Hanabatake

Since Monday was soooo busy at work, I forgot to check into the automated system to see if I had jury duty today. When I woke up this morning at 7:45, I called and found out I needed to be there by 8am to fulfill my civic duty.

After 20 minutes of scrambling, showering, and barely restrained panic, I left the house. The court house for Murrieta City is actually less than 2 miles from my house. Um, the detention center is also pretty near. It’s a little disconcerting when you actually can walk to your regional court house, right?

The courthouse is really quite new. The last few times I had jury duty was when I lived in Los Angeles. I was sent to Compton and Long Beach. I was dismissed from Compton on the first day and Long Beach on the 2nd day of jury selection.

Of course, 8am is more of a time range. I got there at 8:20 and then stood in the security line for 10 minutes before descending into the dungeon known as the Jury Assembly. It’s in a nicely appointed basement area of the Courthouse with comfy chairs and a grotto in the back for those who enjoy the sun.

Apparently EVERYONE in the county was called to the Murrieta Courthouse. Even the outside was taken up by bodies. They showed the “I was a Juror and <3′d it and so can you” video. It’s been updated from the last time I had duty!

I was called upstairs in the second group of 80. They were weeding out jurors who were available for a 2 week trial. The judge told us not to look online if we were available for the duration. Apparently it’s a big trial. But since I was not really available for 2 weeks, I gave my excuses to the court and was sent downstairs to either get sent to a new trial or to be sent home.

10:51 am…. Sent home.

By the time I finished double checking I was free to go, it was 11 and I went home to grab lunch before going into work.

Yes, an awesome day filling my yearly quota of civic duty stuff.

Oh! There was free coffee/cocoa in the basement. That’s worth points right? And now, there’s apparently free wifi and stuff, but I wasn’t there long enough to get on and use the web there. Score!