Jury Duty

A few weeks ago, I received my summons to show up for jury duty today at the 13th Judicial Circuit Court here in Hillsborough County. I've been summoned for jury duty once before when I was a college student up in Jacksonvile, but wasn't selected for a trial. Well now I'm 1 for 2. Today I was chosen to be on the jury for a criminal case. Obviously, I can't talk about the information in the case, but I'll tell you how things went when it's over. It's supposed to be a short trial.

I wasn't all that thrilled about the prospect of sitting on a jury, but now I'm looking forward to it in a way. I'm also a little nervous. The last time, if I remember right, I wasn't there more than a few minutes in the actual courtroom before the attorneys/judge dismissed me. Never really picked up on why. I always wondered if it had something to do with the fact that I was a college student because they never asked me about any experiences that might have related to the case. (Kyle - Mr. Law Enforcement, would you know why??) They let me and a few other prospective jurors go before they got into deeper questioning with the others. Then I never was sent to another case.

This time, we (the 16 prospective jurors) were all there for all of the questioning. I gotta tell you, I am now the biggest proponent of better civics instruction in American schools. A few of these people were absolutely clueless about basic elements of America's court/justice system like "innocent until proven guilty" and "beyond reasonable doubt". There had to be times when some of the people were trying to give stupid or ridiculous answers to get out of being selected, but there were also times when I couldn't believe what I was hearing and I'm sure they were being honest. Guess it doesn't matter either way. I'll have to go back and watch Runaway Jury tonight to get ready. (Just kidding, judge) More about the trial when it's over.