A little over a week ago, I received my very first Jury Summons in the mail!! To be honest, I've always thought it'd be kinda fun to serve on a jury, but I'm unlikely to ever get that chance considering my career choice as a court reporter. But I did get to go through the full voir dire process, and it was an interesting experience being on the other side of it this time!
We had to check in first in the jury assembly room in the basement. That's where I expected to spend most of my time, but about an hour later, I was called up to a courtroom for a criminal case. I vaguely knew of the Judge, but didn't know any of the attorneys (two Tulsa ADAs and two Tulsa public defenders). As usual, everything went very slowly. They eventually seated 60 jurors in that courtroom (calling 12 at a time), then they gave us a lunch break from 10:30 to 1:00. We finally got started that afternoon. They questioned the first 34 jurors that were seated, and I was #31!
We were told that it would be a First-Degree Murder trial and given the basic style of the case and names of some witnesses in case anyone knew any of them... then we each had to state our name, spouse's name, number of kids, workplace, town, and whether we'd ever served on a jury before. I was more nervous than I'd expected to be, but I spoke up loud and clear and slowly, knowing what a freaking nightmare this was for the court reporter. A very full socially-distanced courtroom with everyone in masks and people talking quickly and quietly due to nerves... it's all very rough. Not to mention the 50+ bench conferences - there are always more during Murder trials, and when one juror decides to keep things private and ask to come to the bench, it seems to create a chain effect where no one wants to share anything with the entire room. UGH, bench conferences are the very worst. I was feeling bad for the court reporter the whole time. lol She actually had on a mask with "SPEAK UP" written on it, and that really cracked me up! =)
The State's attorney got halfway through his questioning by 5:00 on Monday, then we returned for more the next morning. He went through the four elements he would have to prove, then asked whether anyone had ever heard about or thought through those elements before... Mine was the only hand raised, then we talked a bit about what types of cases I've heard and how long I've been a court reporter, etc. After that, he exempted me from a few of his questions... like, "Now, with the exception of Ms. Muecke, can anyone tell me what the burden of proof would be in a criminal case?" (Beyond a reasonable doubt.) Or "When you heard the term malice aforethought, what did you think it meant -- except for Ms. Muecke." lol (Premeditated intent.) It was interesting hearing the questions and answers, though. I kept wanting to encourage people to speak up. lol
I was aware of why the attorneys objected and why certain bench conferences were happening, and when they mentioned a second charge being Possession of a Firearm, I knew the Defendant had prior felonies (hence, the possession becoming illegal). All that to say, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be selected, and Mom was verrry confident of that. Since they were questioning 34 of us, it was clear to me that each side would get to strike 10 people, then they would have a panel of 12 and 2 alternate jurors. My main hope was that I wouldn't be seated as an alternate. To waste my lovely Spring Break week listening to a case I wouldn't even get to deliberate on wouldn't have been my favorite.
Anyway, I took a fun Peloton walk during our lunch break on Tuesday. There's a quiet side street between the courthouse and the library that was pretty perfect for a safe outdoor walk. =)
I brought this to help pass the time, and I read every word cover to cover. There's so much downtime and recesses that go longer than planned. Anyway, yay Queen Latifah and Meghan & Harry! lol Side note: The empty crossword puzzle at the back made me sad. Grandad subscribed to People for years, and he always used to fill out as much as he could on those, then he would give Rach and I the magazines to look through when they were done with them, and I would sometimes complete the remainder of the puzzle (because the stuff he didn't know would be the more modern shows/movies/music). Anyway, it made me feel nostalgic seeing that, then it made me sad that we will never co-complete one of those puzzles again.
Back to jury selection (aka jury voir dire), the defense attorney asked his questions that afternoon, then they took an hour recess to choose the jury, then came back and called them into the box... then let the rest of us go for the week! YAY!! It was interesting to be a part of it, and I took some phone notes on how they handled certain things since we haven't done a jury trial since the pandemic began. We all wore masks and were seated about two feet apart from each other, but were told we could pull the masks down when answering questions for the court reporter's sake. I did that every time, but it was about half and half - I did not envy that court reporter!
So that's the blog recap of my time as Juror #31. lol
A few more quick things since it's been a while since I blogged. I got to have lunch with Kristin Foster last week - yay for catching up with her, yay for deep conversations, and yay for queso rice and Tacos 4 Life!
I was pondering this morning how I have so many great memories that prominently include great food (birthday parties, vacations, family gatherings, weekly lunches, etc.) And I feel even more drawn to certain foods because of the memory associations I have with them. So perhaps I need to host some game nights were we laugh a lot while only eating celery sticks... I'm thinking that wouldn't go over super well. lol I've been throwing in more fruits and vegetables lately, but it's definitely not a natural thing or a habit yet. But yay for valuing health and longevity and strength!
Final thought... my car had an oil leak that has now been fixed... but while it was leaking, my front tire would roll through the oil, and it created five dark stains on my driveway as the tire rolled down. ...Pretty. lol So once they fixed the leak, I bought some stuff that was supposed to pull out the oil -- it was thick like pancake batter, and you pour it on all of them... then it hardens and you sweep it off. Of course, it didn't all come off, and then it was white stains over the dark stains, which was just fantastic. lol
Now that it's rained a couple times, most of the white residue is gone, and the oil stains are significantly lighter... here's a before and after pic. They're definitely still there, but less of an eyesore, so I think I'm done worrying about it now. =)
That's all I've got for today. I started this post after 11:30, and now it's 12:34 AM.
G'night, friends! Hope you're having a great week!!
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