Jury Duty: The Selection Process

Listening to everyone talk, it was surprising how much personal information was given out on the public record. Watching everyone talk (each person held a mic while they spoke), it was like getting this brief little snapshot into their lives.

During the process, we were told that if we preferred to reveal some information privately to the judge and lawyers, we could use the term “sidebar” to do so. Rather than publicaly state that, say, we had a child involved in a criminal proceeding, we could convey this information away from the other jurors.

Colleen was first up, and I found out that her husband was a news anchor for ABC in the afternoons. The guy next to her… revealed that he had been charged with a DUI in the past. In a very weird turn of events, the judge forgot to ask Colleen about her hobbies/activities, and went back to interview her. Her response to the judge was that she volunteered for an organization that helped victims of DUI’s.

It was interesting to hear the backgrounds for everyone, and how easily potential jurors were (in my head anyway) eliminated from the case. A few folks had negative experiences with law officers, and some stated that they felt they couldn’t be impartial. One woman had a brother in law who was an FBI agent. That sort of thing.

What amazed me most was how often DUI’s came into the picture. More than one person admitted to a DUI charge. One woman had a brother who was killed because of a DUI. A woman, in talking about her favorably interaction with police, mentioned that three girls in her neighborhood were killed as a result of a DUI.

More than anything else from the day, it shocked me to see so many recurring incidents of driving under the influence. I’ve always been someone who’s shied away from driving after drinking, even if it’s just one drink. After today, and especially in a city teeming with cabs, I feel even stronger about that view.

When our group finally got to the jury box, I was more than a little nervous. In some ways, we were all on trial a bit… as the entire purpose of the jury selection process was to evaluate and assess each candidate. As each of us talked about ourselves, we knew that the lawyers watching us were silently grading and measuring whether or not they wanted us to serve on the jury. That in and of itself was a little bit unsettling.

The weirdest thing of all? During the sidebar, the judge took off her microphone and the room was filled with a lot of static – white noise. There were speakers in the jury box, and they instantly started hissing and scratching.

When I raised my hand to call over one of the officers, he waved me off. A little later, he came over to explain that the white noise was intentional, and meant to prevent the jury from hearing any of the conversations had between the judge and the lawyers.

After we were all interviewed, we took a 15 minute break. In the hallways, I talked more with Colleen, and I told her I was convinced she’d be cut since her husband is part of the news. We all discussed serving on the case (which the judge told us would take possibly 5 days), missing work, that sort of thing.

Once we were called back in, the judge had everyone sit and the clerk called out eight names. Mine was not among them. Colleen’s was.

After the eight jurors were selected, the rest of us were dismissed. As I gathered up my coat and bag, I looked over at Colleen sitting in the first row of the jury box. Leaving, I waved to her; she waved back.

In the elevator on the way down, most of us were again, pretty quiet. I broke the silence and said that I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or offended. My thought was “Hey, I’m pretty good too. What’s wrong with me?” Others laughed, and said they felt the same way. Most though, were ready to leave and get on about their day.

In the Jury Lounge, I saw the other woman that was originally at my table (the one who got called in the big group of 50). I sat down with her briefly, and learned she had been waiting the whole time. I told her about Colleen, wished her luck, and then realized I could just walk out the door.

Here’s the kicker though – I found out I was done, but not done. Turns out, I need to still call in tomorrow, to see whether I need to report in on Wednesday. Even though I’ve shown up today, my summons is for a two week block of time. So I could theoretically get called back in this week.

My last day to call is Thursday, to see if I show up on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed.

On the way out, I saw a bunch of reporters lined up for something or other. In asking one of the guards, I found out Tony Rezko was somewhere upstairs.

An interesting day, peeking under the hood of jury duty. Hopefully today was my last day, but I guess we’ll see what the week holds.