Who actually gets picked for Jury Duty?

A month or two ago, I received a lovely little surprise in the mail- Grand Jury Summons. The summons said my term of service was for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays between September 7- October 27. I tossed my summons aside and didn't think of them  till shortly before September 7. I informed work that I would have to go to the first day, but didn't make any long term plans for Jury Duty. I assumed that I would be back to work later that day, or the next day- as I was probably too young or too liberal or too something to be chosen for Jury Duty. 

Mistake #1: I didn't know that everyone who receives Grand Jury summons is picked to serve- there is no down select, only deferral. 

Mistake #2: I didn't read the full terms of service. Grand Jurors technically can be obligated to serve for the full term of 18 months. 

Upon reporting on my first day, we were given an orientation and an opportunity to talk to the person running the orientation if we had a reason we could not serve for the full term. Each person who had questions or wanted to express concerns was called into a private room. Of course all of the men wearing suits went back in attempts to get out of jury duty. They all came smiling walking out of the room and proceeded to exit the court room. I don't know why they all acted so smug like they were getting a deal. Though they didn't have to serve with us,  they either had to serve now or defer to January.

As for those who chose to serve now,  we were all shuffled over to the attorney's office building and were shown where we would spend the majority of the upcoming months. 

Frustrating Point #1 of Jury Duty: The morning shake-down

One of the privileges of being a Grand Juror is getting your very own Grand Juror Badge that lets you into a whopping total of 1 room in the District Attorneys Office Building.  Every morning you must go through security, show your badge, put your stuff through an x-ray machine, and pass through a metal detector. We aren't allowed to have computers or phones that have cameras, or metal lunch knives. 

Frustrating Point #2 of Jury Duty: Lunchtime 

Little opportunity to refrigerate your lunch. 1 tiny dorm sized fridge for the use of 115 jurors (there are 5 grand juries). On the up -side, Jury Duty is located near Chinatown, providing one of the most densely populated parts of the city as far as food restaurants/stands. Down-side of area- lunch will cost you at least $10 if you don't eat at McDonalds. The $4 transportation check doesn't quite cover that. 

Jury Duty Location

Results from the search for "food" near Jury Duty.

I have learned a lot in my first couple of days of jury duty. I have learned the difference between a petit/trial jury and the Grand Jury. A Trial Jury decides if a defendant is guilty or not. A Grand Jury has a role before the Trial Jury and decides weather or not to indict a defendant (decides weather or not there is enough evidence to determine that the defendant seems to be guilty and should be sent to trial). The Grand Jury has the lowest standard of evidence. You must have a reasonable suspicion that someone is guilty to indite them. In Trial Jury, you must believe beyond doubt that someone is guilty. 

I have also learned: 

1. That ignoramus is not just a name for your younger sibling

2. That there are roughly 7 different ways to take coke (but infinite ways to hide it, most commonly in your crack- but that is not where crack cocaine get its name- its name comes from the noise when you heat it).

3. The best places in the city to get any drug you want.

4. Though the word "gaitherizing" does not exist in any dictionary or legal book, it is in fact a true legal word, and if you happen to be gaitherizing on any given day, it will be a boring day.

5. That though most of the people we see for drug cases make a living solely from selling drugs, they are not very smart at what they do.

So far in my 4 weeks of jury duty, we have seen drug cases, gun cases, robberies, assaults, kidnappings, and even murder cases. We have had police officers, victims, and even prisoners (yes, dressed in their orange jumpsuits with hands cuffed and feet chained) as witnesses. We have seen roughly 100 cases so far. The standing record for most cases seen by a Grand Jury in DC is roughly 270. We are on track to beat that record, especially since our Grand Jury has been selected for an extended period of service, at least through December, to be able to vote on indictments for a high profile murder case in DC.