Jury Duty

This Morning...

I woke up at my normal time but today would turn out to be far from normal. Why? Because I had to report for Jury Duty... Fun... Luckily, somehow my friend A.A. also had to report in and was in the same group as me! How does that happen? Just lucky I guess.

So we arrive at the courthouse at 8:00am, go through security, and wait in this deadly quiet room. Almost 100 people at least and the only noise was  unintelligible voices from the TVs. Aaron and I whispered back and forth a little but not much. It was just too quiet in there. Finally, we watch the orientation video and a lady explains the rules. We then wait for another thirty minutes until the lady returns and explains that the judge is not ready for us yet and that we have an extended lunch break until 1:15pm.... the catch? It's not even 9:30am yet! 

What are we to do?

We have over three hours to kill! Do we drive back to work? That's a waste of gas... plus, I had nothing pressing to do in lab today...and if I went to the field, due to the prep work, changing clothes, driving, and lunch I might get an hour in the field... not worth it. So we end up staying in the city. We first browse through Ross and I try on a few dresses. One reminded us of Cruella De Vil and was pretty funny looking. 

This is not my picture.
Just an example I found.

Then, we head over to Walmart so A.A can buy a new lock. Security confiscated his when he entered. Said it could be used as a weapon.... Hadn't really thought of a lock as a weapon but sure I guess. While at Walmart I also buy some yarn and kitchen towels. Why? Well, I like to crochet and my next goal is to teach myself how to crochet decorative kitchen towels! I already know how to crochet afghans, scarves, and pot holders. Time for something new. :)

Poster in my room

After Walmart we head to Game Stop and I fan girl over the Nintendo Switch. I am a die hard fan of Zelda and I desperately want to play Zelda: Breath of the Wild. However, the switch is still $300, the game is $50 and I can't bring myself to spend that much money on it when I still have my Xbox 360 and awesome games on that system. Though... the Switch Lite is coming out in September for $200... maybe that will drop the Switch prices and then I won't feel as guilty buying it. But by the time I do, school will have started up again and I won't have time to play... oh the dilemma.

Anyway, back to the day. After Game Stop we eat lunch and then head on a coffee shop to work on stuff. I keep editing my current manuscript and around 12:45pm, we head back to the court house.

Back at the Court House

We are split into two panels. Me, A.A, and an acquaintance of his K.S. are all in panel one. They then ask if we have any "hardships". Any reason why we cannot serve on this trial. The trial is projected to last five days... five days, meaning it won't end until next Monday. We would lose an entire week of work! Well, I don't have any good enough reasons but A.A does. If he misses his harvesting on Thursday, his research could be set back months! So, he puts in his request and the judge permits it. He is now rescheduled for September.

K.S. and I though, are still in the game and panel one is called to report. We file into the court room and a lady calls roll call. Once that is complete, she calls off the first 18 potential Jurors. Guess who she calls first. Yep. Me. 

I'm Juror #1.

So I head over to the Juror panel and take my seat. I'll admit, the chairs are pretty comfy and I felt really official being in that chair. The others are called up, including K.S. and then the judge arrives. He asks us if we have ever served on a Jury before and if so, which ones. Several people respond with all sorts of cases. He then explains our case.

It's a civil case and I can't remember all the details but basically, it's about bulk mail and Company 1, is claiming that either Company 2 or 3 owe them money. Then, there is a counter appeal where Company 2 claims Company 3 owes them money. Sounds like a super exciting case, right? 

Anyway, the attorneys get to ask us questions. Attorney 1 stands up and states, "If you agree with this statement, please raise your right hand. Stealing is wrong." The entire jury kind of just looks at him for a moment and then we all raise our hands. And then he sits down. Okay... Attorney 2 has no questions. Attorney 3... wow, he had a bunch of questions. He first asked each of us our profession and depending on what we said, would continue with a torrent of other questions. 

He finally gets to me. "Ms. Glenn, what is your profession?"

I am a graduate student at UC Davis studying horticulture.

"And what about your undergrad?"

It was in Biology at UT Arlington in Texas

He then goes on this tirade about science and how it deals with facts and definite answers, is it not? I answer with a Yes, sir. He then states that in this case, we won't have all the answers to every question. Am I alright with that? Yes, sir. Will it be okay that not every question gets answered? To that I answer. Yes, sir. We are used to that in Science. I mean, we are. We have a bunch of questions and we don't always get the answers. That's why we are in science, to eventually find the answers to our questions. He says some more stuff about science and then continues.

Moving On

Finally, we finish the questions and the Attorneys are allowed to ask to have Jurors excused. First K.S is excused (she is a post doc in dairy sciences), then another lady who was very timid and seemed uncomfortable with the whole ordeal. And then Attorney #2 says, "I ask that Juror #1 be excused." To which the Judge then looks at me and says, "Ms. Glenn, you are excused."

Was not expecting that! But hey, if it means I don't have to be there for five days and that I've fulfilled my jury duty for now, then I'm okay with that!

 But why did I get excused??? 

Talked about it with my roommate and A.A and we all agree that it's because I was a scientist. That's probably why K.S was excused as well. Scientists, though we can still be emotional, tend to look at the facts and deduce the answers from the facts we are presented. It's highly possible that the Attorneys wanted a more emotional jury and we didn't fit that mold. Maybe they had another reason but I only said what I wrote above so...seems unlikely

And that was my jury experience! What experiences have y'all had? Let me know down in the comments!