Jury Duty Part II- Civil Case Trial

Now that my Jury Duty stint is over, I feel free to write about it in more detail. In Jury Duty Part II wrote about the selection process. In a civil court the selection process is much shorter than in criminal court. Potential jurors for a criminal case are sometimes asked as much as one hundred questions.

Once the jurors are selected, they are shown to the Jury Room and told when to return for the actual trial. In our case we were told to come in the next day, and were given a blue pass to enter the restricted area in which our jury room was located.

Jurors are given numbers and are requested to line up outside the courtroom door in descending order. I happened to be Juror Number One, which meant I would have to read the verdict, and sign any written communication. Juror number one cannot delegate the job to a different juror, however if someone volunteers for the job she or he can relinquish the responsibility.

The bailiff announces 'Jurors Entering', and the jurors enter quickly, single file, and stand by their assigned seats until the judge asks all to be seated. The lawyers then give their opening statements, appealing for fair judgment as well as sympathy for their clients.

The case I was on was a possible two part trial- if the jury would deem the defendant liable, the trial would go on to Damages. The case involved a minor car accident.

After the opening speeches, the plaintiff was called to the stand and questioned by his lawyer, then cross examined by the defense attorney. If you're lucky, you'll end up with an interesting pair of lawyers. The prosecuting attorney was young and a bit insecure, while his opponent was middle aged and vicious, constantly raising objections which were often overruled.

When the plaintiff stepped down, we had a ten-fifteen minute break while we waited for the defendant to show up. He was then questioned by the defense attorney. After lunch break, which lasted seventy five minutes, the prosecuting attorney questioned the defendant. By the time he was done, it was 3:30 PM and the judge excused the jury, explaining he would give a summation in the morning and we would have to reach a verdict (liability or no fault).

The following morning, we had to wait in the jury room for quite sometime. We were given a Juniors menu and order form in case we had to deliberate over lunch.

Finally, the bailiff escorted us to the courtroom, where the judge announced that the case had been settled out of court. He thanked us, and we were taken to a different floor and handed a stamped document attesting to our service.

We were then given the opportunity to speak with the lawyers. I asked the prosecuting attorney about the settlement, but he preferred not to discuss it. And so it came to be that we left the courthouse around 11:00 AM on the second day of trial, and life was good.