Jury Duty: Gretchen v. Abby

Years ago, I received – as many of us do – a jury summons in the mail. This wasn’t my first time having jury duty; I had previously shown up, on my birthday no less, waited in the enormous jury room for several hours before ultimately getting dismissed for the rest of the day. That wasn’t the case (no pun intended) this time, when I was selected for a civil case involving a car accident.

The Players

Plaintiff

Gretchen (name changed, obviously) was in the car that was hit. Representing her was a goateed prosecutor named…oh, let’s say Jeff. Accompanying him was his second chair, a younger man with long hair who slightly resembled Cillian Murphy; this guy never spoke and seemed to just hang out in the background looking stern and occasionally whispering things in Jeff’s ear.

Defense

Abby was the driver of the car doing the hitting. Defending her was a pair of women who looked eerily similar, only one was just a bit older and had darker hair. I likened them to Eleanor from The Practice and Jane from Drop Dead Diva. During voir dire, one of the potential jurors was eliminated because he knew Jane (their kids went to the same daycare).

Judge

You know how judges in legal shows are quirky with their own eccentricities and larger than life personalities? Totally accurate. This judge was very passionate about his job, starting off with a lecture he probably tells all juries, about the importance of the courts in society as ways to settle disputes (and not, as he told us, duels à la Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr). But he was also someone who you’d never want to cross. He looked a bit like James Avery, so I’m going to call him Judge Avery.

The Trial

All medical professionals and people who participated in lawsuits related to car accidents were eliminated from voir dire. I was the last juror selected, most likely because I raised my hand when Jane asked if we were excited to be there (and in truth, as a legal drama lover, I was). We were all seated and the trial began.

Gretchen’s Testimony

Gretchen testified that her car was hit while she was leaving her driveway and heading onto the main road of her neighborhood. The impact caused her tons of problems. Notably, she was unable to bend down and pick up her grandchildren without difficulty. Eleanor poked a hole that Gretchen’s spinal disc issue could not have been caused by a car accident (I forgot what evidence was shown to support this, but I remember it was compelling).

Jeff projected a map of the neighborhood and, with direction from Gretchen, used his pen to illustrate the angle of Gretchen’s car after it was hit. Every time Jeff went to the middle of the room, he asked Judge Avery for permission – eventually, Avery got impatient and told him to stop asking.

Next, Gretchen’s husband testified as a witness. But, wait, hold on…Judge Avery had to interrupt him for a moment to tell Jeff to stop clicking his pen. The husband continued his story, but didn’t really offer anything substantial. Judge Avery stopped him again to yell at Jeff, who was still clicking his pen. Jeff had to approach the bench to receive a replacement, non-clicky pen, from the judge. I felt embarrassed for Jeff.

Lunch

Halfway through, we recessed for a 30-minute lunch. The cafeteria was cash only, by the way, so if you get jury duty, be prepared for that possibility. The bailiff suggested we bring our food back to the jury room because Judge Avery would get pissed if we were late to the courtroom. I believed him.

Abby’s Testimony

Abby now told her story, and Eleanor illustrated that the accident was technically Gretchen’s fault because Abby had the right of way. The police officer who was at the scene of the accident gave his testimony in support of Abby, and we were later told by the bailiff that putting the officer on the stand was an atypical move. Eleanor and Jane were playing all their cards in Abby’s defense.

The judge had to interrupt again to yell at someone on the jury: “Whoever’s chewing gum needs to stop” like they were in elementary school. At least Jeff was spared this time.

Sequestered

We were led back to the jury room with copies of all the evidence we saw during trial (the map of the neighborhood, photos of the cars’ damage). We flipped through it all, but it was pretty unanimous from the start that Abby was not in the wrong. I even got vibes from the bailiff that it was a pretty cut and dry case. Had we sided with Gretchen, we would have to suggest a dollar amount for damages, but because we didn’t, we all just signed a piece of paper in favor of Abby.

Verdict

We were all led back to the courtroom. Our foreman said what we all decided, and the judge then asked each individual jury member if we agreed. We were sent back to the jury room one last time.

Epilogue

As we all gathered our things, Judge Avery came in without his robes. His demeanor was more casual, and he asked us if we had any questions about how the trial was conducted.

“How did you know I was chewing gum?” asked one person.

“I have ears,” Avery said.

We were given the option to return to the courtroom to critique the lawyers but I opted to leave instead.

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Recently, I saw someone post on social media (I forgot who) that jury duty is the easiest and fastest way to make a direct impact in someone’s life and/or the people in your community. And that responsibility shouldn’t be taken lightly or shirked.

Judge Avery told us at the end that we were to share our experience with any and all who would listen. I got the impression that he thought this was a nothing case, but that he respected Gretchen’s right to attempt to sue Abby.

Now that I have shared this story, I’d like to think I made Judge Avery proud.