Monday, January 17, 2011

Jury Duty? Not so much

Unfortunately, jury duty did not go totally as planned.  I got there, was shown to the jury room, chit-chatted with the other jurors.... kept chit-chatting.... kept chit-chatting..... We were waiting for like an hour past the time we were supposed to be in the courtroom.  On Monday when they had selected us they kept talking about how it was important to be punctual because if the trial was longer than one day they would have trouble scheduling the second day!  Anyway, the judge finally came in and told us the defendant had settled that morning and told us the story of why he was on trial.  I guess he had been at a night club with his girlfriend, some other guy had asked her to dance, so he punched him.  He ended up with 1 months of probation and an anger management class that he'll have to take.

I'm glad or the defendant because he won't have any jail time, but disappointed that I won't get to serve on a jury or at least another year.  Like I said, I'm a total dork and think it would be really interesting!  I mean, I would hate for someone to go to jail because of me, but I love the idea of hearing all the evidence (or the evidence they allow in the courtroom, in any case) and judging for mysel what I think the correct answer is.  Oh well, hopeully there will be a next time!

Good news is that it gave me an extra day to work on my application for the masters program I'm applying for.  Did I mention that I'm already late with the application because of the radiation I had to get?  It was amazing to see what kind o shape my brain was in when I had a tumor in it.  My essays just did not make sense.  They were so bad that I was embarrassed!  Good thing I didn't turn them in on time!  The deadline was really just a recommendation, and I've been in touch with one of the women who is in charge of the program so she knows that I was sick (not that I relapsed, though she knows I had cancer) and she's been very understanding, so hopefully that won't hurt my chances.  The application was turned in last Friday.  Fingers crossed they let me in!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh that's a pity you didn't get to serve on the jury properly. I would like to be on a jury too, to help to solve a crime. I've never been selected though. Fingers crossed for your Masters application!! And all the best for the New Year too, bisous

EconomicDisconnect said...

From the last post, no I think I have had enough of football.

Trust me, evidence in jury trials is not like on TV. Still, it would have been interesting.

What schools are you looking at? It may be that I am friends with Deans and such........

BlondeInFrance said...

Good luck on the applications! And perhaps there are Miss Marple style mysteries at home to solve while you wait for your next chance at jury duty!

au soleil levant said...

Kiwi - thanks! Fingers crossed that you finish your dissertation soon and can go home to get called for jury duty.

GYSC - Yeah, like you were done posting about economic stuff a few weeks ago? I'm sure you're done with football :) I'm only applying to one school, so if I don't get in I'm really screwed!

Andromeda - Thanks! Good idea to try to be Miss Marple while I'm waiting for my next summons. I'll let you know if I find any interesting cases...

Monique Geisler said...

Good luck with the application!!! I turned mine in super early haha I don't even want to look back and see what I wrote, or listen to my oral French presentation I had to record.... my theory was get it out of my hands as quickly as possible :)

au soleil levant said...

Yeah, once I was feeling up to doing the application again, that was my attitude too! Good luck!