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!!)