A day at jury duty

About a week ago I discovered a misplaced piece of my mail, not a wedding invitation, or thank you card, or credit card bill, but possibly the worst kind ever: a jury summons dated July 27th. Alarms went off in my mind as my eyes fell on the intimidating red bold print threatening possible fines and jail time for those who don't respond. I called the number listed on the summons, and after spending way too long talking to automated machines and getting disconnected twice, I was finally connected to a real person: "Sure, no problem, I'll give you a new date right now, when is good for you?" I decided I wanted to get this out of the way before school started so I asked for today, August 25th.

I went in this morning, and was greeted by a humorous, jolly court employee who had the perfect sarcastic comments at just the right times. He put on a video for us to watch, the highlight of which was a dramatization (ya know, Unsolved Mysteries style) of the ways people were tried in the 1800s, before there were juries. It was hilarious, hilarious! Apparently one way to figure out if someone was innocent or guilty was to tie them up and throw them in the lake. If they sank they were innocent, if they floated they had some explaining to do. The video went on to explain how valued the jurors are and the various ways we could plan on being pampered throughout the day: public pay phones, vending machines, bathrooms for men and women, ahh, you had me at pay phones Supreme Court of Brooklyn, you had me at pay phones.

I was actually not dreading my day as a juror. A friend of mine told me that he just sat in the main room all day on his laptop doing work. I planned accordingly and brought two different literature books. (I'm such a nerd!) I was all snuggled up in a good seat when my name was called. That's where the adventure began. Well, not really for me anyway. There were about 50 of us herded into a back room, then up to a court room on the 21st floor. Sixteen jurors at a time were interviewed by the lawyers.

It seemed to me less like juror questioning and more like group therapy. People talked about being victims of crimes, all crimes, large and small. No matter what the crime they were always asked if that experience would influence their opinion of the trial. Let me just say, I will NEVER again take for granted good question answerers. It was a little painful listening to adults...ADULTS(!) not answer the questions they were asked. I have to hand it to the judge though, she had the patience of a kindergarten teacher, always rephrasing her question when she didn't get the response she was looking for, or a response period.

I was not one of the first or second group of 16 to be interviewed today, so my adventure continues tomorrow...when señorita in the city, becomes señorita on the juror stand. ;)