I had the (dis)pleasure of serving as a potential juror the past couple of weeks. For starters, parking up at the courthouse is awful. I'm glad I arrived early as scoping for a parking spot took some time and then required a good walk to get to the building. Reporting in was also like walking through a labyrinth trying to find the room. Signage was non-existent. Sorry, I don't hang out at the courthouse so I'm not familiar with the layout.
The room we were to report to had all the comfort of a 1970's version of the DMV with hard, plastic chairs, no windows, and fluorescent lighting. We were packed in like sardines. After watching a short video about the trial process and duties of a juror, we were shuttled outside only to stand in line for over an hour. It was cold. It was uncomfortable. There were no chairs. What were we waiting for? We were waiting for security to open the door to the entrance of the courtroom. It would have been nice if somebody told us that. The entry of the lobby to the courtroom had security scanning and waving a wand over us like we were all suspected terrorists trying to board a flight.
The fun did not end there. I was one of the lucky ones who got inside the courtroom lobby where it was at least warm if not packed full of other potential jurors. The rest of the poor slobs had to wait out in the cold. Few got chairs to sit on in the courtroom lobby. The rest of us stood up against the wall trying to find a comfortable standing position.
At 11:00 AM the doors to the courtroom were finally opened (original reporting time was 9:30 AM). The defendant was present along with his attorney, and the prosecution attorneys were also present. At this point the judge tells us that it's a murder case and the trial will take about 6 weeks. Looking around the room, I could read in the other potential jurors faces that they all lost their sh**. Who has time to take off work for this? About half of the roomful of potential jurors were going to claim a hardship. For those who were not going to claim a hardship a 10 page questionnaire was handed to us to answer, leave there, and were instructed to come back next week.
I did not want to attempt to claim a hardship. So, I completed the questionnaire. I was very specific and honest when stating that I personally knew one of the witnesses (which is a no-no) and that I'm also related to several members of the California Highway Patrol and the Petaluma Police Department (also a no-no). I gave the names of my relatives and also how I knew the witnesses to dismiss the thought that I was just making it all up to get out of serving.
I knew just based on that I would be disqualified. Also, I knew too much about the case as I read about it in the local papers. Mind you, I disclosed all of this in the questionnaire they had possession of for a week.
Do you think the court would save me the time and tossed me out as a potential juror? Oh no. I had to come back and sit with a room full of people while they called out "random" juror numbers to come up to the jury box. The rest of the potential jurors were to wait in case their number was called to come up to the jury box. I was one of the potential jurors called up to the box.
The prosecution asked a bunch of questions to the 21 of us sitting in the jury box. It was when the defendant's attorney starting asking questions is where it went south. He asked if we knew anybody in law enforcement and I raised my hand. He started to poke me further and I just had had enough. I said I was pro-law enforcement, that I could smell BS a mile away, and that people often lie under oath. I disclosed that I already knew too much about the case. and.......No, I would not be able to give the defendant an unbiased trial.
I was dismissed;) .....but it was not without wasting a whole lot of time, not just mine, but all the potential jurors. No wonder the public is cranky about serving as a juror. The entire process was as cumbersome and inefficient as possible. However, lawyers et al make $$$ by the hour. That's why.
Here's the case I was dismissed from (link below).
https://www.petaluma360.com/article/news/standoff-in-el-verano-leads-to-arrest-in-petaluma-murder/
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