Jury duty pt 2

Well this part is a little different than part 1. For one, I was writing that as it happened, and I couldn't do that with this part as I was actively in the court room and phones and such were not allowed. So here's what happened:

They called my name. #7. I literally let out a sigh of disgust. And so I went down to the 5th floor and stood in line while a lady told us what would be happening. We'd go in and be surveyed (guadiere, I thing that how its spelled. Pronounced "gwa-deer") and chosen or not chosen to be in the jury based on our answers.

So of course being #7 I was right in the front. Center. And the dude next to me would NOT SHUT UP. At first it was funny, but then he said, "he's guilty," when we found out what the charges were. Not funny. Btw it was the state vs this young immigrant who was accused of sexual assault of a 12 year old girl. So yeah dude, shut up. The immigrant dude looked like he was having it rough up on Wright St. His eyes were red the whole time. I know they treat rapists hard up in the joint, and with good reason, so...

Certain things could be implied by the line of questioning. There was forensic evidence. If the forensics did not incriminate the defendant, I don't believe we'd be there. You know? If the DNA was someone else's, we wouldn't be looking at this guy. Also, the way the defense lawyer asked his questions made it seem they could only put reasonable doubt in your head, maybe, possibly. On a good day. I wouldn't want him reppin me. He wasn't too tight in the game.

So we get on with the questionaire. Do you know anyone in the courtroom? Would the influx of Latino immigrants into the US effect you negatively in this case? Do you have police or military relatives? Do you watch law and order or CSI? (when they asked this question, people were like, what about "cold case"? What about "48hrs"? Damn, just say yes. You get the idea.) Has anyone close to you been arrested? do you have an negative experience with the police? Positive? Do you have a scientific, counseling, child care background? Do you have children? On and on. And then there were 2 questions I was the only one who answered in the afirmative: do you speak Spanish? Were you personally the victim of a sex crime?

Now, admitting you were the "victim" of a sex crime can be a hard thing. First of all you have to move past victimization. I don't feel like a victim. It was a part of my past and makes me who I am. By not saying that it happened, 2 things occur. I make myself ashamed and a liar. (btw, Mr talkative gave me the side eye when I answered this question. I was actually thankful he clammed up and looked at me differently.) I did no more to deserve the actions brought upon me than I did when my house was robbed when I was 19. The other thing is a perpetuation that its going to be something we should be silent about. Its not. I once sat in a room where a large majority of females admitted to having been a "victim" too. No one would have known otherwise. But by us saying it, and there being males in the room hearing what we had to say, I can guarantee it had an effect on them. So while I am pretty sure I wasn't the only one who was involved in a sex crime, I was the only one to admit it. And that's fine. I don't want people to think they can ever be in a room full of people and assume that none of the women there have been offended. And next time, maybe every one would be able to admit it.

As far as not knowing Spanish... Really? 60 people in the room and the only ones who speak Spanish are me and the defense? These people had a crazy diverse background, and I was the only one who could communicate with the people who are literally running to live in our city? Boo!

So moving on. After this, we took a lunch and then it was specific juror questioning. Something I found funny was one man's response:

"where does your wife work?"

"oh she's retired."

"from?"

"north Carolina."

Dude. Not what she meant. I really wanted to laugh.

My questionaire was long. I talked about my brother's and uncles' military service, my dad's and cousin's arrests, my functionality in Spanish, whether or not my personal experience with the crime would bias me (I said it wouldn't. I'm able to see that this guy is not the person that hurt me), and my job. After that, I went in the hallway and squeezed in next to a nice old lady who was eventually chosen. I'd first seen her earlier because she was sock-footed. Someone had taken her shoes! What the? She was 74! And walking around the courthouse since she'd gotten there with no shoes on. Her daughter came after lunch and brought her a pair from her house. We talked for a while, and she was talking to me for a while. It took me a second to realize that Jackie was her daughter that died of diabetes in 2004 (yes, we really talked) because she talked to me as if we'd known each other since back in the day. She grew up in warm springs, the home town of Eisenhower, I think she said. And her dad worked for him. Was he the one in the wheelchair? That's who she was talking about. Anyway, we talked about her time as a private investigator at "Girls Friday" in roswell. That name reminds me of a strip club even though I know where it came from.

So after a while, a long while, remember I was #7 of 50, we went back into the room and the judge talked to us about "striking" jurors. He said they'd take a 15 minute recess and we'd be out by 6. Lemme say that first of all, we weren't. 2ndly, I'd been in that building since 8am and I'd been up since 6am. So I was beat. After almost a half hour, the lawyers came back and striking began. Now, I've seen them do this OUT LOUD before but never in this "passing notes in class" way that was occuring before me. No one said A WORD for another 20 minutes. A court worker passed a. Few sheets of paper back and forth, writing here and there and passing, whispering, while we sat there bored and not knowing what's going on. Then finally they had a jury and they called 13 people and then the judge thanked us and we were on our way. It was 630! I spent 10.5 hours in there only to not get picked. And I know that the fact that I was the only one who admitted to what I did was the reason why. It was the only thing that set me apart to the point of being a "biased juror." meh, whatever. I could see how that could hurt your case, lol. I went to kesi's house and went to sleep. Now I just sit back and wait for my $25.

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