Civically responsible me...

The cowwoman is home from the Superior Court Dept. 3, and happy to be back on her own turf. Honestly, I was happy to do my duty as a citizen of this county, but I really thought those attorney-types thought we were all numbskulls. First, they herded us around like, well, cattle. This morning, we lounged around the lobby for nearly an hour and a half while they did their secret things inside, then in we went, only to deplane not 10 minutes later for yet another secret confab. The jury was sworn in just before noon, and I thought, whee, now we get to go home! No such luck. I plodded back through the security (left my watch at home because it set off alarms, then found that my bra underwires did that too, and not leaving THAT at home), and sat for another hour and a half while they selected three alternates. Never got to go answer their questions, many of which I thought were imbecilic. Like the defense attorney asking what my impression was of his client, before and after hearing the charges against him (attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and unlawful detainment, of his MOTHER). Like that's important. Look, I wanted to tell him, it's like sirens. You know that something not good is happening. Ditto this situation. Only thing I need to know for sure is that the DA thinks your client did something bad. Not my place to judge him as a person, only to review the evidence to see if it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the DA is right. Lots of questions about why do we think a victim would not testify, gee, maybe because he is her SON? And were we going to be prejudiced if the defendant did not testify? Gee, I know that all he could tell us would be his sanitized version of the facts, and I would not be inclined to be very invested in the truth of it. If my decision came down to what I ASSUMED or THOUGHT, I would surely acquit, because there was not enough compelling evidence. I noticed that the DA challenged mostly young people, and since the defendant was a really young, seriously cleaned-up guy, would perhaps commiserate. And the defense attorney tended to challenge older, more highly educated (read SMART) folks, because he was depending on the pity factor to cut in, for sure. Would love to be a fly on the wall, and will check in about 7 or 8 days from now, because they said it would only take 4 or 5. The wheels of justice grind slooooooowwwwly. Tiny bit of aftershock to burn off before I am back to normal. It was all exhausting. And boring. And educational, in a sad kind of way.