Well, more like eight angry men and four angry women. Well not so much angry as... well not even peeved. All wanting to do our civic duty, and only somewhat inconvenienced (more for some than others, of course, but we're all committed to doing our civic duty. And stuff). And we did.
And yeah, I forgot to post this earlier when I got home from the duty.
whereof they shall have been duly convicted
Yes, justice has been done and jury duty is over. Justice has been served and now I have to get up at my usual time instead of adhering to the way primo hours I've been following this week.
It was most certainly not a slam dunk, at least on one count, but it was interesting nonetheless. I actually do find jury duty interesting.
Went right down to the wire as to whether we would need to show up again tomorrow to continue deliberations. But just after our foreman finished filling out the forms, the deputy poked his head in and said "Judge says see you tomorrow", at which point we all screamed "NO! WE'RE FINISHED! DON'T MAKE US COME BACK!"
Well, not exactly, but close enough. And the rest is history.
[sigh]
I really could have used another day of sleeping in and following Lawyer's Hours (Jeez, Dave*, do you guys like, actually work?) but it is not to be . Back to work...
*Yeah, Dave, I know. There's a lot of stuff that goes on out of the jury's presence, but two hour lunches? That's what dreams are made of...
Posted by Ken S at May 7, 2008 07:06 PM | TrackBack (0) |A ten minute break means thirty minutes.An hour and half lunch means two hours.Justice isn't blind,it's lazy.
"Lunch" in the middle of a jury trial generally consists of meeting with witnesses or otherwise working on the case. There's a few minutes for food involved only if we're lucky. As for "lawyer's hours," I'm just glad I didn't draw the short straw and be set to do magistrate's court on the 4th of July: people who get arrested and don't bond out are entitled to a first appearance within 24 hours, you know, and that's 365 days a year without exception.
Posted by: Dave J at May 7, 2008 08:12 PMDave, I actually do understand all that. I know there's a lot more going on than the jury actually sees, and much like teachers, much more goes on outside of the courtroom than in.
But I'm still gonna give you shit, buddy ;)
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at May 7, 2008 08:40 PMCorporate lawyers have lawyer hours.
Posted by: The_Real_JeffS at May 8, 2008 06:32 AMGreg is correct. His Honor has a poor sense of time (to say the least) and it takes me, the bailiff, and the court reporter to keep a "five-minute break" from being 20 minutes. We joke that its like herding a chicken.
Posted by: Lisa at May 8, 2008 07:11 AMWhat's happened in most private industry jobs,
particularly low paying jobs, employees are skipping
their breaks and some instances working through
their lunches-punching out to satisfy the law-
and then returning to the job.
It is a sad fact ignored by the government.
I remember when the ex had jury duty in San Jose. He couldn't tell me til afterwards that it involved the San Jose Mafia (remember the guy that was found dead in a cheese warehouse years ago?) They convicted him. It took awhile before I stopped listening for a bomb when I started the car.
Posted by: Julie at May 9, 2008 05:34 AMYow. That's really disturbing.
Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at May 9, 2008 05:57 AMI had jury duty this week too! How bizzare! Mine was hideous, however.
Posted by: Maggie May at May 9, 2008 09:13 AM"I'm going to ask you some questions. Then the attorneys are going to ask you some questions. Hopefully they won't be the same questions."
--from my first judge's voir dire
Posted by: Dave J at May 9, 2008 04:32 PM