Greetings from Juror Number 6!! Yes...I was called AND chosen. I just spent two days of my life engrossed in the interworkings and details of the Denver County Department of Corrections. The defendant? A way scary gang dude with horns tatooed on his bald head. The charges? Various criminal actions commited while in the highest security building of the Denver County Jail. The catch phrase? Shank it the shoe. The outcome? Mistrial. The scary dude's rights were violated when one of the witnesses accidentally mentioned that he was a felon. ('cause we were all way too dumb to figure that out on our own). Now the whole thing gets to start over again with a new jury.
Such an interesting process. I learned a lot about the criminal justice system, and more than I ever wanted to know about the inside of the Denver County Jail. And, hey, I've fullfilled my duty for 2008.
It was really pathetic to hear the attitudes of some of the other jurors in the selection pool. No one was overjoyed to be there, but so many were just obnoxiously disrespectful of the whole process and acting like they were way too important to waste their time serving. All I could think of was how I would feel if by some awful set of circumstances it was me on the other side of that defendant's table. I would want a competent jury to hear my side of the story. And then I started thinking about this country I love, and what makes it great. The fact that no one can have their liberty stripped without a fair trial. That a system designed over 200 years ago, with all it's imperfections, still works. It wasn't convenient, and it wasn't a party, but I'm glad that I had the privledge to be a part of the process.
Call me a patriotic sap, but there you have it.
