Jury Duty

So I haven't posted in a little while and figured I'd better post something so you all don't think I've fallen off the face of the earth. Last week was just so busy I haven't had a chance to do much of anything! For those of you who didn't know, I was summoned and chosen for jury duty. I'm not sure how many of you have ever had jury duty but it's pretty interesting to see our tax dollars and bill of rights at work. The trial was scheduled to last three days (jury selection included). So I appeared on the first day hoping I would not be chosen so I wouldn't have to worry about what to do about work. That was not the case. When I found out that I was juror #1, I knew I would be chosen. Out of pool of about 30 people, 8 of us were the lucky winners- lucky female winners that is. It just happen to be a jury of all women. Because the attorneys are not allowed to make a decision based on gender, and each was given 4 veto's in the selection process, the first 8 of us left after that just happen to be all women! After the jury was selected, the attorneys for both sides made their opening statements and we were sent home for the day. We found out that the defendant was being charged with 10 counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor... let's just say I was less than thrilled with what I was sure we would be hearing about our second day on jury duty.

The second day we were asked to appear at the court house at 8:45am. Because you are not allowed to exchange any conversation with any of the witnesses or attorneys (not even to ask about the weather or time of day we were instructed), we were asked to wait on an entirely different floor as to avoid any contact. (Although I couldn't help but wonder if one of the people I was standing in the elevator with happen to be involved in the case- turns out I didn't recognize anyone so it was alright.) We finally filed into the court room for a long day of testimony. I'll spare you all of the details since I like to keep this a G-rated blog and just say that I definitely got an education on a lot of things... Anyway, the short g-rated version: a 20-year-old started dating a 15-year-old. Everything they supposedly did was consensual but in Utah you are considered a minor until your 16th birthday. The hardest part about the trial was that the girl involved had the worst memory of anyone I have ever listened to. Because of that, we were only able to convict him on 2 of the 10 counts- only after nearly having a hung jury, we finally made it home at 7:30pm.

It was really an interesting process and I definitely learned a lot about our court system. Even though it's extremely stressful trying to make an objective decision that will ultimately affect someones life so drastically, it does make you grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy here in this country. I'm just glad I won't have to sit through another graphic trial like that for at least another 2 years when my name will be put back into the pool of potential jurors.