As I stated previously, Law & Order it was not. 12 Angry Men it wasn’t either. More like nine women and three men with quite jovial dispositions, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.
Jury Selection …
The jury pool has its own designated parking area. This was exciting. The Cobb County Court System was so appreciative of our service that it deemed we deserved our very own parking locale. All we needed to do was wave our little summons at the attendant when pulling into the car park and then he would direct us to where our special little spot would be. It was on the 5th floor of the parking deck as a matter of fact. One might call it the Penthouse of that particular parking garage with spectacular city views … others might just refer to it as uncovered parking in the nosebleed section wherein our cars can cook in the 100 degree heat.
Upon entering the courthouse and going through security, we were required to check in on the top floor. They scanned our summons and we were directed to the Jury Waiting room for orientation.
After the orientation we were guided to a courtroom. It did not look like a Jack McCoy courtroom. It felt very 80’s 700 Club with the colors, the carpet and the cushion covers. My heart sank a little. After a little Q&A, the chief justice swore us in, assigned us a group and then we were good to go. We would be sent back up to the Jury Waiting room where we could watch TV, relax or mingle until our group was called for a case. Everyone was constantly thanking us for our service and reminding us of how the mere knowledge of our presence was enough to conclude many cases. We were told summer was the best time to serve. Far less cases and they never started new ones on Fridays, so though we were technically in service for the whole week and could technically be placed in multiple juries, the likelihood would be slim and most of us stood a solid chance of being released by noon each day.
I felt like I had just cracked open THE BOOK, when the jury manager took center stage and called Group 2 to attention. I was Group 2. But what happened to Group 1? Regardless, we were required to exit the room single file in the order we were called. The bailiff, who was not wearing a uniform of any kind by the way, counted off. I was juror 20. We were then taken to a courtroom on the third floor to enter voir dire.
We were asked to sit in the audience area, or the gallery, with ten in the first two rows and the remaining four in the third. The prosecution and the defense teams, along with their clients, were turned around facing all of us. Never saw that on Law & Order. Felt like fish in a bowl, or barrel depending on your point of view. The judge hobbled in with crutches, board shorts, a polo and his robe wide open. Never saw that either. He welcomed us and thanked us and essentially let voir dire begin.
The prosecutor stepped to the podium first. He aimed to be personable, maybe cracked a joke or two, I can’t quite recall. He reminded me a bit of Stephen Baldwin circa The Usual Suspects (not Bio-Dome); then he began to ask the hard hitting questions. The first one was whether or not anyone had ever witnessed an accident at a specific crossroads in the city. Just so you know, Marietta is a substantial and very wide-spread city, so it wouldn’t have been a shock if no one had seen said crossroads, let alone witnessed an accident there, but you know my luck. I looked around and slowly raised my hand. I was the only one. I was asked to stand and explain myself, so I did. With the looks on both parties’ faces, pretty sure they weren’t going to want me after that.
He continued on. The next question was if anyone lived within a two mile radius of said crossroads. I looked around and raised my hand. I was the only one. I stood up and explained roughly where I lived. Each chair looked at their co-counsel and yep, I was most definitely not making this jury.
He asked various other questions that reached multiple jurors. Then he asked if any of our family members have ever worked for an insurance company. I looked around and raised my hand. I was the only one. I think the prosecutor may have even rolled his eyes and the defense looked just as unsurprised. I stood to answer his additional questions.
Prosecutor: So you have a family member who has worked for an insurance company?
Me: Yes, sir. My sister worked for one, but she lived in Chicago at the time. She lives in Colorado now and it’s been like 7-10 years.
Prosecutor: Do you know which insurance company?
Me: No, sir.
Prosecutor: Do you know what she did for the insurance company?
Me: Well … she was an attorney (that got everyone’s attention, including the judge who till this moment looked like he was possibly playing an intense game of Angry Birds on his cell phone behind the bench), but I don’t know exactly what she did …
At this point, I was SO not on this jury I don’t know why they didn’t just let me leave. In fact, the defense immediately stood up and asked permission to approach. They all conferred, looked at me, and then finally the prosecutor came back thanking me and letting me take my seat once again.
More questions came and went. I was never again a lone juror answering direct questions. When it was all said and done, the judge gave the attorneys and their co-counsel 15 minutes to deliberate and pick their jury. Again, nothing like Law & Order, My Cousin Vinny, Runaway Jury, or any other jury selection I’ve seen depicted on the big or small screen. They were given 24 people to choose from and that was that.
The prosecution and the defense turned in their choices. The judge looked things over, nodded, and addressed the group sitting in the gallery. He said if he called our name, to please stand and when directed, take a seat in the jury box.
Of course my name was called.
to be continued…
