Jury Duty

Hey Guys (and any Ladies who might be lurking out there),

Sorry I haven’t posted in the last couple of weeks.  I was called for Jury Duty.  Yeah, not exactly my favorite way to spend my free time.

I actually had to start calling in for Tuesday, Oct. 9 but I did not have to report until the next day, Wednesday, the 10th.  Me and about 400 other unlucky people spent most of the day sitting around on our asses waiting to be called for jury selection.  At about two in the afternoon, I was finally called (along with 59 other people) and we were escorted to a court room.  We were seated in the gallery and after being sworn in as jurors, the judge talked to us for about an hour and a half on the law and the generalities of the case in question – it was a medical malpractice case.  (Man, did he like to hear himself drone on and on.)  By this time it was getting on near 4 o’clock and the judge decided to call a recess until the next morning at 10 a.m.

So, Thursday of last week, I get to the courthouse about 20 minutes early, make my way to where we were told to meet and wait.  And wait and wait and wait some more.  Finally, at 11:10, the court officer calls us in and after we’re seated again, the judge talks some more.  We were given a questionnaire to fill out – fairly standard questions – “Have you ever served on a jury before?”, “Do you know anyone in the medical field other than your family doctor?”, “Have you ever had cause to sue a member of the medical profession?”, “Do you believe doctors should be held to a higher standard than the average person?”  Those kinds of questions.  After we answered the questions, the court clerk called out a bunch of names and the selection process began.

I was not called to be part of this first round of jury candidates, most of us weren’t.  Fifteen people were called and the rest of us had to sit there and watch.  The judged asked each of the people in the jury box the same biographical questions – how long have you lived in Queens?  What part of Queens do you live in?  What was your highest level of education?  Have you ever needed major surgery?  Are you married?  What do you do for a living?  What’s your favorite TV show?  Etc.  Some of the questions were fairly straightforward, but a few didn’t make sense, especially the one about favorite TV show.  Once these general biographical questions were out of the way, the judge called several individuals for some kind of ‘interview’ with the two lawyers present.  They were too far away, so I could hear what they were asked.  Some were interviewed for a few seconds, others for about five minutes.  By this time it was nearly 1 o’clock so the judge called lunch and told us to be back at 2 p.m.  I get lunch from a deli, eat it in the little park by the courthouse and am back in the meeting area by 1:45.  At 2:30 we are escorted back to the court room and the two lawyers have their chance to interview the fifteen people in the jury box.   This takes another half hour and when all is said and down, six of the fifteen are accepted as jurors and the other nine are excused and told to go back to the main jury room where we all were on Wednesday morning.  The six Jurors are sworn in again, told to return the next afternoon at 2 p.m. then allowed to leave.  Fifteen more names are called and the process starts all over again.

At 4 p.m. we are all told to come back the next morning at 10 a.m. and then we were allowed to leave.

Friday morning passes pretty much like Thursday afternoon, with the biographical questions and interviews.  Even before the lawyers get to ask their questions, four people are excused and four more take their places.  I’m one of the lucky four.  At least now it’s getting interesting for me.  The lawyers do their thing, ask a bunch of questions then the judge calls a recess for lunch.  Back at 1:45, we wait until 2:30 before returning to the court room and our seats.  It’s at this point that the court clerk says “If you hear your name, please stand.”  She rattles off seven names, I’m not included.  Then she says “Thank you for your service.  You may return to the Main Jury Room.”  Then she turns to the other people waiting in the gallery and dismisses them too.  Guess what?  I’m on a jury!!!  Lucky me!  

After a few minutes, the judge gives us some more instructions and dismisses us until Monday morning.

Over the weekend, I help T.J. with some homework and Ian and I go out, see a movie and eat.  Monday morning finds me back at court in the Jury Box listening to opening statements and medical testimony.  The trail lasts for two days.  Simply put, a woman who gave birth some eighteen years ago was suing the doctor who delivered her baby, claiming that forceps he used to help deliver her baby put too much pressure on the baby’s skull, caused damage to the baby’s brain and the baby ended up developing cerebral palsy.  Since it was a civil case, the woman was suing for money, a lot of money.  Seems the case had been in the system for nearly a decade (!  didn’t know cases could linger that long).  Of course the doctor was saying it was sad the child developed cerebral palsy, but he did not cause it and should not have to pay anything.

The medical testimony was kind of dry and very detailed and just a little confusing.  Once the closing arguments were made, then it was up to the twelve of us; the two alternates just had to sit around.  In the Jury Room, we were only talking for about 45 minutes when the judge called us in and called a recess until the next morning.

Tuesday we spent a good deal of time asking for portions of the testimony to be read back and asking for clarification on a couple of things some of the jury didn’t quite understand.  We ordered lunch (we were not allowed to leave) and finally reached a verdict a little after 4:30 in the afternoon.  Based on the testimony and the evidence (the x-rays that were shown to us) and the way the questions we had to answer were worded, we finally agreed that, while it was terrible that this young man would have to suffer with his disability for the rest of his life, the injury to his brain was so deep that the doctor couldn’t have been responsible.  As for the awarding of money damages, since we found the doctor not guilty of the charge, we could not award any money.  That was the hardest part of this experience.  I felt bad for the guy and his family, but I could not see giving them money for something the doctor didn’t do.

Thankfully I will not have to worry about another bout of jury duty for another four years and I can get back to posting pictures of beautiful, naked men like the one below.