Jury Duty part Dos

Okay. I was a potential juror for an attempted murder case earlier in the week. I was #19 and didn't even make it into "the box".
Wednesday morning I made it. I was #5 for a civil case.

This by far, was the best experience I've had as a juror. On so many levels. Starting with the judge. The honorable Jose Villanueva. He is about mid to late sixties. Cute little gray hair line, nice disposition, great tie. Slender, 5"6', about a buck 50. Handsome. Very friendly and accommodating to us. Asked us questions about ourselves. Took his time explaining EVERYTHING.

Here's the background for the case real quick: Husband and wife, early 60's suing their neighbor and his employer for a brain injury he sustained from the neighbor hitting him with the company van. In 2004.(clue #1) Asking for compensation for medical expenses and emotional distress and future medical problems. Wife also asking for compensation for loss of consortium. Consortium is a Latin word that means partnership.(clue #2)


You first go through a process called "Voir Dire". It's when the lawyers for each side, plaintiff and defendant, ask questions and decide whether they want you on the jury. The defense attorney wanted to know if I drove and own my own car. Yes and yes. The plaintiff's attorney wanted to know if we felt if there should be monetary limits on injuries, it was a general question to all of us. I kept my hands on my lap and my mouth shut.

So...civil case...needs only 8 jurors and 1 alternate and as I mentioned before I was #5, I was in. What was different about Judge Villanueva, is that he allows his jurors to take notes AND ask questions. "Yessss!" I thought, "let me at 'em."

Opening statements began. Blah, blah,blah. No evidence, no facts...I'm not paying attention. I actually just began praying. Praying for wisdom. Praying for my fellow jurors. Then the action started!

Expert witnesses! State Highway Patrol! Neurologists! Neuropsychologists!(didn't know they existed) Accident Reconstructionists!(them either) Co-workers! Psychologists! Neighbors! And don't forget the evidence. Pictures! Aerial views! Medical Records! Accident reports! Supplements! ER reports! Whiteboards and scales! Graphs! Now... seems a little overwhelming right? It wasn't. Here's why. 3 out of the 4 Dr.'s who testified were paid to testify (I won't even tell you how much, your stomach will hurt) AND to examine the plaintiff once or twice. 1 out of the 2 accident reconstructionists was also paid a crazy amount and just didn't really impress me. The beauty of being on a jury is that you can use your own sense of validity and reasoning for any witness. Having worked for Orthopedic surgeons for over 6 years I felt I was able to discern the witnesses credibility, their medical findings as well as the plaintiffs complaints and symptoms. Besides, when most of the witnesses crumbled and turned red in the face when the defense attorney got a hold of them it was pretty obvious.
Speaking of the defense attorney...I'm her #1 fan. What a gal! What a professional! What an attorney! She never lost her cool, stayed focused, had her evidence ready and never let the other 2 snarky attorneys rattle her. Why I think she is so remarkable is two-fold. 1)A defense attorneys role in a civil case is to be reactionary. She can only be so prepared for what the plaintiff's attorney was going to do. Sure she knows about the witnesses and evidence, but she really can't prep for what is going to take place. 2)Her appearance completely contradicted her. She's a slender gal with short hair softly combed back. And she has the fairest skin I've seen since Snow White. On top of that she wore fierce blush just on the tops of her cheeks extending to her hairline. To compliment all that she accessorized with jet black framed eyeglasses with the sharpest suits! As soon as she opened her mouth, your became like a kid sitting in front of the TV all zombie-like watching the newest Disney movie. She was very soft spoken and monotone but she presented her case in this sort of stream of consciousness that just made everything very clear. She kept the facts straight and didn't try to make anything confusing. She stood her ground when challenged. On the other side of the court room you had this seasoned attorney who couldn't have been more bored or passionless about serving his clients. Unprepared, exaggerated, and patronizing like you wouldn't believe. He was the loudest eye-roller I ever saw! Really sloppy.(clue#3)
After day 1, I knew what my decision was. Although Judge Jose (Judge Villanueva is taking too long to type people) told us not to come to any decisions, I already had made up my mind...

Jury Duty

So I've been called again to serve downtown for the Court of Commons Pleas.  This is my 3rd time being summoned.  It's not as bad as some would think, especially if your employer pays you when you're gone, which mine does.

I always have a bit of anxiety when coming into a new situation.  I think it's part of my control freak nature.  I hate being late.  I hate not knowing what's going on.  For jury duty it's the drive, what kind of case am I going to get, who are my fellow jurors going to be and so on.  Admittedly, I am working on this.  I'm learning to just relax, take my time, let others do their job.  I really don't know where I got this tendency from but I am trying to chill out.  

Anyway, you could imagine my surprise when waiting to check in on Monday morning I see a familiar face in a crowd of about 150.  In the midst of all these strangers, I see the smiling face of my Pastor.  Pastor Rick.  Wow!  What are the odds of that.  I immediately felt relieved and excited.  Relieved to see a friendly face and excited to get the possibility to hang out with "the Big Guy."  We sat together for the orientation video and about halfway in I felt a nudge from my beloved Pastor, who I have to turn in and tell on that he was emailing via his cellphone during the presentation.  Tsk, tsk.  Anyhow he's quick to point out, again via the net off his cellphone, that the gentleman seated in front of us is Dr. Michael Rozien of Oprah and "You, On a Diet." fame.  How exciting.  

We settle in on our respective laptops.  Me on the floor and Rick in a chair "juicing" up his Dell. Honestly, I'm so excited I'm quiet.  So excited I'm quiet!  When I get really excited I tend to talk and ramble and ramble and talk...So I figured the best thing to do was to be quiet.  Unfortunately, Rick was called and I was called shortly thereafter.  So our "bonding" time was cut short  It's day 2 of jury duty and I haven't seen my Pastor since then.  It makes me a little sad.  One of the perks of jury duty is the people you meet and hang out with.  Honestly, think about the randomness of all the registered voters in Cuyahoga County.  The demographics, the religions, the educated, the unemployed.  As I look over to my right there is a table of 6 women sharing a really inclusive conversation amongst themselves.  Between hushed snippets you can hear peals of laughter. 2 middle aged women both white, 2 a bit older white as well and 2 younger black women.  Under what other circumstances might these women have such camaraderie?  However, literally as I'm observing these women a verbal fight breaks out.  A young man just started screaming at an older woman.  "You don't even know me!"  He shouted.  Hmmmm...

Anyway as I'm feeling sorry for myself and my lack of bonding time with Rick, it dawns on me. Maybe God is using him to bond with someone else?  I hope so.  I mean that last time God used Rick in my life was when he prayed with me to accept Christ.  So if he can be used again in some way I guess I'm okay with that...I'm just feeling a little selfish...I should work on that :)