Jury Duty - Can I Say Frustrated?

Yesterday's jury duty was more "hurry up and wait", but eventually we were allowed back into Judge hue's courtroom. The jurors from yesterday were re-assembled and those of us who hadn't been chosen gathered in the back bench seats to watch the questioning. Two jurors had already been dismissed, and two more random names were called to be seated in their place - my name wasn't called. Then the attorneys began their questioning. 

A person could grow old and grey while waiting for the 
wheels of justice to move forward. Yes, that rule of 
trial by peers is longstanding, but it's quite the chore 
to get it going. I rather liked the Defense attorney, 
although I think he's young and doesn't have a lot 
of experience. The State's attorney, on the other hand, 
is a bit more mature and focused on the task at hand. 

It was actually rather interesting, and the attorney for the defense kept coming back to one juror who had said he would place more weight on the testimony of a police officer because they were a police officer. Eventually that juror was dismissed and another random name was selected for the jury. Again ... not me. 

We have a really good cross-representation of ages, 
races and occupations in the jury box I was a part 
of yesterday. I think the oldest was a year or two 
older than I am, and most were young professionals. 
It was a good mix of male/female, and a varied 
racial group as well. In that respect, we're doing OK. 

After another hour+ of questioning by both the defense and the State, those of us who had not been selected as a juror or vetted alternate were released. Unfortunately, that means we're back to calling in to the Jury Duty room and seeing if we need to be there for possible jury selection once again. I'll call shortly after 8:00 am, but I have a suspicion I won't know anything until I call at 11:30 am, at which time I may be asked to report to the Jury Duty room once again for possible seating on a case. 

Today the attorneys will weed out those jurors they feel 
will be detrimental to their case. There are a total of 
21 people who are in their possible field now, and they'll 
drop it down to the appropriate number by tossing those 
jurors they feel might be a problem in the case. They'll 
keep the jury and at least two alternates for the actual 
case, which will still go on for several more days. In a 
way, I'm grateful I wasn't chosen, and I'm hoping I'm 
not chosen today or tomorrow. It's been disruptive enough 
as it is already! 

My only hope at this point is that most cases are heard and juries collected at the beginning of the week, with fewer moving into that stage at the end of the week. AND there are a lot of us who didn't get chosen for a jury who are still in the pool. I'm hoping that I maybe can have my life return to normal. So is my staff - we're all strained and stressed to the maximum with this crazy "I know nothing, but have to be on call" schedule. But, I'll know more later today. In the meanwhile, I'll take out some of my frustrations in the pool in a but more than an hour from now. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.