A summary of the day at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse:
Summoned for 10:30 jury service....- Arrive 10:15, lines are stretching out the door to get into the courthouse.
- 11am: Watch orientation video in juror lounge, do some Ken-Ken, check email, read book (The Pursuit of Alice Thrift), check email
- 12:30: new panel, I'm the first number. My many years of artful dodging have come home to roost
- 12:45: assemble in atrium
- 12:55: assemble, recheck numbers, form lines in front of courtroom
- 1:05: admitted to courtroom
- 1:10: judge appears, attorneys introduce themselves, judge excuses us for lunch, return 2:10
- Decent lunch at Merzi, marvel at Penn Quarter, recall days of glass pipes and dark alleys
- 2:10: at courtoom, note defendant wandering around in atrium and courthouse corridor
- 2:20: admitted to courtroom
- 2:30: complete Sudoku (difficult), consider intervening in conversation behind me about the deficit
- 2:40: complete crossword (easy), consider intervening in conversation next to me about immigration
- 2:50: awake from short catnap
- 2:55: judge appears, attorneys introduce themselves, approach bench
- 3:00: judge thanks us for our service and dismisses us
- 3:10: juror office overwhelmed by dismissed courtroom, but dismisses us all for next two years
- 3:15: get receipt of service from ATM, along with $4 for Metro
- 3:20: say hello to defendant, discover that case involved "unauthorized use of motor vehicle" from 2011, dismissed because police officer unable to attend, apparently not for the first time.
(46 jurors + 3 attorneys + defendant) * 2.5 hours/person = 125 hours lost productivity.
Justice is served!
