Last week I finished a three day stint in jury duty and it was definitely an interesting experience. The last time I was called I was living in San Francisco and I never made it to the jury box. However, this time by process of elimination and lots of people BS’ing there way out of the responsibility, I found myself in chair #12. It was an experience not to be missed. I am not sure why so many people work so hard trying to weasel there way out of it. I get if something really critical is going on in your life or if you just can’t miss paid work because your employer doesn’t cover the cost, but other than that, jury is an experience that I could advocate for. After the judge interviewed all of us, I was quite impressed with the diversity of our panel. There are quite a few diverse places in our country but nothing seems to match NYC. Everything from a lawyer, CPA, Starbuck’s Manager, TV show writer, retirees, fashion merchandisers, a utility Exec and the list goes on. We actually didn’t exchange any words prior to the trial concluding and entering the deliberation room. There were a few heated exchanges but for the most part we were all on the same page….just everyone has a different way of sharing their thoughts so patience in listening was definitely not everyone’s virtue.
The judge was a hoot and very informative. She was crystal clear on what our responsibilities were and she acknowledged us for our service on several occassions. I was equally impressed with the defense attorney although I didn’t give her too much credit initially on her overall appearance…I noted my harsh critic later when she effectively questioned all of the witnesses and performed her closing statement. Regardless of her wardrobe and interesting accessories she pulled it out. The ADA was challenging to watch. I sensed he was genuine in his commitment to his work but he just did not come across very confident. As well, he had a distinct overbite creating a heavy lisp which seemed to add to his distracting communication style. That coupled with opportunities with his witnesses left me unable to be persuaded to view the case in his favor. It was kind of a bummer later when he approached some of us at the elevator “asking for feedback” which turned into him telling us things that could have made us question our decision. Regardless, his case had some holes and we did what the judge asked us to do. The case lasted only three quick days and I am now free of that obligation for a few years. However, I won’t be so quick to dread it in the future.
