Hearing the case

Well, I was selected to hear a case in Judge Grise's court. It took all day yesterday and continues so I guess I shouldn't say anything. Grise is great, the jury is great and the entire process give me hope in the system. I'm a tad disappointed in the civil case but that's my problem.

Interesting lesson. The jury process in this court (circuit court for Wilson and Grise), a juror panel is assembled (>120 souls) and they are required to serve for a month. There were a number of people selected the first day for the grand jury (15 I think). The selection process was interesting too. As the clerk called role, she assigned us a number. Little chits (balls with numbers on them) were put in a tumbler and then one by one the grand jury was selected randomly. That same system was used yesterday for selection of the jury in this case. The chose 20 using the tumbler, asked us some questions and then the plaintiff and defendant sequestered and returned with names of those they wish to be removed. Then the clerk chose 14 of us from the 20 minus the names removed. 14 were chosen instead of 12 in case of illness or other loss of a juror or two. It seemed random, it seemed fair, it seemed just. I felt a sense of pride as I sat in the jury box.

The other hard lesson was the correction of my assumption. I had assumed that since I was selected to serve on a jury, that I would be released for the rest of the month. I based this assumption on the qualifying questions at the beginning where the judge asked, "have you served on a jury in the past 12 months?" Since I was selected to serve (and am serving) I 'assumed' that now I could not serve on another. I even shared that opinion with two fellow jurors. After I shared this, I second guessed myself and took an opportunity to ask Judge Grise about it as he made his way from court to his office. I asked, "since we are serving on this jury, are we released for the month." He grinned and explained that many people make that assumption, but no, I am still on the panel and could be selected again during this 30 period. Once this cycle is over, I won't be able to serve on a state jury for 24 months. So much for assumptions eh?

Well, that's that. I am not looking into the case, doing research or trying to get any more information. I'm checking my email, writing in my blog and now I'm going to get some work done off line. That is what is required of me, so that's what I am doing. I didn't watch the news, read the paper or even check local news and discussions for that same reason... it's part of my integrity.

This whole process has put a huge dent in my development of Soky but it has also given me time to step back and evaluate what's important. I came in this morning to work on the style definitions and the new graphics forum for my freelancer. I may write further on this after the fact but I am still thinking that decision through. If I were the principals in the case, would I want some guy writing his opinion about it online? I dunno.

I do however have some critical opinions of the plaintiff attorney. I may share those. (LOL)

(Written on August 3rd at 6:15 A.M. but saved as a draft (private) until the case is over.)