Chronicles of Jury Duty

I have been summoned for jury duty three times.

The first time was when I lived in another state, and they had a system which allowed potential jurors to call the night before they were supposed to report.  You could punch in your juror number, and a recorded voice would tell you whether or not you had to show up the next morning.  I didn't have to show up.

The second time was several years ago, when I lived in St. Louis County.  I received a summons from St. Louis City.  The summons was mailed to my address in the county.  Really?  I called them.  I was informed that I could be excused for not living in the city, but I would need to provide proof of my address.  "How about the fact that you mailed this summons to an address in the county, and I received it?"  Apparently that was not good enough.  But I did as instructed and again avoided having to appear in person.

Third time's a charm.  I was summoned recently, again in St. Louis City, but this time I actually live here.

Day 1, 8:00 a.m.

Dutifully, I showed up at 8:00 a.m. on my appointed day.  I was given a clear badge holder and told to separate my Juror Badge from the summons and insert it into the badge holder.  For the next 5 hours, I would be known as Juror 286.

I waited about 45 minutes in the Jury Assembly Room of the Civil Courts Building.  Then my row was called to the front for check-in.  The woman at the desk scanned my summons, added it to her large stack, said, "looks like we have everything," and sent me back to my seat.

I discovered later that what she was looking for was accurate address information and a completed questionnaire, which arrived with the original summons.  (Technically, this is the fourth time I have been summoned.  The third was a couple of months ago, but I already had plans to be out of town on vacation on the day I was assigned to report.  I filled out the above-mentioned questionnaire, and sent it back along with a letter requesting a postponement, which was granted.)  Being the good citizen that I am, I returned the questionnaire on time and completed, so there was nothing more for me to do at the check-in desk.

So I waited another hour before they started calling juror numbers.  Each group of numbers was a jury pool, and I was the second number called in the third group.  Ours was a big group - 84 jurors total - and I was the second number called, two and a half hours after I first arrived.  Our group was carted to our courtroom and given our assigned seats.  Because I had been called second, I was seated in the second chair in the jury box.  This is good and bad.  Seats in the jury box are a fair bit more comfortable than the wooden pews behind the bar, but it also means that, unless I was stricken from the pool, I would definitely be on the jury.

Once everyone was situated, we got some basic instructions and introductory questions from the judge, who then dismissed us for lunch.

After lunch, the voir dire began.  The prosecutor started off with general questions related to our experiences with people in this courtroom and people in the court system.  Here we got our introduction to the case.  It was a criminal case (which had already become abundantly clear) with a total of 54 counts, mostly robbery, attempted robbery, assault, and armed criminal action.  "Has anyone been involved in a violent crime of this type?"

We also went through a long list of potential witnesses, including victims and police officers.  "What about police officers in general?  Anyone related to one? Has a friend who is one? Had a particularly good or bad experience with one? Will this affect your ability to weigh the evidence fairly?"  Well, this is the city!  Everyone has an opinion about police officers.  Those answers took a while, then we broke for the day.

Day 2, 9:00 a.m.

I stepped off the elevator at exactly 9:00, as directed.  Then I waited about an hour until they allowed us into the courtroom.  However, I snagged a lovely spot at the east-facing window, which gave me a lovely view of Market Street in the morning sunlight, and also gave me a ledge on which to put my coffee and my reading material.  Could have been worse.

The prosecutor resumed his voir dire once we were all seated.  A few more questions about interactions with the police, and our direct interactions with the court system.  For me specifically (apparently I was the only attorney in the pool), "do you think you could set your attorney hat aside and just be a juror in this case?" "Yes," I answered honestly.

It was interesting to go back to criminal law, something I interned at while in college and law school, but never took it beyond that.  The burdens are different, the case is handled differently.  But yes, I thought I could set aside what I knew.  The prosecutor ended with the "Is there anything else I should know?" question.  I raised my hand and told him I had worked briefly at two different public defender's offices, but no, I didn't think that would influence my ability to weigh the evidence as presented.  We broke for lunch at 11:40.

I returned at 1:00.  I am never this prompt in my own life; maybe jury duty did something good for me!  We waited probably 15 minutes before the Sheriff gave us his spiel about cell phones and hats, then instructed us all to take our seats again.

This time defense counsel was up, and asked, in my opinion, some confusing questions.  The ideas he was getting at were good, and the answers were important to elicit, but some of the questions were very convoluted.  Regardless, after some explanation, I think everyone was able to follow him and we got through the next hour, which was all he took as most of the general questions had been covered by the circuit attorney.

We took a break at 2:20, with instructions to return at 2:45, after the attorneys had discussed their strikes.  Again, promptly at 2:45, I stepped off the elevator (I had been camping out upstairs where it was cooler and quieter).  After our shortest wait yet, about 5 minutes, the Sheriff ushered us all into the courtroom with instructions to sit anywhere behind the bar.  (So much for my cushy jury box seat.)

The attorneys were gone, their tables cleared of all papers.  The defendant was gone.

The judge informed us that she and the attorneys had discussed our answers at length, and were unable to impanel a jury at this time.  She thanked us for our service, and instructed us to wait out in the hall for the Sheriff to give us our "proof of service" paperwork.

Again, my juror number was apparently lucky.  I didn't get to go second, as before, but the numbers were in order, so I was probably 15th or so.  The poor guy sitting next to me for the previous two days had be 17xx, so I'm sure he was there 'til the bitter end.  What I got from the sheriff in return for my juror badge was a quarter-sheet of paper with my dates of service, juror number, name, ID number, case number, and a promise that I would receive a check in the mail for my service.  Famous last words!

All in all, it has been an interesting process.  I can't even say I disliked the whole thing.  Were there places I would rather have been? You bet.  Did I relish the opportunity to sit through a week of testimony and have to try to make a decision about someone's guilt on the other side?  No, I did not.  But it's a part of the legal system I've never seen first hand, and I was looking forward to it a little bit.  Oh well.  Maybe next time.

My list of goodies to bring with you if you are summoned (assuming your courthouse allows them):
- Phone or tablet
- Charger for same
- Snacks
- Tissues
- Coffee
- Water
- Chapstick and lotion (the air is dry in there)
- Reading material
- Sweater or jacket
- One of those sporting event seat cushions (in case you end up in the peanut gallery instead of one of the cushy(ish) seats in the jury box)
- Curiosity
- Patience, and lots of it.