Published: September 07, 2008 12:25 am            

Laura Wilson 09-07-08

I covered a trial this week, and it was very interesting. If I could, I might be one of those people who just hang out at the courthouse to watch trials, but I can’t really do that, what with the need to earn money.

The trial was set at 9 a.m., but, of course, jury selection came first.

And before jury selection came the sorting through and giving instructions to the potential jury pool.

I’ve never been called for jury duty before, so I found that interesting also, particularly the excuses people gave for why they could not serve. Some were good, and some were not quite as good.

Some were excused because they were students. Some were excused for work-related reasons; these were usually self-employed people or those who owned businesses and couldn’t be away for very long. People were excused for periods of time for vacations, business trips and medical procedures already planned.

A junior high teacher chose to serve, although she was later excused from that day’s jury.

The best excuses, I though, came from a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy and from a man who couldn’t hear, although he really seemed to want to serve. That was nice, although a little sad, to see.

Laura Wilson can be reached at 372-5000, Ext. 230, or .

        

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