About District 4

Fourth District, Calaveras County, CA

Altaville | Angels Camp | Douglas Flat | Murphys | Vallecito

Jury Duty

With all the controversy surrounding the Grand Jury report, it's a bit ironic that I would be called to jury duty on Thursday. This was simply the normal call to participate in the selection of a jury to serve in a Superior Court case. Wednesday night, I checked the Court's web site to find that my group number was to report at 9:30 the next morning.

There probably were 40 or more of us that responded. The bailiff soon got us organized and seated in the Board of Supervisors chamber which was serving as a temporary court room. After soon preliminary paperwork and instructions, 18 of us were called to the jury "box" which was just 18 chairs on the right side of the room. Each seat was assigned a number from 1 to 18.

The judge took us individually through some general questions about our background, education and work. There were also some questions about anything that would bias any of us from being fair and impartial. This established the theme of understanding explicitly what jurors are supposed to do and how they are to focus on facts. The judge then asked specific questions with juror #1 and so in turn. In a few cases, the judge dismissed a candidate and that individual left. Their seat was then occupied by the next candidate starting at #13. After a few more dismissals, the process seemed to become clear -- there would be 12 finalists, and 6 alternates.

After the judge was done with his questions, the attorneys got to ask questions of specific candidate. The defense and prosecution sides alternated asking questions and exercising dismissals. I was asked about my role on the City Council and how that might affect my judgment in the case. I stated that I had not heard anything that would bias me in any direction. Nevertheless, after lunch, the defense thanked me for coming and dismissed me.

I was glad to have the opportunity to participate. It's a small but vital role in our democracy. It would have been interesting to go to trial as a juror. I have been so busy with the Economic Development Summit follow-up that I don't know how trial turned out. Based on what I saw, the trial had a solid jury of peers fairly selected.

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