Jury Duty

I served my "civic duty" as Bo called it (I reminded him I drive a Ford, would they still want me???? :). Today I joined droves of folks filing into the Albany, Ga courthouse, jury summons in hand, to "pay the price that living in a democracy costs" (one of the judges put it that way). I served on a panel in Superior Court.

I was one of 50 or so, that was pulled from a room of 150 or so, to be considered to sit on the jury for a murder trial. The entire morning was a series of questions to all of us....general questions like , "what do you do?", "do you know the defendant, the attorneys, or the deceased?", "can you be impartial to try this case objectively?" and then more specific questions, "do you have family in law enforcement?", "have you ever called 911?", "are your familiar with the area where the crime occurred?" "would you consider a police officer to have more credence that an eyewitness?".

I was not chosen to be on the jury, so I was dismissed this afternoon. I will be praying for the jurors, though. Looks like it's going to be a tough job. The defendant is charged with beating a guy to death with a stick, and from the attorney's questions, looks like the whole case lies on an eyewitness. That would be hard, if one person's testimony was the only "evidence" to consider while deciding judgement against another human being.

An interesting day.