I got a summons while I was pregnant. I had to defer it (because my options were taking a chance at the end of my pregnancy or deferring it 3 months) and then got the flu while I was there.

Here's how it went down: got there (on a Tuesday because heck yeah, Monday was a holiday!), checked in, got a badge identifying me as a potential juror. Sat in a room with a lot of chairs and bad lighting. Got a speech about the importance of jury duty and how it's important, and did we mention this is very important? Watch a movie about it. Reminded again this is important. Here's what the daily schedule will look like if you're not on a jury. If you're on a jury it's determined by your trial judge.

Find a spot where there's an outlet because no way am I killing my phone only like two hours into this. Sit. Wait. Sit. Knit. Wait. Read. Knit. Lunch time. Sit. Wait. Sit. Knit. Wait. Read. Knit. Time to go home. Repeat x3, until the last day when my name gets called. Wait. Wait. Stand. Wait. Walk to another area. Wait. Wait. Get lined up in a very particular order. Wait. Wait. Wait. Stand. Get called in to the courtroom and instructed how to sit. Sit. Wait. Listen to a very slow-talking judge explain how the whole thing will work. Twice. Wait. Come back tomorrow for selection.

I think only one person from the first twelve got dismissed and she was really angling for it so it was probably for the best anyway. Her excuses and answers were pretty obvious and lame, so forcing her to stay probably wouldn't have been productive anyway. Trial starts in the afternoon, finishes on the following Monday. We start deliberation. It's a felony charge and there are racial issues at play (and inconsistent evidence), so there's a lot of going in circles. Can't come to a decision. Come back Tuesday. Still can't come to a decision. Opt to tell the judge we're deadlocked. We're called in individually and asked specific questions about our thoughts on the case and whether we thought our fellow jurors were capable of being impartial or whether there were other things complicating the deliberations. Ultimately, mistrial.

Afterwards, the judge came in and talked to us, said he kind of expected it to be a mistrial given the presentation of evidence and the prosecutor's relative inexperience (it was her first solo case). He let us see his chambers and office area, so that was cool. Also he kept the jury room stocked with candy. No complaints there!

Ultimately it was a lot of sitting and waiting. It was interesting to sit on a jury but if I had it to do over again I'd start hoping to get called first/early so there's less aimless sitting around.

Oh well. Work paid me for the whole thing so yay for that? I honestly think I would rather have been at work.