Fifth day in court

We all came to court with heavy hearts. We held the fate of several people in our hands. We knew we may have to come to a verdict that day. 

We went through security, and headed straight to the deliberation room. We handed in our phones (I had made sure not to wear my smart watch) and got settled. We had to go into the court room for the bailiff (so far referred to as the usher; I think they wear these separate hats depending on circumstance) to be sworn in, and then we could start in ernest. 

What we discussed there has to, obviously, stay private. I think I can say we didn’t find it an easy task. There even were tears. We needed some two hours to reach a verdict. And we found one of us willing to be the foreperson and tell the judge what the verdict was. 

The procedure is that you basically ring for the bailiff, and they then come to the room. Without asking what the verdict is, they go tell the judge. I had no idea in advance that the whole courtroom stays put, waiting for the verdict. I assumed everybody gets on with their business, and only when the jury has reached the verdict do they try to organise that everyone comes back to the courtroom, but no. They just sit there. It can take a long time! At least the judge and the barristers can have their laptops there. Maybe everyone except the defendant can have their laptop there. The defendant is probably forced to just be bored out of their skull.

We lined up again, now in altered order, as the foreperson has to sit in the position of juror number 1. And soon we walked into the courtroom, for the last time. We got a little speech from the judge; he acknowledged that it is a difficult task, and that jury duty always comes at an inconvenient time, but it might be an interesting experience. He thanked us. And then an official asked us if we had reached a verdict, and our foreperson said yes. She asked what the verdict was, and he said "not guilty”. And then the judge thanked us and we were off.

Back in the deliberation room, the bailiff started chucking all our paperwork into a bin for confidential paper material, and told us to keep an eye on our mailboxes; we were booked for another week, but it wasn't clear yet if there would be another case they could put us on. If they needed us, they would let us know by email. If you haven't been told by 5 pm that you're needed the next working day, you're not needed the next working day.

I hope this was the end of my jury service, but I won’t know until I either get another email to call me up, or until the next Thursday, 5 pm, if I don't. Fingers crossed. The judge was right that this isn't interesting experience, but that doesn't mean I want to repeat it…