Jury Duty

Monday, January 9th I had to report to the Polk County Courthouse to perform my civic duty of jury duty. There was a lot of waiting around at first. 250 people were there and they wanted us to go through orientation. They divided us up into two of the biggest courtrooms, and then showed us a video. It was a really corny video. The gist of it was they wanted us realize the importance of us being there, and that we can use our common sense to help in determining if a person was guilty or not. After the 20 minute video, they then started calling names for different judges. I was not called for the first five judges, so I thought I may be sent home. However, twenty minutes later another clerk came in, and my name was on her list. They say that our names were picked from the registered voters list or the DMV. The names for the judges are also randomly picked by a computer.

They took 27 of us to Judge Novak's courtroom. The lawyers for both sides were there. The judge thanked us for helping make the wheels of justice turn. He asked us to answer the lawyers questions honestly and to disclose any additional information to them. We all had to fill out a questionnaire prior to being picked, so the lawyers were working off of our answers. The lawyers directed their questions at the first 21 people on their list. The idea being, that both sides will eliminate 4 people, which then leaves 13 people left. However, if someone says they know the defendant or a witness in the case, then they would be excused prior to the strikes from the lawyers, thus the reason for the additional 6 jurors. It wasn't until the very end, that the defense lawyer asked if I understood what proof beyond a reasonable doubt meant. They had been talking about it for 10 minutes, I told him I did. The lawyers then told the judge who they were striking. Since I hardly had been questioned, they had no reason to eliminate me, so I was picked.

It was a criminal case. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges of an OWI. He didn't pass all the field sobriety tests, so the cop took him in. He then decided not to take the breathalizer, because he could not get a hold of his lawyer. The cop car did not have video surveillance, so we only had the word of the officer and the defendant. The defendant told the officer he had a slipped disc, and it could alter the tests. The cop kept telling him he needed to do the field tests. The defendant finally said he would do it. He didn't want to cause any trouble. We were able to watch the video of him being booked. From what we saw on the video he didn't look drunk. He stood still, he got undressed, he made phone calls, he used a phone book without any trouble. The trial concluded Tuesday afternoon. The judge looks over to the jury box and says, "The alternate juror for this case is Rachel Agans, you are excused." So I had leave, I didn't get to stay and deliberate. I am going to call one of the guys that was on the jury tonight, to find out if they found him guilty or not. After sitting in on that case, I was excused for the rest of the week, and was able to go back to work. I will not get called again for at least another 2 years.