Remember this

Day two was much, much better. No more speeches. That helped for sure. I also drank coffee in the morning instead of tea. Coffee packs more of a caffeine punch. I also ran over to my office during the lunch break--which counted as a brisk walk. That was a good idea. Yesterday, I ate a relatively heavy lunch. Today, I ate a relatively light lunch and I brought snacks: dried fruit, nuts, an apple and a small piece of cheese. I also brought hard candy into the courtroom. I unwrapped a piece whenever it wouldn't cause a disturbance. Also, I took notes like crazy.

I should explain about the notes. Some judges let you take notes, others don't. This judge does, but you can't take them home and after the trial they will be destroyed. So, no writing blog posts "on the job." Not that I don't have some good stories.

For example, there are some confused people on my jury. Confused juror #1 (CJ1) remarked to me today, "Isn't it funny that this jury doesn't have any alternates?" Well, on the day of jury selection, the judge explained to us that there were no alternates. All 12 of us would have a vote, but only six jurors were required, thus there is no need for alternates. I explained this to CJ1, who then said, "Jamy, how do you know this?"

I said, "The judge told us. He explained it."

"Really? When? Was I there?" Heh.

Then CJ1 asked, "Are they going to give us a list of all the names of the people in the case?" To be fair, it's a complicated case and such a list would be helpful.

I said, "No."

"Really, are you sure?"

"They're just going to give us copies of the exhibits. That's it."

CJ1 said, "How do you know all this? Have you been on a trial before?"

I said, "No." You know how I knew the answer to the list question? CJ1 asked the exact same thing to the court officer YESTERDAY. His answer? "No. You'll get copies of the exhibits, but that's it."

Grateful for: good short term memory.