Have you ever been called for jury duty? I have several times. I served on a jury when I was 21 and living in Olympia. It was a week-long criminal trial and the charge was indecent liberties. Deliberation went on quite a while but eventually we convicted the defendant. I believe he got a 30 day suspended sentence.
I have since been called for jury duty once in Kent (at the Regional Justice Center) and once or twice to the downtown King County courthouse. Each of these times I was lucky if I got called up to serve on a panel of jurors to be picked for a particular trial. I spent most of my time just waiting to be called for something. A couple times I was called to a panel but was not needed or excused for some reason. The rule in King County is that if you do not end up on a jury within the two days of your jury summons you are finished for that summons. But if you are selected for a jury you serve for the length of that trial.
A month or so ago I received a Jury Summons for March 4th and 5th. I showed up at 8am bright eyed and eager to go, but not expecting to be chosen. I was expecting yet another experience of just hanging around waiting to be called for something so I brought my book and prepared to be bored. This time such was not my fate. In fact, my name was the third name (of about 200) called that morning. I was Number 3!! What does that mean? Well in this case it meant I was in Seat #3 in the jury box for the first trial called. After voir dire (the process where they ask the jurors a bunch of questions and eliminate some) I was still there. In Seat #3. And that's where I still am. And the judge explained that this was a 3 week trial!
To say the least, I was shocked to be sitting in that seat and in that position. If you ever get called to jury duty, here is a tip for you. Bring your calendar! They ask you who would have a hardship if they had to be there every day for the length of the trial. And you have to give specifics. Fortunately I knew most of my calendar in my head. I told the judge about doctor appointments and a recent skin cancer scare for my Mom. He made me call my sister and ask her to take Mom to the appointments, which I did. So many people try to get out of jury duty for whatever reason that they are really sticklers about it being a real hardship before you can be excused.
The good news is that the length of our trial seems to be overestimated and it looks like I will serve only a few more days. Also, I'm getting my exercise in walking back and forth between the courthouse and my office a couple times a day.
The King County Courthouse is a pretty cool old building, and I must admit that I love looking at the architecture when I enter on the Third Avenue side of the building. The elevator lobby is beautiful and quite unique compared to anything else I've seen. There are also some murals on the walls of the main hallway on the first floor.
The photos above are from the ceilings in the third-floor entryway. This is where you stand in line to go through security. It can take a few minutes, so it's nice to look up and have something beautiful like this to ponder. The photo below is the first floor elevator lobby. By the way, it's not just the first floor elevator lobby that is this beautiful, all the floors are similar in the central elevator lobby area. I have not yet taken any photos of the murals on the first floor. I may have to photograph them and share those later.
Our newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer will print its last paper edition tomorrow after 146 years of publication. I can’t express how sad this makes me feel. This paper has been the voice and historical record of a community for longer than any of us has been alive.
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