I had always felt a bit cheated. Everyone in my family except me had been called on for jury duty at one time or another, and some had been called on several times. They would complain about the call to duty, while I longed for the chance to be called upon.
Finally, the day came that a summons for jury duty arrived! For twenty-eight days I would be in a pool of potential jurors for the Superior Court of the State of Washington!
Upon arrival, we were given instructions and put into groups. We were to call a number each evening to see if our group was required to show up the next day. If so, we were to show up, and sit and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait some more.
One day our number was called. Each of us was given a questionaire to fill out. From the questions on the form, it was obvious that we were going to hear a case involving child molestation. There were many questions on a couple of pages. I answered each as honestly and thoroughly as possible.
We were taken to a courtroom, and seated in the audience section. The prosecutor, a lady, and a child sat at a table to the front and left of us. The defense attorney and the defendant sat at a table to the front and right of us. The judge sat in the jury box to the left of the prosecutor. I was juror seventeen of thirty!
We were told that each side was going to be able to ask us questions. We were to answer the questions under the penalty of perjury. Each side could strike some of the jurors for no reason at all. The prosecutor would ask questions first, and, after a break, the defense would ask questions of the remaining jurors.
The prosecutor began asking some of my fellow jurors some questions. It seemed he was going in order, and had no questions for me. However, after asking questions of jurors with higher numbers than mine, he came back to me.
"Juror seventeen," he began, "you answered the question 'Can a sexual abuser be rehabilitated?' with 'I am not qualified to answer this.' What do you mean you are not qualified?"
"It means I have had no formal training in rehabilitation of sexual abusers," I said. "I presume that time proves whether someone was truly rehabilitated based on whether or not they reoffend."
"Do you believe in the 'Three Strikes and You're Out' law," he asked.
"I suppose so," I answered, "provided the convictions are for violent crimes."
He then asked, "How about 'Two Strikes and You're Out' when it comes to child molestation?"
I replied, "All I can say is, if it is my child, it's one strike and you better hope the cops catch you."
"Interesting," he said. "You also answered 'Have you ever had a bad experience with the justice system?' with 'Yes.' Would you explain what happened?"
"About eight years ago I broke up a fight between my cousin and one of his kids, and was cited for domestic violence," I told him. "I wouldn't accept a plea bargain, so the prosecutor tried me."
He asked, "Were you found innocent?"
"No. I was found guilty because I had a lousy lawyer," I said.
"Who was your lawyer?"
"Me. I defended myself because I was innocent and didn't qualify for free counsel."
"Well, if you had a trial and were found guilty, what was your problem with the justice system?" he asked.
I told him, "Before that experience, I always thought that prosecutors were interested in truth and justice. However, I learned from that experience that prosecutors are merely lawyers who try to win cases regardless of the truth. So, despite that the assailant in that case was the defendant, and that my cousin who actually fought with his child was found innocent, I was found guilty despite that nobody was hit once I arrived and broke up the fight."
He asked, "Did you regret not taking the plea agreement afterward?"
"No," I said. "The judge's sentence was less than what I was offered in the plea bargain, and he chewed out the prosecutor for even trying me. He also suggested I appeal the decision, but I didn't since it was only a misdemeanor."
He seemed to be egging me on with, "So, you didn't hire an attorney, you got convicted, and you didn't appeal the decision, and you consider that a bad experience with the justice system? Was I the prosecutor in that case?"
"No," I said. "It was some other asshole."
The judge grinned, and then excused us.
When we returned, six jurors were excused, including me.
Go figure!
