All done!! Although I cleared my schedule for all four work days this week, we were dismissed at 2 p.m. today, Tuesday. Only one group of potential jurors was called up on Monday morning, and I wasn’t among them. I’ll get a check for $40 ($20/day) in about a month.
Of course I would get summoned for jury duty during the last year I’m planning to be a permanent resident here in Ohio. I received the initial summons last week and immediately wrote a letter attempting to be excluded from service as I am a sole proprietor (and that is one of the valid reasons for being excused). Unfortunately, the jury commissioner did not agree with me, but did reschedule me for the week of June 29th. That’s only a 4-day week due to Independence Day Observed on Friday. I only need to report for one week, or through one trial, if selected. I guess that’s not so bad. I just can’t schedule anything that week during the day because I won’t know if and when I’ll be released. I will be paid $20 per day of service…
While the monetary impact is troubling, I’m more concerned that I’ll actually be selected as a juror. Trials, for me, are boring. Being a juror is an awesome responsibility; I don’t want to shortchange anyone because I’m restless. I’ve represented clients at many trials (always bench trials, never with a jury), but the process is basically the same. Each side needs to present evidence. It can take forever. Multiple witnesses tend to testify to the same thing. My favorite objection is: relevance? Witnesses, due to attorney questions, tend to go off on tangents that have no bearing on the case. Which makes the trial longer. And more boring. And, to top it all off, there is NO gavel banging, unlike every single court show on television.
Being forced to take four days off might actually be a great time to study for the Hawaii Bar Exam. I need to decide, soon, if I should take it this Summer. The application is due by April 1.