Jury Duty
I had hoped that scrawling Pick Me! Pick Me! on the jury form I received several months back would keep them from, you know picking me. But I've been summoned.
I've never served on a jury before. My dad served on one at the same time Charles Manson was on trial. When I was older, he'd tell stories of walking by Squeaky Frome and Co., sitting outside the courthouse, swastikas carved in their foreheads. My mom carries a pistol around in her purse all the time ("Really?" Zach had asked once. "Even when I was there? Your mom was packing heat?"), so I imagine if she ever got called to serve she'd either (a) have problems at the metal detector; or (b) find herself in the position of having to serve swift justice on someone she felt got away too easily.
And don't think she wouldn't. She's firm, but fair.
Anyway, I'm taking The Trail of the Serpent to finish (they've busted Daredevil Dick out of the asylum; he wears wigs now) and a notebook to make sure I get any lunacy down on paper.
(Truth be told, I'm a little excited.)
I've never served on a jury before. My dad served on one at the same time Charles Manson was on trial. When I was older, he'd tell stories of walking by Squeaky Frome and Co., sitting outside the courthouse, swastikas carved in their foreheads. My mom carries a pistol around in her purse all the time ("Really?" Zach had asked once. "Even when I was there? Your mom was packing heat?"), so I imagine if she ever got called to serve she'd either (a) have problems at the metal detector; or (b) find herself in the position of having to serve swift justice on someone she felt got away too easily.
And don't think she wouldn't. She's firm, but fair.
Anyway, I'm taking The Trail of the Serpent to finish (they've busted Daredevil Dick out of the asylum; he wears wigs now) and a notebook to make sure I get any lunacy down on paper.
(Truth be told, I'm a little excited.)
posted by Mike at 6:47 AM
1 Comments:
I have served twice, once in petit court in DC and once on a Grand Jury in VA. In the DC case (gun possession), the lawyers were incredibly amateurish--the prosecutor was trying to be dramatic ("Ladies and gentlemen, this is a case of 'nothing up my sleeves'!" complete with miming) while the defense attorney kept consulting a 5,000 page legal book to support her every point (until the judge yelled at her for taking so much time). The other ridiculous thing was the courtroom was so small that when the counsel approached the bench for private words with the judge, they turned on a white noise machine to mask the conversation but we could totally hear everything. And don't get me started on my fellow jury members. Let's just say Crazy Cat Lady would have been right at home. I wait with great anticipation for your pertinent posts.
Post a Comment
<< Home