A Year Later and Another Jury Summons

Here it is a year later and another juror summons. I get these juror summons every twelve months or so, just like a lot of other folks in my neighborhood. Quite often we can call the jury reporting number the evening before and be informed that we do not have to serve, which in my case is always a welcomed message.

A couple of years ago, I was ordered to answer the summons. I drove over to the courthouse in Oakland parked in the nearby parking garage. I walked on over to the juror assembly room and waited about two hours or so before being instructed to go upstairs to the courtroom.

It was going to be a murder trial.

The defense attorney picked on me immediately. He asked, "What are your feelings about alcohol"? I responded, "I am tired of people using drugs and alcohol as an excuse for their actions."

The defense attorney dismissed me.

It seems to me that anyone who has progressed well enough along into the criminal justice system following arrest that they are sitting a jury to try them for murder is probably guilty. The District Attorney will not bring anyone to trial if he does not have the evidence to convict them. The Defense Attorney knows this and resort to "what are your feelings about alcohol"? Come on!

The juror summons I have here today is ordering me to report to the Superior Court of California on Stoneridge Drive in Pleasanton. Thie is the first juror Summons in twleve years that is ordering me to report to the Pleasanton facility. So I am sort of looking forward to answering this summons, moreso because I will not have to drive into Oakland or Hayward. I can just nonchalantly wander on over to Stoneridge and check it out.

I hope that when I call that juror reporting number the evening before, the message is for me to report.