I wake up just now about 11 hours after getting home. Still tired like hell but can't fall back asleep again for a while because of the time yesterday spent just sitting still in chairs for hours at a time and be forced to while everything proceeds as required by law. What else could I be talking about but...
Jury Duty
The one thing we all don't like but are forced to do once in a while. neutral
I was thinking about using a postponement like so many others would probably do but I figured let me do it this time (since it's my first time) and prob excuse the ones down the road. Taking it this time at least I know what they expect me to do with these things.
So with this being my first time I thought it looked simple enough. I wake up early 5am and get ready myself ready after shaking off the sleepiness. I get to Court Street in Brooklyn at around 7:45 well before the 8:30 start time. I decide to have some breakfast at the deli nearby. Still new to the local area but w/e I found the courthouse right away anyway so it was no problem. I Get to the waiting area to see if they would call me for a jury selection or I would get to leave right away (which I was hoping for of course). I get paid either way for showing up and would rather be let go at 11am than at 5pm or later, but more on that soon. rolleyes
After the orientation and another 30 minutes of waiting around they begin calling out names for the 2 cases for the days/weeks. Of about the 150-180 ppl there, they pick I'd say about 100 to split between the 2 cases. Sadly I was one of the called up ones. rolleyes It was either between a civil case or a criminal case. I was called to the civil one thankfully. I'd rather deal with not having to put someone behind bars or such on my first serve. confused
So we're sent to the 4th floor at about 10am for the long process of picking 8 people out of the 50-ish called up. First thing I see when entering is the standard setting for a courtroom. The Judge and all of the Lawyers from 3-4 separate parties for the case to evaluate us all and pick the magic # of 8. (Omg so many lawyers for 1 case. There were probably 10 or 11 there. xd )
I obviously can't mention the case since it's gonna start soon (legally can't either I believe; I'm not sure if it still counts after not being selected. question ) but I would be ok to say that the reason for so many lawyers would be that it involves a major airline company and other airport divisions. (I guess that's vague enough lol)
So slowly they explain the case details of the case out front then begin asking standard questions about different subjects relating to flying, vehicles and other transportation questions as well as the standard fair and impartial question.
The only bright spot was (extended) lunch from 12:30 - 1:45 rofl
Back inside we go and slowly they get around to all but 4 of us by the end of the day. The Q/A all ends at maybe 4:50. They begin weeding out people based on specific responses to the earlier questions as well as the questionnaire for each of us, language problems and some other silly things too. (*see funny stuff at bottom)
They were pretty sure they had picked the 8 amongst the 17 of us remaining.
Yes they got down to about that many and I was still in the running somehow... (Looking around at who's left I felt like I was gonna get called to serve for sure at this rate. stare ) Of course I feel semi-proud that I outlasted some others that day based on how fair and balanced my judgment can be relied upon. (reality tv in reverse xd )
So they begin calling numbers to send to the back of the room that will not be selected for the case. One by one they go from lowest to highest. I was #23 one off from my current age but w/e. I've been 23 till august so it felt like it fit anyway :3
They call few early numbers, 17 then skip 22 AND 23 and went to 30. A strong chill came over me right away cause it would mean 1-2 weeks more of lots of sitting, little standing, listening to facts/semi-lies, sly lawyer tactics, and other BS I hadn't expected to be called for on my very first day. stare
Just as they got to 40 and saw they had 9 people left and checked their records they found out they forgot to call my number......
stare
My body/facial expression was normal as I got up to go to the rear but in my mind I wanted to kick someone in the balls for not calling my number sooner and not making me feel like a prisoner to this case. rolleyes
So they excused the rest of us to go home for the day and collect our info at exactly 5:30. I was dozing in and out as I was taking the train and bus home. The long and boring day had finally come to an end as I get home at about 7 or so and within 30 minutes hit the pillow and sleep for the night. Sorry if you tried to reach me and I wasn't able to respond to any of you last night. sweatdrop
Day 1, Monday is in the books and will be paid for.
Tuesday is a federal holiday (veterans day) so I auto skip this day. biggrin
Day 2, Wednesday, I called just now (at 5 am lol) and I don't have to go that day either so I'm very happy now. (They better not for the rest of this week after the drama I had for the 1st day... 3nodding )
6 more days of checking to go before this is all over. Next Thursday is the last day.
-------------------------------------
*Funny moments*
Judge: (during questionnaire) Will you be fair and impartial?
Juror: NO
Judge: Uhhh... do you know what impartial means?
Juror: NO
Judge: Do you know what fair means?
Juror: YES
*10 minutes later he's excused from the case*
During Q/A session one person 2 seats away from me was sleeping as they called her number to ask questions. Of course you could hear the chuckles and imagine seeing sweatdrop from lots of people in the room. No one was close enough to wake her either and was deep into it so someone had to tap her to wake up (of course me lol)
*She was excused about 15 minutes after they finished with everyone else in the session*
One of the lawyer's last name is Poison. I was calm and stone faced then but I crack up now thinking about it again. lol
That's all for this loooong entry. Hope you enjoyed reading this. I just hope they don't call me in anymore so I can be here with ya guys/gals. wink
Cya!
 EternalFireEx · Tue Nov 11, 2008 @ 11:23am · 0 Comments |
