Friday, October 22, 2004

Jury Duty

This past week I have been on jury duty. The last time I was on jury duty was a long time ago. That time I had to sit in the waiting area at the court house for a week. I was called for one jury and was rejected. Then back to the waiting area. This time the jury duty was a breeze. They now put you on telephone standby. Each night you call to see if you are to report. They finally got around to my number and I had to report Friday. Apparently Friday isn't a big day for trials. I arrived at 8:30 AM and they showed us a film about jury duty. We filled out saome paperwork and then waited. Around 11 AM I was called to an empanelling room. This is the room where they ask you questions and decide whether they want you for the jury. The case was a malpractice case. Apparently a 42 year old man went to the hospital for a heart attack and died of a brain bleed. Michel suggested that it might have been because of the anti-coagulants they use as treatment for the heart attack. One of the defendants in the case was North Shore Hospital, Michel's employer. Needless to say, it was decided that I wasn't needed. So it was back to the waiting area. Around 12:30 PM they let us out for lunch. Back at 2:00 PM. 2:30 PM they called my name and it was back to the empanelling room. "Thanks a lot... you can go home. Your jury duty is over." So that was it. I have performed my civic duty and I don't have to serve again for six years. This was the third time I have been called for jury duty and I have yet to get on a case. I don't know if that is good or bad.

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