Jury Duty

About 3 weeks ago, I received a Jury Summons for Dallas County. I have to say that I was a little surprised since we've only lived in Dallas County for about a year. Naturally, the first thing I tried to do, was to get out of it. I don't really know why...I guess just because it's always viewed by people as a big inconvenience. Well, I didn't qualify for any of the exemptions, so my only other option was to show up on the date that was listed...which happened to be today. I had to be downtown at one of the Dallas courthouses at 8:30am. I didn't really know what to expect, so I arrived a little early. There were signs everywhere for the jurors. Once I found the "Central Jury Room" I realized that I was not the only person summoned...that's for sure. There were about 200-300 people in a gigantic movie theater-like room. Once 8:30 rolled around, they showed a video about being a juror. I learned that I would be assigned to a court and would then follow the instructions of the respective judge. I learned that I could be there for one day, or several days until the case was closed. I realized there was going to be a lot of waiting time, so I went to my car to get some articles to read (advice: take reading material if you're called for jury duty). About an hour later, they called several names over the loudspeaker...and mine was one of them. I found out that we, some Irving residents, were required to report at the small claims court in Irving in the afternoon.

Once I arrived at the Irving courthouse, I learned that there were a total of 12 potential jurors, and 6 would be chosen for the jury. The bailiff called our names and made us sit in order in the courtroom. I don't really know what I was expecting, but the courtroom really did look like the real courtrooms that I've seen on TV. I guess I've never been to a "real" one. The two opposing parties were at the front sifting through papers. When the door to the judge's chambers opened, the bailiff announced that we should all stand and he presented the "honorable Judge." The opposing parties went up to the judge and discussed their claim, which turned out to be a bankruptcy case. After about 30-45 minutes, they agreed that they would meet in the court another day, and they didn't need a jury today. Sooo....I didn't get to see the trial. After the parties left, the judge remained to talk to the jury. He thanked us for coming and told us lots of interesting facts about how important it was to do this as part of our civic duty. He also allowed us to come into the judge's chambers and view his gavel collection. I saw a gavel from 1921 that belonged to a Judge Snodgrass! haha

Anyway, I guess that I've served my time as a juror member for at least the next 6 months. Here are a few interesting things that I learned today:

1) Jurors are randomly chosen from the lists of registered voters and the list of driver's license numbers. If you register your driver's license number with your voter's registration, your chances of being summoned are reduced.

2) Just because you're assigned to a court doesn't mean that you'll sit on the jury. The lawyers for each side will interview the panel to see who they want...they want a "non-biased" group.

3) The reason that doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, etc. are not excluded from jury duty is because they may be the people that actually get sued or end up in court. This allows the possibility of a jury of your "peers"...or people that are in similar life situations/jobs. If certain professions were exempt, they jury wouldn't be a real "cross section" of the community.

4) The way that the jury selection is set up now is pretty good. The judge told us that since trial by jury is a right for all of us as US citizens, if there were no jurors to select from, the courts have the ability to go to the local coffee shop (or wherever) and "summon" anyone. They could even have you show up to the courthouse in 30 minutes! Since this would be a HUGE inconvenience, they send out jury summons several weeks in advance so that people can make plans.

So....if you ever get called for jury duty, it's actually kind of interesting. Maybe next time, I'll actually get to see a trial. :)