Did My Duty

A couple of weeks ago I got notice that I had been selected to be a potential juror. So last night I called the courthouse and got the message I had to report this morning. I made my way in to the Wilmington courthouse and sat with about 125 other people in a big room. There was only going to be one civil trial so the coordinator said we should get out early. I got a coffee and pumpkin donut and settled in but then they called names to report to a courtroom for selection. Sure enough, they called my name. Had to leave the coffee but got to finish my donut. Whew! So about 50 of us head up to the courtroom and file in. It was a personal injury case as a result of an accident. The clerk read off names of attorneys and witnesses and the plaintiff and defendant. Then she asked if anyone knew of the case or anyone involved and if sitting on the case, which could go for a few days, would be a hardship. A whole bunch of people raised their hands so they lined up and one by one marched up to the judge, with both attorneys, and told their stories. Meanwhile, the bailiff turned on this static generating device which played static over the courtroom speakers so none of us could hear what was being said. About a third of the people were dismissed. Then they called up 12 people to the jury box. Both attorneys whittled the list down one by one and as each person was dropped out, the clerk would call another name to go to the box for review. Pretty soon there were 11 of us left "unpicked" (reminded me of my younger days when they were picking teams at school...!), twelve in the box, and they had to pick two alternates. First alternate picked. One to go. And guess who they picked? Yup. So up I went and took my seat and was designated juror #14. I was bummed - if I have to be on the jury, at least I want some say in the decision! Anyway, we all got sworn in and lead off to the jury room to wait for a few minutes. Some woman immediately starts running her mouth and fussing about parking and another woman decides to entertain us with chicken trivia (apparently she is in the chicken industry and felt compelled to share her knowledge). After about 20 minutes, the judge came in and said the case had been settled. He said it was very unusual for that to happen at this stage - after the jury was seated but before opening arguments. So we got our certificates and were free to go. And I am out of the pool for at least 2 more years.

That frees me up to make it to Ashleigh's game and won't interfere with a potential consulting job next week.