serve on jury duty

I would like to apply for jury duty,

...but this last time was Grand Jury Duty.

Jury duty is much better than it used to be. Years ago, it was awful.

I’m proud to serve!

They called and said the case was settled, so I don’t have to show up this afternoon after all. Although I’m still on call for the rest of the week, they don’t expect to call me. If they don’t, this will be a really easy way to have completed my civic responsibility.

I’ve been on jury duty twice at the County Courthouse, but never served on a jury.

Tomorrow, I’ll be serving at the Federal Courthouse downtown. I’m not really sure what to expect since the whole system is different from the County. Oh well, a new adventure is always good. If nothing else, it gives me something to write about on 43 Things!

I didn’t get on the jury, but listening to the voire dire process where they choose the jury was fascinating, and sometimes emotional. It’s a good thing to be there for your fellow citizens.

and I get roped into doing this. Then on top of that I end up sitting on a tax evasion case that lasted nearly 3 months. Still it’s an easy day. 10-4 with an hour lunch.

I’ve actually been called four times before, all to different courts.

The first time was night court in downtown L.A. Then Beverly Hills civil court. Then another time, but I didn’t have to actually report. Didn’t get on any panels.

But I served on a Federal District Court jury in downtown L.A., a bankruptcy case in which an elderly man was defrauding elderly women from his church, getting them to sign over their houses to him when they thought they were co-signing loans. The guy even faked chest pains to get admitted to the hospital during the trial. We found out after we’d found him guilty that he had done a lot more, and had had a mistrial because he checked himself into the hospital before. The defense lawyer (I was one who agreed to talk to the lawyers afterward) asked how I felt about possibly sending a 63 year old man to jail. I don’t think that the penalty should be considered. He should have considered it before he ruined the credit of the women in his church!

I’m now on jury duty in Lancaster Superior Court, and that’s about all I can say about that. Today they’ll select a jury from amongst the 60 people called for the jury pool.

I don’t get paid for this, so have to use my comp and vacation time, but the commute’s shorter than going to work and I will have time to exercise and write in the mornings if I get on the trial. I’d planned to take next week off to write. It might actually be a good thing to have some structure to my day and to feel I am doing my civic duty.

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