Jury Duty

My first jury summons came at a bad time in my life. While I didn't have children yet, I was going to school and work full time. I got called to serve just as a six week course I was taking started. I got excused but not before I heard an earful from the judge. It wasn't that I didn't want to serve on a jury, I just couldn't miss one day of that class! Not a good experience people! You can imagine my trepidation when I received a jury summons for the end of March. So, I went to jury duty on March 30th. I actually got called onto a jury! If you have to get called to a jury, then my trial was the one to get! It only lasted one day (Jake was relieved to hear that!) and I had a really great experience! We heard a trial about a man being charged with 2 counts of 3rd degree FELONY assault. Just before the trial actually started, the District Atty dropped one count of assault. Anyway, after hearing the opening arguments, I really just didn't understand why this guy would plead not guilty and why in the world this defense atty would take the case! It seemed open and shut. As the trial unfolded, it became clear that things weren't exactly as they seemed. Though I was really excited for this opportunity, I was a little nervous. It didn't help that all the events occurred at the bar The Drunken Monkey. Seriously. I had to seriously stifle giggles every time they asked witnesses where they were the night this took place. Basically people got drunk and got into a fight. In the end, if the officers would have gotten there a little earlier they would have either arrested no one or everyone. We found that the defendant was acting in self-defense. We found him not guilty. As a jury, we really felt like we served justice. As far as juries go, I really felt like I had a great one...everyone was professional and nice. Everyone took their job seriously and we had fun during deliberation. After the verdict was read we were sent back to the jury room and waited for the judge to come and speak to us (which I thought was really cool). He gave us a certificate for being on the jury and a book that contained the Constitution...pretty cool. It was nice to talk to him and he answered our questions about what he thought about the trial. Essentially, he thought we did a good job with our decision and wondered why the district atty decided to bring the case to trial in the first place. That made me feel like I did a good job. It was really cool to have this experience!