Being Juror #5 (Part 2)

As I sat down, I looked over to the table in the middle of the room and see the prosecutor (a mousy little man), the district attorney (a tiny but very pregnant newlywed), and the defendant (a sunken faced man). It was a little somber.

The courtroom itself was totally not what I was expecting. I watch so much Law and Order to distort my expectations that I was a kind of let down. It was a rather plain room with 70s style wood paneling on all walls. The best part about it was that the jurors had the most comfortable seats! It’s the little things in life.

This isn't the courtroom I was in, but to give you a little idea of what it looks like.

So next comes probably the worst part about jury duty: juror selection. It takes FOREVER! The judge questions/talks to every jury about their Voir Dire form they filled out. He goes through the 12 jurors in the box, and then the 6 extra sitting in front. It was weird hearing him talk to all the older adults in front of me, saying they’ve been at their job longer than I’ve been alive. He asks them all sorts of questions having to do with their career, family, connections to police, education, everything. Then he gets to me.

My list was so short that he asked me where I go to school and for what, and pretty much moved on. Guess I passed the test? So 13 people later, it’s finally time for the lawyers to dismiss jurors that didn’t quite meet up to their standards. Within minutes they’ve thanked and excused 7 people. The nature of the case was sensitive so they needed to make sure the jurors were fair and basically didn’t come to any conclusions before the trial. I don’t really want to talk much about the case, but I will say it involved a young teenage girl and an older man.

Anyway, for those of you doing the math, you’ll realize that there are only 11 jurors left now, so it’s time for the judge to call 7 more up. Question the new 7. Send us home for the day and make us come back on Tuesday.

Tuesday morning rolls around, and we go through another 7. Thankfully, it stops at round 3 of questions and I’m still sitting nice and cozy in seat number 5. It’s kind of a cool feeling to be a juror. These lawyers think that you are honest and fair and competent enough to try their case. It took me a little to realize that I was as equal as the 70-something juror sitting next to me even though I’m only 19.

The trial itself went smoothly. It was only a few days long. It’s really amazing how many breaks the judge takes though. Two 20-minute breaks in the morning and afternoon, and sometimes a 2-hour lunch. The jurors are only there from 9-4:30, so that means we’re really only in the courtroom for a little less than 5 hours. I feel like we could be a little bit more productive and use this time more wisely.

Either way, I took the time that we did have very seriously. I took so many notes to make sure I didn’t miss anything and paid close attention to everything. The lawyers kindly reminded us that this was not going to be like Law and Order or CSI. They were right. People misspoke—especially them. The prosecutor especially would go round-and-round in questions, often asking the same one 3 or 4 times. Even at one time when he was trying to explain the DNA findings, he was confusing everyone because of the awkward questions he tried asking the expert witness. Thankfully, the judge was also confused and just had the witness explain it herself.

So after the lawyers are done comes deliberation. The bailiff guides us down a secure hallway, into a secure room that only he can open. It was a room on the corner so there was a great view of Sacramento. There was a table with 12 office chairs around it, an easel with paper, a corkboard, and a TV with DVD/VCR. There was also a bathroom because nobody could leave the room—how thoughtful.

(Still more to come!!)

Being Juror #5

Sometime last semester, I got a letter in the mail from the Sacramento County Judicial System asking me (not so politely) to come in for jury duty. Thankfully, I got to decline because I was 3,000 miles away and that would be one hell of a commute. However, my very honest mother told them not to worry and that I would be home for winter break. Well they found me during winter break.

I was a little peeved because my whole plan during break was to work as much as possible because—like any college student—I’m in desperate need of money. So this really screwed up my plans. But as it came closer, I got a little excited. It would be a cool new experience and kind of a break in the monotony of being at home.

My home for 4 days.

For those of you who have never been to jury duty before, it’s not glamorous at all…but it is pretty interesting if you people watch and observe all that you can. Honestly, I think the worst part of going was parking. My first day was easy because I got there at 7:20, a little before the other jurors. But the second day I had to find another lot. And boy am I terrible at navigating the city—so that was quite an adventure at 8 in the morning.

Once you get through the metal detectors and up to the second floor, you have to check in and then sit in the “Juror’s Assembly Room”. Awesome. It’s basically an airport with no planes to catch. They have the same exact chairs that are all connected and TVs that don’t play anything you want to watch.

So you’re in this room with a few hundred other people, and the woman behind the counter will call off a list of random names to go report to a courtroom. At this point, I’m not exactly sure if I want my name to be called or not, so I sit there anxiously half disappointed and half relieved that I don’t have to move.           

But eventually my name gets called and I report to the fourth floor to Grand Courtroom 29. Apparently they love to make you wait, because this is just another place to stand/sit around until you hear your name called. Luckily though, I don’t have to wait long. After the bailiff steps out, he calls my name fifth and I take the seat as Juror #5.

(More to come later!)

New Semester

So obviously my goal to post blogs failed miserably when I was at home, so I’m going to start over. I love to write and sometimes it gets a little old to write papers for classes all the time. But since I do have to write the aforementioned papers, I may not have as much time to post regularly (but it’s not like I really ever did anyway!)

This semester is going to be very busy. I’m taking 5 classes…3 of which require me to write papers often. Honors Greek Tragedy is probably going to challenge me the most. While I enjoy reading plays and learning about Greek history along the way…if you’ve ever picked up a play by Sophocles, you know that it’s really not the easiest thing to get through. Thankfully my professor is very knowledgeable about Greece and it’s history in general and is very well versed in its literature. I’ve only had one class with him, but he seems to present it in a fun way and still teach us a lot.

I’m excited for my Media Studies class as well—after all, it is my major. I wasn’t able to take a media studies class last semester because they didn’t offer what I had to take, so it’s so nice to get back to what I love. Media affects us all so many times a day we don’t even keep track. As you’re reading this, you’re being affected. It’s truly amazing how much technology has taken over and engrained itself in our daily lives.

One of the best parts about this semester though, is that I only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I did this on purpose though to make room for my internship at the Green Bride Guide. I’m so excited to start as a content editor intern sometime next week. I’ll post links to what I write! But, since it hasn’t started, I get a really long weekend—made even longer because we got a snow day on Thursday!

I cannot believe how much snow is on the ground. Connecticut got over 2 feet earlier in the month (when I wasn’t here thankfully) and none of it has melted. So on top of that, we got a little over a foot of snow Wednesday night. The guys that clear the roads and walkways on our campus stayed overnight to get everything ready in the morning. But lucky us, classes were canceled even though the snow stopped before sunrise. Here are some pictures outside my residence hall.

Overlooking Sleeping Giant

Library to the left.

I didn’t realize why they called for a snow day until I had to go bail out my car. Thankfully one of my residents helped me—it was a semi-big job. Because I didn’t have a shovel, we literally had to dig my car out. The snow was all the way up to the middle of the tires and the entire front of my car was covered in a shelf of snow. It took us about ten minutes. My poor little California car got a big taste of this terrible New England Winter! I'm just glad I didn't have to do this by myself, early in the morning!