My Recent Jury Duty Experience

Witnesses

The witnesses are now called in and asked questions. This is where things get interesting because up until this point, you don’t know anything except general information about the case. It gets exciting as well when the attorneys start objecting and the judge intervenes.

Deliberations

After a few days of witnesses and testimonies, both parties rest their case. The judge now instructs the jurors (except the alternates) on deliberations. We were excused, although I misunderstood and thought I had to stay until the deliberations were complete. So I hung out for 2 hours. My day was over anyway so I stayed because I was curious of the outcome. The jurors came back with a verdict and it was not guilty. I was leaning that direction anyway because the plaintiff’s attorneys failed to prove their case with the evidence they showed.

Conclusion

This was a cool experience. It was the farthest I’ve ever gotten in jury duty. Before, I just got as far as the court room and was not picked. Now, I got all the way as alternate juror. Maybe next time I’ll be an actual juror. I don’t mind jury duty and I feel proud to serve, even as an alternate.