Law & Order, Ventura County Style

 Yesterday I had a very surreal jury duty experience. I've received a jury summons many times, but either my group number wasn't called, or else I sat all day long in the jury waiting room and never got called. This time I was interviewed as a potential juror, and I also brought my knitting.

Now the jury summons says no "handwork needles" and no scissors. But I have project deadlines and I didn't want to sit all day without something to work on. I decided to take a knitting project with size 13 bamboo circular needles. They look like big pencils, and they let pencils into court, I reasoned. I packed a dental floss container to use the cutter on it instead of scissors. As I arrived at 8:00 a.m. and placed my bag on the x-ray machine conveyor belt, I felt nervous, like a contraband smuggler. I walked through the metal detector. I cleared! Breathing a sigh of relief, I made my way to the jury room, checked in with my summons, and took a seat.

While a court employee explained at length all of the information we needed to know, I ate the breakfast I brought (sprouted wheat and raisin bagel and a travel mug of coffee). As she was finishing up her talk around 9:00 a.m., the court employee said that courtroom number 48 was calling for a jury pool. I listened carefully as the last names were called in alphabetical order. My name was called. I followed others to the elevator in the lobby to go upstairs.

We had to wait outside the courtroom for awhile. Then we were told by a bailiff to come in and be seated. The defendent was there, a young Spanish-speaking woman with an interpreter. Also present was the judge and the prosecuting and defense attorneys. As a group (I would say at least 50 of us), we had to take an oath to tell the truth regarding the questions we'd be asked as potential jurors. The first group was called to sit in the jury seats. One by one, they had to give the same basic information about themselves, their occupations, their spouses, and their families. They were questioned by the judge and the attorneys. A few were let go. Then names were called to replace those excused. Yes, I was called to sit in the jury area and go through the process myself.

As soon as we had come into the courtroom and sat down, we were told it was a DUI case. Although the young woman didn't quite reach the legal limit on the Breathalizer, the arresting officer had done some field sobriety tests and had found her to be impaired. She had also been driving 80 mph on the freeway at 2:00 a.m.

When I was called on, I gave my required information, and then the judge asked me if I could be fair and impartial. "No, your honor, I don't think I can be," I said honestly. The gist of what I told him and the attorneys who also questioned me was this: I don't drink, I have alcoholics in the family, and I don't think people should drink and drive, period. I said I didn't think there was a safe amount; I believe that if you have alcohol in your system, you should not potentially endanger others by driving. I gave some examples from personal experience. All this in front of all the other jurors. Talk about being put on the spot! But I had to be honest. Once they told us what the case was about, I'll admit I immediately thought "she's guilty". I am prejudiced against people who drink and drive. I hate to think of a loved one being innocently killed or maimed for life by a drunk driver. My husband drives to work during the time after the bars close, and I worry about him being on the road with impaired drivers.

Needless to say, I was let go from that particular trial. By now it was lunch time, and we were 15 minutes into the lunch hour at 11:45 a.m. We had been told to come back at 1:00 p.m. and go back and sit in the main jury room downstairs on the main floor. I went home for lunch, and decided not to take my knitting back with me. We'd also been told that we would probably be released between 3:00 and 4:00, so I thought I'd just read my book when I went back.

I was sitting reading my book when I noticed a young woman in the front row of seats crocheting! With an aluminum crochet hook! Wondering how she got through security, I knew I had to go talk to her. She was a grade-school teacher, and very friendly. She said when she first approached security at entry, she showed them what she had. The male guard even recognized that she had a crochet hook, and said it was "okay". But she had brought nail clippers to clip her yarn with, and they made her take them back to her car! She looked at me and said, "I could do a lot more damage with this hook over nail clippers!" I agreed. I also pointed out that we all had keys, which could be used as weapons, and well as ballpoint pens. She was a beginning crocheter, making a baby blanket. I told her about using the dental floss cutter, and she said she would bring one next time.

At 3:15 p.m. we were dismissed, picking up the proof of our civic duty in photocopy form as we exited. I had succeeded in bringing my knitting, but I didn't have a chance to work on it in the morning, and I was too chicken to go through security with it a second time when I returned after lunch. But they let a crochet hook in, go figure!