JURY DUTY-Daniella's
Yes, I have done my citizenship duties for the year. I was elected for jury duty.
On Wednesday May 9, I went downtown to 50 W. Washington. I was there at 8am as instructed, and waited. I waited till 10:45 am then "my panel number" was picked. I lined up with the rest of the people in line in the hallway. Away we were whisked down the hall to be told that we would be bused to another location. We were dropped off at 555 W. Harrison. There we arrived at 11:15 AM. We were seated in this courtroom. I was seated on the right , first row,when you walk in (judges left side). I will tell you why that was important to me later on , in this experience I had.
The judge walked in and introduced himself and the lawyers and the defendant etc. Then we were excused to go to lunch. Well some of the people there made plans to go to lunch with friends in the area of 50 W. Washington , NOT here. So the judge gave out some address of where we could go to eat and some NOT go to. Return by 12:45 and that was that.
Well after lunch we filed into the courtroom again, BUT this time I decided to sit on the left side of the courtroom. ( I heard a few things at lunch from people). This I found out because, the judge will start interviewing people that were seated in the Jury seats. Then he will go down the list and do the right side (his left side) 3 rows on both sides. I happened to be sitting on the left side (his right) and the third row after lunch.
Well we were told that 12 jurors were needed and two alternates for this case. We were told a "little" about the case. An animal abuse case. That was it.
Well intereviewing went on for every four people, then the judge and the lawyers and the court reporter would get up and go in the back room to discuss if these 4 jurors were OK?. Then the judge would come out and say their names again and tell them yes or no they were accepted or excused to go downstairs and wait for the bus to go back to 50 W. Washington. Some of the questions that the Judge asked were the same ones that were on the paper that came in the mail. Your name,etc. besides the questions,.. ever been on a lawsuit, or been a witness or in a case that was in the courts. Divorces and code violations were in these. So a lot of these people had their lives paraded in front of everyone there in the courtroom.
There were a total of 36 people bused and they went thru 22 people to get what "they"needed. The rest of us got to go home.
So my hint is try to sit on the left side, unless you really want to be on a jury case. It would have been nice, but also time consuming. I know my duty should be to this great country that we all live in, but I was already tired and the case had not even begun. SO this was my experience in jury duty.
Oh the pay for the whole day spent doing my duty was $17.20, that was it. No lunch pay , no parking ticket stamped, nothing else. Just thought you might find this interesting.
If you have ever served on jury duty, let me know YOUR experience.
On Wednesday May 9, I went downtown to 50 W. Washington. I was there at 8am as instructed, and waited. I waited till 10:45 am then "my panel number" was picked. I lined up with the rest of the people in line in the hallway. Away we were whisked down the hall to be told that we would be bused to another location. We were dropped off at 555 W. Harrison. There we arrived at 11:15 AM. We were seated in this courtroom. I was seated on the right , first row,when you walk in (judges left side). I will tell you why that was important to me later on , in this experience I had.
The judge walked in and introduced himself and the lawyers and the defendant etc. Then we were excused to go to lunch. Well some of the people there made plans to go to lunch with friends in the area of 50 W. Washington , NOT here. So the judge gave out some address of where we could go to eat and some NOT go to. Return by 12:45 and that was that.
Well after lunch we filed into the courtroom again, BUT this time I decided to sit on the left side of the courtroom. ( I heard a few things at lunch from people). This I found out because, the judge will start interviewing people that were seated in the Jury seats. Then he will go down the list and do the right side (his left side) 3 rows on both sides. I happened to be sitting on the left side (his right) and the third row after lunch.
Well we were told that 12 jurors were needed and two alternates for this case. We were told a "little" about the case. An animal abuse case. That was it.
Well intereviewing went on for every four people, then the judge and the lawyers and the court reporter would get up and go in the back room to discuss if these 4 jurors were OK?. Then the judge would come out and say their names again and tell them yes or no they were accepted or excused to go downstairs and wait for the bus to go back to 50 W. Washington. Some of the questions that the Judge asked were the same ones that were on the paper that came in the mail. Your name,etc. besides the questions,.. ever been on a lawsuit, or been a witness or in a case that was in the courts. Divorces and code violations were in these. So a lot of these people had their lives paraded in front of everyone there in the courtroom.
There were a total of 36 people bused and they went thru 22 people to get what "they"needed. The rest of us got to go home.
So my hint is try to sit on the left side, unless you really want to be on a jury case. It would have been nice, but also time consuming. I know my duty should be to this great country that we all live in, but I was already tired and the case had not even begun. SO this was my experience in jury duty.
Oh the pay for the whole day spent doing my duty was $17.20, that was it. No lunch pay , no parking ticket stamped, nothing else. Just thought you might find this interesting.
If you have ever served on jury duty, let me know YOUR experience.
posted by Daniella at 5/09/2007 09:31:00 PM
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