This is what I heard each time that I entered or exited the court room while serving on a jury for a murder trial a few weeks ago. The case ended in a mistrial, so we were let go, and the trial will be rescheduled for later this summer. I posted this on Facebook but for those of you who haven't seen it, here it is again.
A few things I learned last week while serving as a juror for a murder trial:
- It's a lot like what you see on TV, but the pace is much, much slower.
- When you have a recess, use the bathroom — you don't know when the next recess might be.
- Gun shot residue tests are unreliable.
- A ten minute recess is twenty minutes, minimum.
- When you are on a jury and doing your civic duty, your family, friends, co-workers are also doing their civic duty as they cover for you.
- DNA tests have now gotten so sensitive, that even with precautions, they can occasionally pick up the DNA of the lab technician.
- Mistrials are not good.
So I hope I still have a few readers out there, and I promise I will get back to regular posting. Between the trial and the end of our BSF year (I'm the Class Administrator) and the start of our summer tennis league (I'm the team captain), blogging has taken a back seat. But, I do have some Pearls to post in the next week, including a cute salty snack and our awesome new kitchen light fixture. Stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
