Well, last week was an interesting week for me. For the first time ever, I was selected to be on a jury. I was in court and out of the office for nearly four days on a misdemeanor jury trial.
Being selected to serve on a jury is probably one of the last things you want to put on your bucket list. I know very few people who jump for joy when that wonderful jury summons comes in the mail, ordering you to come to court on such and such a day. My style has always been to anticipate going to court for one day and sitting there waiting to be called. Most of the time, at least for myself, they put you on call and then never call you, or they say you don’t have to appear. By law, if they summon you but don’t call you in, the court can’t call you back for at least a year. If you go the postponement route, the court will order you back another day.
Obviously, my ploy didn’t work this time. Last Monday, I got the automated message to appear Monday morning bright and early at 8:00 AM. I told myself, okay, bring your laptop, get some work done, and they’ll end up dismissing you one way or another, and maybe the parties will settle before trial. I got to the jury room at 8:00 AM and sat in the assembly room for nearly two hours. Then the jury clerk told us they had two trials going on and to listen for your name so you could find out where you were going. I found out I was going to a judge I have appeared before on probate and civil matters.
Finally, they take all the potential jurors up to the courtroom at about 10:30 in the morning. There must have been about 50-60 people in the courtroom, all there to go through the voir dire process. It’s sort of a mini-interview of the jurors to see if they will be the right fit for the jury trial in this particular matter. The judge tells us we will be serving on a misdemeanor jury trial that is expected to last two days. I told myself okay, two days isn’t so bad. It’s not like it’s going to be a ten-day trial or something crazy like that. The judge then asks if anyone wants to put in a hardship request so they can be relieved from jury service. The judge should have asked does anyone want free money, because about a third of the room raised their hands. By the way, this was probably the hardest part of jury duty, listening to all the BS excuses and fake prejudices people made to disqualify themselves. It took the rest of the day to get through it. I heard that little 14-year-old Johnny can’t get to school without a ride from dear old dad, the potential juror. I heard another say they have no child care for the kids, and that was after they told the judge that grandma lives at home with them. I also heard every excuse in the book about police prejudices. Finally, some jurors just withdrew their pleas to be dismissed. They probably couldn’t say their BS with a straight face.
About ten minutes before the lunch break, one prospective juror was relieved from jury duty. I forgot her reason. I was sitting there wondering who they were going to call next. And then the clerk calls my name. I’m like, she just called my name! I started walking up to the front. I was right behind the DA’s table when I heard, “Mr. Wells, it’s so good to see you. Mr. Wells is an active attorney and has been before my court.” I felt glares from all parts of the courtroom, and I thought to myself, Nice to see you too, Your Honor, and thanks for putting me on blast like that. After a friendly exchange of questions about my practice and disclosure that I have practiced before this judge in the civil and probate departments, I saw defense counsel confer with her client. I thought yeah, I’m not getting off this jury. After all, about half the group had been dismissed already for BS prejudices or hardships. The jury was finally selected at about 3:50 PM, just ten minutes before the court closes shop at 4:00 PM. Tuesday morning is when the fun would begin.
I’ll skip over the some of the non-critical details of the trial, but a key takeaway is that if you get selected for a jury, deliberating a case, even a misdemeanor trial, is very hard work. They don’t tell you that on the jury video. Our jury spent about four hours working out two key elements that were going to turn the verdict one way or the other. I now have key insights on jury instructions and how those instructions can make or break a case. Since I do civil work, which tends to not go to trial very often, especially a jury trial, I have a new appreciation for getting the right jury instructions prepared. Jurors can easily become confused or need to rest their decisions on specific instructions. I also learned that you should get to the point and make your points clear, as jurors after day two of a trial can become tired.
In the end, I am very glad I was able to serve on a jury. I never thought in a million years that I would be picked for service. Many people believe that lawyers do not get picked since they have specialized knowledge of the law compared to non-lawyers. It probably depends on the case whether you want a lawyer on your jury. But I also have to say that it is an inconvenience to be picked for jury duty. You have to skip work and completely change your regular routine. I had to do my regular work around the trial, preparing documents and letters before court started, during my lunch break, and after court was over. It wasn’t very enjoyable doing my work after serving on a jury all day. But I also realized that when I need a jury, I want people who are willing to serve.
Many of us probably remember when a normal jury for a criminal trial wasn’t very diverse and consisted mainly of males. I’m proud to say that our jury consisted of three men and nine women, all with different backgrounds and upbringings. Many of us talk about how we need to change this country this way or that. But part of making change happen starts with doing the things that make this country great and preserve our freedom. People that came before me fought and died to create and preserve our justice system. Part of making our justice system fairer is to have jurors that represent the communities in which they serve.
I felt I had an obligation to serve and saw it as a privilege and honor. When you get that jury summons, think about whether you are going to blow it off and try to get out of your civic duty, or whether you will give the defendant a juror they deserve—a juror who is willing to serve.
