I've been missing from action this week because I've been doing jury duty. A few weeks ago I got a jury summons in the mail for the county court's office. This wasn't the first time I received a summons for jury duty, but it was the first that I actually had to go (since you're not required to go if you are a student currently taking classes).

Jury selection was on Monday and I thought that there was no way that I would be picked since I was low on the list. They go in order and eliminate potential jurors based on specific biases you might have. I was number 16 and they only needed 6, so I thought that there was no way they would have to go all the way to number 16. Well, apprarently they didn't need to go to 17 because I was juror number 6.

After juror selection, we were told that the case was a car collision involving a civilian woman and a Travis county deputy. The plaintiff claimed that his client's car was t-boned by a police officer and the county called it her fault. So for two full days we listened to testimonies, looked at evidence, and got to see how the justice system works in this country.

Let me say that though at times it was boring as mud, it was very interesting to see two parties try to argue their way through the case. It wasn't like TV court, but it was funny to see lawyers get all squirmy when evidence was being presented against their arguments. After two full days of evidence, we went into the jury room to begin deliberations.

Deliberations began as we talked about whether or not we had pretty much made up our minds on a decision. Everyone nodded yes, and then we began to talk about who was at fault. We decided to have a show of hands to see if we were all agreement. Someone asked, "Who thinks party A is at fault?"

Everyone raised their hands except me!!!!

"Oh crap," I thought, as I realized that this was going to take longer than I thought. We began discussing all the evidence back and forth, and after about 45 minutes we agreed that BOTH parties were negligent in this case. Then came the decision of what percentage each party was to be assigned blame, as we decided that one side was more negligent than another. After that, it was to be decided how much compensation should be awarded. Definitely a difficult decision, as we were deciding someone's fate there. If this had been a murder trial, I would have felt very unqualified to make a just decision. Fortunately it wasn't. It was only a minor sideswipe in a private parking lot.

Though I've never been to court before, I think I will think twice before going to court. A lot of people will file frivolous lawsuits just to get money. In this case, the jurors discovered during deliberations that the plaintiff attorney was the one getting all the bills for his client's medical costs. He was also listed as the one listed as her "insurance provider". Are the doctor and the lawyer in cahoots? It definitely seemed shady, but you are only allowed to deliberate according to the evidence, and not on your own investigation or intuitions.