The Joys of Jury Duty.....Or something like that

So now that my "Adventure" from last month is done what do I get from Osceola County but a summons for Jury Duty..........So far it hasn't been that bad.........But with my luck I'll be picked for some trial that will go on for ever

Well the day started out that I had to be there by 8AM.........So I get there at about 7:45 and like everything else it seems in Central Florida I had to hurry up and wait in line.They started checking people in at about 8 and they send you into a "Holding Pen" room with about 100 chairs.They had coffee and tea for you to drink and there were vending machines of you wanted pop.....Or soda.....They also have computers there for you to surf or play games.........Although I did learn that they have a firewall that's like Fort Knox it seems........But I brought a book to read so I didn't surf that much and you can' only play so much solitaire before it gets boring.......Anyways the morning dragged and the case that they had was posponed so at 11:15 they sent us on break and said be back at 1:15

Back from lunch and more sitting and reading and time killing..........One other thing they had was a small courtyard with tall walls....A nice little exile for those that needed it :D.........Anyways at about 2 they called 22 people out and I was one of them..They take us up to meet the Judge and lawyers.....They ask a few questions and after that they send us out into the hall.......After a 10 minute wait they call out 7 numbers........Mine was one of them so there I was on a Jury .

The case was the State of Florida VS. Some "Not so fine a man who only spoke Spanish"......For lack of a better name

Anyways,The case was that the defendant was caught shoplifting at a Wal-Mart.There as a Lose prevention Officer who watched someone buy a DVD player and a printer,value of $550.00.As that person was leaving the store he handed his receit to the defendant.The defendant then took a cart and walked back to electonics and took the same items.The officer followed him the whole time and was on the phone with other officers who were watching the other guy that paid for the stuff.The story went that the guy who paid for the stuff just went outside and waited.......Well he must have known he was being watched because he took off running at one point just leaving the stuff on a bench outside.As the Defendant was exiting the store they busted him.Wal-Mart made a copy of the original reciet and also another one showing the stolen merchandise and the time stamp on the 2 was 17 minutes difference.

The defendants "story" was that he was there with a Girlfriend and she was in the store shopping while he was in the parking lot...Or someplace....We were not sure but anyways he was fixing a car..........When he was dome doing that he said he went into the store to look for her.....Called her on the cell a few times and even stood in line because it was busy and they were going to the beach when they were done shopping........He said that when he found her in the store she just throw the receit at him and walked out..........So that's why he had the stuff and walked out without paying for it.........Bunch of crap if you ask me.And his "story" just didn't jive for all the facts

Anyways.....After about 2 hours of being in the court room they then take us back to the deliberation room and that's were the fun starts.........There were 6 of us on the jury,3 guys and 3 ladies..........Well 4 of us knew he was guilty and 2 thought he was too but didn't feel that the state did a good enough job showing the evidence to say he was guilty.At one point the Bailiff came in with coffee and said that he wished we could hear the whole story but that it's the way of the Justice System and what makes it so great.
after about 2 hours it's 7 now and we've all been there about 11 hours or so.....We're hung and there is no turning the 2 so back into the courtroom we go to tell the Judge that.....He says we have to try one more time to reach a verdict and sends us back into the room again.Another half hour and we're back in the Courtroom with the fine ply of Hung Jury........They thank us and let us go.

As we are leaving the room the bailiff tells us that now that we are done he can tell us the Whole story..........Well the "Big Picture" that we were not told was that this is not the first time this guy has done this.He was also in another trial for 18 counts of Stolen purses,handbags,and wallets that they will be able to find him guilty on from one day at the same Wal-Mart.


So anyways....Over all it was an interesting day.I'm thankful that it wasn't a long trial and that it wasn't a murder case or something like that.......I don't know if I could take anything like that.About the only thing I did learn is that if I ever have to do it again I'll do it on a day I'm suppost to work instead of my day off.........And because of that I didn't get paid or anything.