Recent Doings and Such - Memorial Day Weekend

Our annual gaming weekend went very well. Carol does an amazing job providing food for 30+ people for three days. I played lots of games with old friends, stayed up until 3 AM every night and had a great time.

Yesterday, my annually designated "day of rest" following the gaming weekend was interrupted by jury duty. Maryland has a "one-day, one-trial" policy meaning you will spend one day or be assigned to one trial and then won't be called again for at least three years. The last time I was called was probably fifteen or more years ago. I was assigned to a jury but the trial ended in a mistrial during deliberations when one juror didn't show up because she thought the court was closed due to the weather. The judge was not happy with her.

To add insult to inconvenience, to get to the court on time, I actually had to get up earlier than I usually get up for work. My juror number was 256 out of 341 which gave me some hope that I wouldn't get called. They went through the jurors fast, though, and I was called into courtroom number 7 as part of a group of sixty potential jurors. The trial involved the armed robbery of two men at a bus stop by a guy with a knife. We went through voir dire and I indicated that I was a government attorney as did several others. They started seating from the lowest numbers and managed to seat a complete jury and an alternate at around juror 236. I was sent back down to them jury lounge where they were passing out the $15 check and dismissing us. My service was over!

I had been concerned about getting assigned to a trial because of my unexpected missing of work last Monday and Tuesday. Of course, once I sat in the courtroom and went through voir dire, it all started to seem interesting, and I was a little disappointed I didn't get seated.

I had lunch, went home and took a four hour nap.