For the fourth time in eight years, I had jury duty last week. Years ago, when you were called you had to go down to the court house every day for a week (or more) and sit in the jury room waiting to be called for a case. Now you call in the night before to see if you need to show up the next day. And after one day at the court house your service is done, if you’re not selected for a jury. In theory.
My previous services were in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and downtown LA. This time it was at the Hollywood court house, 2 miles from my house. Easy commute and easy parking. But one thing about these satellite court houses is that they have to perform multiple court functions. Downtown, a courtroom is only used to try cases and other courtrooms are used for other things. So downtown, a court case will go 9-5 every day. In Hollywood, maybe 3-4 hours a day is available for the trial.
Downtown, the jury room will have a few hundred people available for jury pools, so only a fraction of the people will be sent to a specific courtroom at a time. In Hollywood, only 45 people are called in on a given day, so everyone goes to the courtroom.
So last week I called in Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, and wasn’t asked to come in until Thursday morning. One and a half hours of orientation, then a half hour of sitting there before being released for lunch, told to be back at 1:30. Sat there for another hour, then called into a courtroom. A misdemeanor case involving a mother-in-law brandishing a gun to keep her estranged son-in-law away from her daughter. Everyone is spanish speaking.
First 18 are called up, 1.5 hours of interviews. Four are very clearly going to be dismissed, but everyone is sent home at 4 and told to be back at 1 the next day. Arrive Friday at 1, wait a half hour, more interviews, people dismissed, 6 more called up, more dismissals. 4 pm everyone sent home and told to return on Monday at 11. Monday wait a half hour, then only a half hour of interviews, and everyone released for lunch, told to be back at 2. More interviews, more dismissals. I’m the 4 from the last to be called. The defense has used up all their dismissals. The prosecution uses his last dismissal on me. The guy to my left is by default the 12 juror and the two remaining in the audience are the alternates.
So it took 3 days to go through all 45 to seat 12. They didn’t want anyone with any gun violence in their past. One young girl had witnessed a gang shooting at age 8. A retired bank clerk had been robbed. One guy’s brother had been in an accidental shooting at a neighbor’s house when he was 12. Another guy had been mugged. a few other gang related stuff. But they also didn’t want anyone who had a gun collection. No one with domestic violence in their past. No one who left their spouse and moved back in with their parents. They didn’t want anyone who spoke spanish either.
It took 3 days in part because the judge dragged things out. Once the girl said she had witnessed a gang murder at 8, and the bank clerk said she had a gun pointed to her during a bank robbery, the judge should have just moved on, but he went on and on asking about the details. (both were clearly emotionally upset during the questioning)
But now my duty is complete, at least for another year.
