What's on Katie's Mind? Katie: The artist, teacher, and social commentator.

Today has been one heck of a day.  I was selected for jury duty along with many, many other people for a big murder case here in Michigan.  I have to say it was not a pleasant experience.  After going through the metal detector and signing in with the clerk I received a piece of paper to give to my employer saying I would be compensated $12.50 for a half a day of work.  Okay, everyone can stop laughing now.  Then, like cattle I was herded up some back stairway where furnace filters and other things were stored to finally reach a large room, not a typical courtroom though.  This one was not set up for a jury and wasn’t as ornate in décor as a normal courtroom.  The room had stenciled designs on the wall and a painted backdrop of marble behind the judge’s chair as well as a painted eagle on the ceiling.  The seats we sat on were wood that flipped down and these had iron leg castings that were anchored to the floor.  They were very low seats and after two hours of sitting on them, very uncomfortable.  The set up for the case was very strange but it may have been done the way it was because the case is high profile.  The reason I say we were treated like cattle is there was no sense of urgency or concern for us for at least two hours or for that matter much of the day.

We all arrived at the designated time of 8:30, really earlier than that because we didn’t want to be late.  We sat there for two hours waiting for something to happen.  Nobody really wanted to be there, but we knew that someone had to be picked for the jury.  When the judge and lawyers finally came in the judge gave us the basic speech about what case this was for and so and so on.  Then he said if anyone had a hardship like a medical reason or had already purchased tickets for a trip, to get in line.  This was after he told us that whoever was chosen for the jury would be committed to 3-4 weeks.  Needless to say half of the people in the room got in line.  The judge and the lawyers went to another room.  I think it was called the “History” conference room.  The rest of us sat in disbelief because we were stuck once again with nothing to do.  We were told that we couldn’t get up or leave or talk.  Well, I must say after a time many of us stood up to stretch and we did talk.  I went over to see if I could use the bathroom again, anything to get a chance to move out of that room and stretch my legs.  We had to get in line and go one at a time.  I think it was now around 11:30 that they came back in because they were finished dealing with those people.  Now the judge asked us if anyone had ever heard anything about the case from the media to get in line.  Truthfully, if you hadn’t heard anything about this case and didn’t get in line you are either, pretending and want to be on the jury, or you are woefully under informed.

After waiting in line for what seemed like forever I was finally the second one from the DOOR, otherwise known as the door of freedom, when they told us all to go back and sit down as the judge wanted to make an announcement.  It was now around 12:30.  Several minutes after sitting down, he finally arrived.  He told us we were breaking for lunch.  Since it was now 12:45 we would have to be back at 1:45.  So I went outside to discover what a beautiful day it was, went to McDonalds and drove over to a park in town to enjoy the outdoors.

After getting back on time like everyone else, well, except the judge and lawyers, we went through the same screening process.  However, I was able to get my spot back in line and I finally reached my destination.  I have to say I am not normally a nervous person, but I found myself picking my tongue up and wondering what gibberish was coming out of my mouth.  The judge asked how I knew about the case and I told him the Sturgis Journal and Channels 3 and 8.  He wanted to know if I could put the media stuff aside and would be able to sit on a jury.  I told him that I thought I could but I felt in fairness they needed to know by background and that a psychologist might disagree.  I told them I was divorced and had been threatened by my ex-husband.  I also told them that I had sat on a jury before.  The judge was curious about that and the outcome.  I told him the prosecuting attorney had not proven his case.  The prosecuting attorney decided to let me off the hook and the defense lawyer agreed.  I found my freedom.

Truthfully, I would not want to sit on a murder case.  That’s a heavy burden.  I have not mentioned the case in name because there may be more potential jurors out there and I don’t want to pollute the pool.  Strangely, I felt sorry for the accused simply because I’m a mom and he is somebody’s kid.  This is a case where no one wins much of anything.  I was finally able to leave about 2:15.  During one of our long, tiring wait times I joked that this was like “Survivor”.  Those people that could withstand the long uncomfortable hours on hard wooden chairs and who could survive the boredom were the ones they figured could sit on the jury.  I commend anyone that has ever had to sit on a lengthy trial.  There seems to be a lot going on behind the scenes that we weren’t privy to.  I’m sure there was more going on in that two hour wait period in the morning than a group of bored potential jurors sitting and waiting.