jury duty

a lot has been going on in my life, and tuesday was just one more thing to check off my list: jury duty.

it was the second time in my life i had to serve jury duty, which i think is a lot considering i've only been eligible for 7 years. this time was a lot like the first: i was selected to be part of a pool from which jurors for one case would be chosen, i knew i would probably not be placed on the jury, but i still had to wait around all day before getting called into the jury box and finally telling the judge about myself.

when you are serving on a jury, or as a prospective juror, you are not allowed to talk about the case. but now, since i guess i am no longer associated with the case, i think i can talk about it. early in the day, i was one of about 60 people who was called to sit in this courtroom and learn about a case. they selected 16 people at a time to come up and sit on a potential jury, and they questioned them about themselves, what neighborhood they lived in and some other random background questions.

i was chosen in the last group of 16, and by then it was about 3 p.m.

as the day wore on, more and more information about the case we were dealing with came to light. at first, the judge told us that it was a criminal case, in which the prosecutors claimed the defendant had shot a man, and he was charged with attempted murder. the man who was shot was not killed, but he is now paralyzed.

to make things more complicated, the defendant was not the only person to (allegedly) shoot the victim. he was shot with two different weapons. the second (alleged) shooter had entered into a plea bargain with the prosecutors, and was testifying against the defendant.

so, the questions they asked the jury basically centered around their feelings about believing police officers, or their opinions of people who entered into "cooperation agreements" in exchange for less prison time. the prosecution was looking for people who thought that if someone signed a plea, they were telling the truth. the defense was looking for jurors who were skeptical about people who signed pleas. the term "saving their own skin" was tossed around.

in fact, the defense attorney made me very uncomfortable. maybe this is my bias, and it probably comes from watching too much law & order (although i was a big ally mcbeal fan and she was a defense attorney, but still). i have also had to speak to defense attorneys for work, and my feelings are generally the same or just reenforced. i think defense attorneys are sleazy and will stop at nothing to twist the truth in order to raise a shadow of doubt in the minds of jurors. hello, johnny cochran.

the judge repeatedly reminded us that the defendant had no burden of proof. the defendant is presumed innocent. the prosecutor had to prove her case, leaving no reasonable doubt, and the defense could just sit there and wait to see if the jury felt the prosecutor had done her job. but that is not the way things usually works, is it? defense attorneys get paid to defend their clients, guilty or innocent.

and the day got even weirder than that. one of the questions that the judge asked each of the prospective jurors was whether they, or any member of their immediate family had been a victim of a crime. there were a few people who had family members who had been murdered, or robbed or whatever. sad, horrible crimes, but nothing particularly shocking for a person living in new york. then, in my group, a few seats down from me, a young guy about my age told the judge that his mother and fiance had "been killed on the same day."

there were gasps in the courtroom. my own jaw dropped right down to the floor. what a tragedy! he did not elaborate, although i could tell every one of us wanted to know how such a think could happen. were they both murdered? were they connected? was it accidental, like a car accident, or something more sinister? the judge, obviously shaken, collected herself and told the man she would talk about it with him later. then, the lady sitting next to me told us that her sister had been murdered. another horrible crime for us all to contemplate. the judge called them both out into the hallway with the lawyers, to hear the rest of the horrific stories. i know it is awful, but i have to admit, i wanted to know the story about the double murder thing. it was just not what i was expecting at all. my heart goes out to that poor young man.