Jury Duty

On Tuesday, I spent my day in this building. Yes, I had jury duty. My original date was to be in late November...a terrible time of year for someone who makes and sells handcrafted items for a living. I was able to reschedule for after Christmas thank goodness. Tuesday was the first time I was called that I made it farther than the jury pool room. Juror numbers were called, we were lined up and taken to the courtroom. We were told this was a criminal case and when 90 perspective jurors were needed, I knew this was probably a case I'd heard about on the news at some point. The judge explained the case, said it would be a 4-5 day trial. It was over a 3 hour process of the judge asking questions of the jurors. Jurors were then selected by the attorneys by the defense and the prosecution. I feel that I am fortunate that my number was high and I did not end up as a member of that jury. It was a violent crime against a child and as a mother of daughters, I really don't know that I could have been "fair and impartial" as much as I would have wanted to be. I'm sure there are people who can put their emotions aside, but I wear mine on my sleeve. But I did get to see the court room process up to the point when the jurors were seated. For me, it was a learning experience.