If you live anywhere but DC, it’s likely that you’ve never been called for jury duty and even less likely that you’ve actually served on a jury. While statistics are hard to come by, fewer than 2 million Americans serve on a jury in any given year.
Not so in the nation’s capital. Every two years like clockwork, the DC Superior Court sends a summons ordering your appearance for a term of 1 day or 1 trial. That means, that in the 35 years I’ve been registered to vote in DC and had a DC drivers’ license, I have shown up dutifully each time I’ve been called, served on at least four juries, and even had to endure a two-month stint as a grand juror. I say endure because even though jury duty is a civic responsibility that we should be proud to fulfill, it’s tiring and often upsetting. Once you’ve done it, that summons in the mail comes with a side order of dread.
The last two times I was called, I was not selected for a jury so I pretty much figured that my luck was running out. And that turned out to be the case last week. I was #31 of the 64 potential jurors called into Courtroom 317, and one of 14 who eventually found myself in the jury box. (Two were alternates, although we didn’t know who they were until it was time to deliberate.) The trial began Tuesday afternoon and by Thursday, all the evidence and arguments had been presented and it was off to deliberate. Which we did — Thursday afternoon, all day Friday, and the better part of Monday.
Now that the trial is over, I can tell you that it was a criminal case that involved a ghost gun (an unregistered semi automatic pistol with the serial number scratched off), intimate partner violence, and some pretty graphic surveillance footage from inside an apartment building. My fellow jurors treated the matter with the gravitas it demanded and the deliberations never got heated or overly emotional. Still I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t find some of their arguments utterly batshit based on facts not in evidence or just plain ignorant. In the end, we found the defendant guilty on 4 out of 8 charges, not guilty on the least serious, and deadlocked on 3 (which meant a mistrial was declared on those charges). He’ll be facing some serious jail time although probably not as much as the prosecution would have liked.
All told, it was a full week spent considering the worst of humanity, and I’m glad that it will be another two years before I have to go back down there again.
One grace note: on my way out of the building, it was heartening to see this joyful couple who had obviously just visited the justice of the peace. Best wishes to the bride and groom, and may your differences be resolved peacefully before you go to bed each night.
I actually like jury duty in DC. It's like being in a Hill Street Blues episode.
Anne, I have been called once in my lifetime and the trial was cancelled before jury selection. It sounds like that was a tough trial to sit through. Loved the closing photo.