Thu, Sep 06 2007

The jury that never was

My spouse was scheduled for jury duty this week and ended up having to go in on Tuesday. The group was seated in the jury assembly room, which is a rectangular modular building behind the main court house building. The usual procedure is that a bailiff comes to address the group and goes over the general rules and procedures of the court before the group is taken to a court room. However, on this particular morning the group was surprised to see a judge in her official robe enter the room, speak briefly to the woman at the desk and then turn to address the prospective jurors. She spoke of the privilege and responsibilities associated with serving as jurors. My spouse began to squirm, thinking of what the upcoming trial must hold in the way of complications or inconveniences. Instead, the judge informed them that there had been a sudden resolution to the case and that the group was being dismissed and would be counted as having served their duty for two years.

I often complain about the bottleneck that is our court system, so in this case I decided to admit in public writing that sometimes an isolated case here or there moves so quickly that a jury trial isn't even necessary. Of course, if one ever does need a jury of one's peers, it's nice to know that the system has made provisions for such a group to assemble and serve. It does make one curious though, as to what happened that changed things in that particular case. A change in evidence? A change in plea? I suppose that's why criminal TV shows are popular. One never knows when court cases will pump the old adrenalin to the rafters and then turn and drop one's emotions flat on the floor.

posted at: 07:46 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry