I've been off the grid since April 1...which was the start of my week of jury duty. After dodging the jury bullet thru Thursday 3/31, I got called down to court on April 1. No joke either! And I got called into the courtroom to start jury selection on a 6 week criminal trial. That day, the judge let anyone go who did NOT have a personal hardship only to return on Tuesday April 5 to start "real" jury selection. Unfortunateley, I did not have a personal hardship! And it's not something you could lie about easily...in case you were wondering. The judge actually required proof of the hardship. The hardship also had to be personal, not a hardship to your employer.
Tuesday rolled around (no trial on Mondays), lo and behold after going thru grueling questioning of about 35 jurors, selected randomly, my name is called just before quiting time at 4:00. So back I go on Wednesday, April 6, where I was first on deck for questioning. Without lying thru my teeth, I couldn't escape. They went thru about 14 more people, and I got stuck as Juror #4. We were then sworn in and released as they went thru questioning another panel of 18 prospective jurors for 3 alternates.
On Thursday, April 7, the trial began....and it still continues. So my life now consists of jury duty by day, day job by night, leaving little time for much else. More about my experiences as a juror later!
