Jury duty

...the view from the hallway outside the courtroom.  

Let's start with the case:  The defendant was being tried on four accounts: domestic violence, child abuse, threatening to kill, and damage to a cell phone (it's a crime to damage a cell phone if someone is trying to use it to call for help).  We found the defendant guilty on all accounts but the cell phone charge -- we believed he was unaware the victim was trying to call for help.  

The proceedings were painful... not only because of the uncomfortable nature of the content, but I hated the lawyers, the judge seemed strangely passive and uninterested, and the courtroom felt like a soul-sucking, out-dated, box of hell.... okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic.

The prosecuting lawyer was this big, dorky, young guy with a weird comb over - even though he had thick, bushy hair, and didn't seem to have anything to comb "over".  Maybe no one ever taught him where to part his hair.  He was commanding and bit likable, but had a tendency to hold a slight smile when addressing the jury...which was completely disconcerting given what he was presenting. 

The defending lawyer was this cute, tiny, young Asian girl who would talk in circles, ask conflicting questions and then expect a simple answer, and who would reiterate her points ad nauseum.  I found her to be completely intolerable.  She asked each jury member to promise to treat her client, with whom she had the privilege to represent, the same way we'd treat a loved one or family member who was innocent.  Puke. 

Deliberations weren't that bad.  We were mostly in agreement, but were all very willing to go through the process of really exhausting both sides of the case before coming to a final ruling.  All of my fellow jurors were thoughtful and level headed...except one.  The one wasn't terrible, just annoying in the fact that he would get stuck on details that either didn't matter or we couldn't change. 

This is how I described it on facebook: jury duty was like having to watch a 3 day-long disturbing play being performed by bad actors -- and then having to dissect each scene, with a random assortment of strangers, until everyone agreed on what the playwright was thinking when he drunkenly wrote it. thank god that's over...i also have to say that, though it was painful, it was a fascinating process to have to go through. i understand the importance of serving...even if it means they keep you in captivity while dampening your hope in humanity. :P