Tomorrow I get to see and do something new when I report to the High Court in Glasgow for jury duty. Putting aside for a moment my worries about the British Justice system having gotten so desperate that they’re having to call me up, it should at least be an interesting experience. I don’t think there will be any Denny Cranes but there will hopefully be old men in black robes and comical wigs, and any day that has old men in comical wigs can’t be bad. It’s just, well, the law.
My only real worry is that if it is a serious case, it can take weeks to work through, so if I suddenly go quiet for the next fortnight you know what has happened. Knowing my luck I’ll be on the jury deciding the fate of a serial killer with a photographic memory. Must remember to take along a fake moustache and glasses.
August 24th, 2005 at 2:30 am
As long as you don’t post your picture online, you should be safe.
August 24th, 2005 at 10:06 am
Comical wigs? Lucky! You should snap some pictures for us.
As to the serial murderer, just vote not guilty, then you’ll have a bargaining chip when he (she?) goes on his next rampage.
August 24th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Unless, Kelly, the killer is one of those guys who wanted to be punished for his crimes, because otherwise when found innocent he couldn’t take the glory for what he had done. In which case, a not-guilty vote could get Fawndoo killed…
August 24th, 2005 at 9:15 pm
I’ve always wanted to do jury duty. I’m so jealous.
August 28th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
I was recently called to jury duty, but didn’t get called to jury duty- they notified me by mail to call in everyday for a week to see if I was needed. I did so, and got a recording each day that named off the groups that were to report and my group was not among them.
At the end of the week they said on the recording that members of my group would no longer have to call in, and they “thanked me for my service”. I said, “you’re welcome”, and hung up.
That was fun.
August 28th, 2005 at 7:47 pm
I had to do Grand Jury once. Every day, except Fridays, for a month I had to sit in this room and listen to an array of cases before they went to trial, and then vote on whether they should or not. There were actually some interesting cases, but I couldn’t escape the nagging sensation that I wasn’t supposed to be there, that my job was being neglected. As it turned out, my job was still there when it was over and no one had done a better job and stolen it from me, or let things slide so much that I was overwhelmed, and it actually was a bit of a vacation.
Still, any uninvited disruption of my routine is never welcome….
August 30th, 2005 at 10:13 am
Well, I got called…and much as I am glad to have done my duty, it’s something I never hope to have to go through again. It was a nasty case, but I think we did our jobs and acted as we were supposed to. Anyway, normal Egg service will soon be resumed.
And Jerry, thank you for the astonishingly honest analysis of my chances with a serial killer on the loose! :-D