courthouse for jury duty.

I was on time, respectful, and courteous.

In the end was faced with only one boring Voir Dire, and was rewarded with precious, precious freedom. Freedom from jury duty that is, as I really was in no danger of losing my freedom unlike the defendant, who by the looks of him was in serious danger of loosing that very thing.

You know the old saying, “if you ever get into trouble with the law, your fate is likely to be determined by twelve people who are not even smart enough to get out of jury duty”. In my experience this in not really the case at all.

For most people it is really a numbers and waiting game. If you get called to served, you may get chosen for a possible jury. If you are in the prospective jury, you still have about a 50/50 chance of sitting in the jury box. From there it really has little to do with brainpower, but more of circumstance. The Voir Dire, the question and answer process is there to weed out the biased, and for both sides so jockey for a better prospective position.

The thing is you do swear to tell the truth, so unless you LIE(not recommended) or are lucky (as I was this time) you are stuck. Stuck that is unless you are one of the following, then you pretty much have a free pass:

The Knower: This is the person who knows the defendant, the prosecutor, or knows just too much about the crime. They will ask you, you will tell them, and you will be walking out the door faster than you can say “dismissed for cause”.

The Cop: Work in law enforcement, you’re an forensic expert, work as expert witness? Say goodbye to the jury clerk for me as you get your days compensation.

The Victim: Been a victim of a crime? A crime like the one going to trial? A close family member you say? Hate the system who railroaded you/your loved ones? The court would like to thank you for your service, you are excused.

The Inconvenienced: Got a big sob story? You’re the only one who can give shots to your grandmothers diabetic cats since she has passed? Have a medical condition that keeps you from serving in a reasonably comfortable matter? Why you got past the jury clerk is a mystery to us all, please be excused the with courts appreciation.

In short if you are on the jury you are not automatically stupid but don’t rule it our either. To be on the jury you’re just not lucky. Lucky with the numbers, or happen to be one of the four above.