Or, how, by the skin of my teeth, I missed sitting on a three-week long criminal trial on the first day of a new job.
Please forgive the non-IP nature of this rather lengthy post, but I thought it might provide insight into one way juries are selected in the District of Massachusetts.
Federal jury service in
Several months earlier I had the experience of serving on a one and a half day civil jury trial in
From a juror’s perspective, the procedure runs about as smoothly as possible. The courthouse in
When we checked in we were given several papers including a pamphlet from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts describing jury service which provided some insight into how trials work. After each juror had checked in and the paperwork was completed we were shown a 20 minute video on jury service. I personally found the video a bit corny and slanted from the point of view of correcting the perception that jury service is a hassle rather than a civic duty. (Judge Young actually handles this remarkably well, as noted below.) I was also amused by the repeated shots of early 1990s
Following the video the clerk spoke to the jury pool, provided some helpful administrative information, and informed us that only Judge Young and Judge Gorton were set for trials that day and that the pool would be divided in half between them. I was juror number 38 for Judge Young’s pool and we headed up in a group. This was good and bad. Good because I have had a number of experiences with Judge Young including attending his On Trial MCLE course, attending many bar events with him, and appearing before him in a patent trial last spring, set to be re-tried in just a few months; also it would be immensely educational to sit as a juror in one of his cases. Bad because I didn’t want Judge Young mad at me for trying to get out of jury duty.
If you haven’t heard Judge Young’s speech / civic lesson to prospective jurors, it’s worth sitting in his courtroom during jury selection to hear it. It is eloquent and heartfelt, and makes one want to serve as a juror. I certainly would have wanted to had it not been for my employment situation. Following the introduction he gives some preliminaries of the case and explains the case schedule. This case was to be a three-week long criminal trial of two defendants with trial days from
Prior to seating jurors in the box Judge Young asks a number of preliminary questions such as do you know any of the parties, lawyers, etc. or do you have any important reason why you cannot serve. All those who answer yes have a chance to explain themselves. I went up and explained my employment quandary, as well as the fact that I had a number of depositions forthcoming. Judge Young did not dismiss me and asked me to stay.
16 jurors were then called to the box. I believe they were jurors 1 through 18 so a few must have either been dismissed or no-shows. Eight were promptly dismissed by the parties. The process continued until there were fourteen confirmed jurors and two seats to fill. My name was then called. I was worried that as juror number 38 the parties would be out of challenges. I was asked to state my name, occupation and my spouse’s occupation. I stated that I was an intellectual property litigator who was supposed to start a new job that day. Perhaps I used a voice which said “don’t pick me” because during the next side-bar I was stricken by the prosecution (side-bars can be easy to read if you know what’s going on).
I was dismissed and headed over to my new job, getting there just before lunch.
I’m sorry I missed what would have likely been a fabulously interesting experience, but I’m also glad I didn’t start my new job three billable weeks in the hole.
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