I really worried that I was going to have to clamp down on this blog, only getting to say, "Yep, can't talk again," for ten business days in a row. It was a close thing. As it is, I'm glad I have four years of training of speaking in vague generalities. I can't give away any specific details of what I did today, even though my obligation has ended. I have to thread this needle very carefully.
I had to show up in far west Boulder at 8:15 this morning. I was already dreading having to get up early enough to do that before Alfred pried open the screen door to the back yard and vanished into the dark neighborhood before 11 last night. We stayed up late combing the neighborhood in vain, and my spidey senses woke me at 4:20 this morning when he finally wandered back into the driveway, so I could let him in. I was sleep deprived and had no time to get breakfast before I had to show up at the justice center at the mouth of the canyon to answer my jury duty summons. I've had three other summonses (maybe four, including one that was forwarded to me after a move?) in my life. I had a summons in Dorchester county, South Carolina that I wrote about at the time two or three years ago, which turned into nothing when the parties settled out of court. A few weeks after that, I got a grand jury summons in Charleston that could have been very interesting, but it was canceled before I ever had to show. And then more than twenty years ago, I answered the call at this very same courthouse (different room), that was a very awkward experience at the time. I had a particularly weird moment when I made eye contact with the judge right as he was smiling in exasperation before he got angry with one of the attorneys, and I wasn't paying attention to the line of questioning, and I automatically smiled back. Then he had an angry outburst. I never forgot how embarrassed I was. Luckily, I never made it out of the gallery that time, and I was done a couple hours after I arrived.
Based on previous experiences, I thought this would be a quick day. Even the video we were shown said Colorado has a "one day/one trial" policy, and most trials were no longer than three days. There were sixty people who showed up to end up as six jurors and two alternates. They sat eighteen people in and around the jury box, from which to narrow down the panel. And then they let us know that if selected, we would serve on a civil case that was expected to take ten days. From that point on, many people managed to self-eliminate based on hardship reasons. After probably twenty seats turned over, I was the last person called in this elimination group. They asked me specifically if I had a hardship excuse and I said no. From there, the hard questions began. And I can't tell you any of them. We all carried on an elaborate conversation about our experiences, biases, and opinions. Many of the things I was asked and volunteered had to do with direct experience I have. At one point I was asked a direct question with several follow ups that had to do with my experience as a military family member. We were recessed at noon for an hour lunch, and then back at one for another two hours of grilling. And then while we all looked around with no idea whether we were staying or going, the judge and counsels conferred for a long time. They read out names of people who were eliminated, the ten who could leave. I was the third one on that list. By the time I'd gotten to that point, I was sort of committed to the process. I was interested in the details of the case, which each attorney had danced around during their questioning. But I won't be there for the trial. All in all, that's okay. Two weeks of long days would have screwed with my schedule. I wish I knew how it would turn out, however. I wonder whether it will be in the paper.
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