Jury Dooty, Part 1: “My friend was driving” — DUI suspect

The first time I served as a juror it was in Fremont, California about 10 years ago. It was a DUI (driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol) case. When I was called to report to the courthouse for jury selection, I was surprised to make it on the jury because I’m a life-long teetotaller.

When asked by both the lawyers for the prosecution and the defense, if I could be impartial and make a decision based on the facts of the case. I said, “Yes. Of course.” Still, I thought the defense lawyer would boot me, but he didn’t. The trial proceeded with me along with 11 other neighbors sitting in judgment of the defendant — a middle-aged, Chinese immigrant who couldn’t speak English and work manual labor jobs in the Bay Area.

One of the reasons I may not have been dismissed because both lawyers were new, according to the judge. It may have been only their first or second cases since getting out of law school or to do on their own.

Juries should NOT be made up of only people too stupid to get out of jury duty
I was ambivalent about serving as a juror. My employer’s policy was to pay staff who served, so I wasn’t concerned about a loss of income, but spending a week or more in a courtroom wasn’t that appealing — but seeing how the judicial system actually works was. So I didn’t resort to any of…