jury duty

Today I went to criminal court, to serve jury duty. I had never been before, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I kept trying to convince myself it would just be some traffic violation, or breaking and entering of some sort. But the case I got called to was a murder case, the defendant was charged with two counts of 1st degree murder and one case of 1st degree attempted murder, I think. I don't know exactly, as soon as she started talking about a medical examiner being a potential witness I knew I was in trouble, and had a hard time listening closely after that.

I was one of 28 people pulled to sit in the jury box and answer questions about whether or not we knew people in law enforcement, or had been victims of crimes. I realized I've been really lucky, there's a lot of terrible things people can go through. And they also asked if anyone had been charged with a crime, which a surprising number of people said yes to. Then they all had to say what it was and how long ago, which has to feel strange to do in front of so many people. There was quite a variety listed: a DUI, possession of controlled substances, someone was charged with assault when they were 11, hitting a police officer 35 years ago, passing a bad check, handgun possession. Nothing major, but still a number of secrets aired out among strangers.

Obviously I wouldn't be able to talk about this if I had been chosen. They sent us on break, and when we came back they read a list of names of people who were dismissed, and thankfully I was one of them. I do think being on a jury could be interesting in the future, but I will still keep hoping for a basic traffic violation. If the defendant really didn't do it, then I hope that's what the jury finds. I'm glad I don't have to spend the rest of the week listening to people trying to convince me that he did.