Friday, March 28, 2008

12 angry men

last week (the 17th through 21st) our kids were on spring break an di was very motivated to clean my desk off, do some serious filing, and prepare for our district validation review. wednesday i woke up with a sore throat and feeling lousy so i called in sick. wednesday night, when i called my toll-free number to see if i had to report for jury duty as luck would have it i did. of course. so thursday morning i wake up extra early, feeling like death warmed over and take the train downtown to be at one of la's many courthouses by 7:45 am. we heard all the spiel about what was going to happen and around 10:30 they started assigning courtrooms. department 45 here i come. i was called as juror #1. they started by interviewing 18 of us with 18 spares. 2 days later, when jury selection was finally completed, they were down to 12 jurors and one alternate.

we listened to the evidence from three police officers and the defendant, who was charged with one count of solicitation of the act of prostitution, a misdemeanor. monday afternoon we started deliberating and were locked at 6-6. tuesday morning we went straight back to the jury room, talked some more, and were still locked at 6-6. in order for the defendant to be declared guilty or not guilty we had to be unanimous. there was no way 6 people were going to change their minds, so we tolfd the attorneys and the judge and he declared a mistrial. i think that means it is up to his discretion whether to retry the case or something. anyways, i feel like it was a waste of taxpayers time and money. then we owed the state money on our taxes. hmmm... seems like an area in need of some house cleaning!!!

i will be looking forward to my compensation check to come in the mail ($15/day, starting on the second day of service, mileage one way OR a metro card = $45 and a week pass for the train) so i can send it straight back to the state. stupid.

thats civic duty for you.

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