Being a Grand Juror
Although most want to avoid jury duty at all costs, I didn’t…
It was June and July of 2001 when I became a Grand Juror.
I had received a jury duty notification in the mail, and was not going to do it but knew I had to at least, legally, show up at the courthouse.
When the court officer did call my name, and told me I was going to be one of the grand jurors, I thought ‘What have I got to lose? They’re paying me so may as well do my civic duty.’
Upon entering the Grand Jury room, I saw a whole bunch of other people already sitting and waiting for instructions on what to do next. Then a Court Officer came into the room and proceeded to explain what a Grand Juror’s responsibility was…
I hadn’t realized the difference between a grand juror and a regular juror, but found out when the court officer explained it all to us on that first day.
Grand juries indict on evidence alone, provided to them by the Assistant District Attorneys, if there’s enough proof a crime was committed. We didn’t have to decide whether or not someone was guilty; just if there was enough evidence a crime was committed by that person or persons.
The Court Officer also told us to ask as many questions as we had concerning the cases before us before we decided to indict or not.
