I was recently summoned to serve as a juror in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. As a 3L about to graduate, I have had some recent exposure in my classes and internships to the jury selection process. Being on the other side of the process, being in the pool of potential jurors, gave me some unique insights into the process that I think I may not have ever had otherwise. I took many notes during the course of my time in the pool of potential jurors, and I will share a number of these observations in my blog entries during the month of December.  For myself, perhaps the most interesting thing I observed is how the experiences jurors have on the day of jury duty, before entering the courtroom, influence their moods or attitudes once they are in the courtroom.

The case I was in the jury pool for was State v. Curtis Forbes, a first-degree intentional homicide case being tried in Columbia County with a Jefferson County jury. A few weeks earlier, a Columbia County jury heard a Jefferson County case involving two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.  This was reported in the press as an intentional “jury swap” between the two counties.

In the last week of September I received a bulky envelope from the Jefferson County Clerk of Courts, which contained some initial instructions to potential jurors (including a notice that selected jurors would be sequestered in a hotel in Portage for up to two weeks), an order from Columbia County Judge Alan White to not discuss the case with anyone or research the case until released from jury duty, and a lengthy juror questionnaire, which covered the basic questions that would be asked in the early stages of voir dire.

We were instructed to send the questionnaires back within about two weeks, and to appear at the Jefferson County courthouse on Nov. 8^th with two weeks worth of luggage packed. That morning about 116 of us crammed the foyer and entrance to the Courthouse, standing in line for the security screening. The Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies staffing the metal detector were exceptionally well prepared and courteous, yet maintained a level of seriousness to the process that seemed appropriate.

Jefferson County has about 81,000 residents, according to the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, and around 62,000 residents over the age of 18. This means that almost 1 in 500 Jefferson County residents over the age of 18 were in the jury pool for State v. Curtis Forbes that morning! In all of 2009, 1437 Jefferson County residents were summoned to jury duty.

We gathered in the meeting room of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors, and quickly filled the room to capacity, with chairs lining the walls and taking up every available space (with an area for the luggage people had brought in with them). The pool matched the demographics of Jefferson County generally, about an even split between men and women, overwhelmingly (perhaps entirely) white, ages ranging from early 20s to mid 70s, with the majority of people appearing to be between 30 and 59 years old. To this point the mood in the room was subdued, even serious. There had been some small talk among the potential jurors, all done in whispers and quiet voices.

An employee of the Clerk of Courts office stepped to a microphone and addressed us. She explained that we would be paid $20 for our service for half of a day, $40 for a full day, and that we would receive $.485 per mile for mileage reimbursement. She explained to us that a typical jury pool in Jefferson County is at most 30-40 people, and that we were randomly selected from DOT records.

The bailiff in charge of supervising the jury pool spoke to us next. He informed us that the Jefferson County police would be ticketing people who had expired meters or who left their cars parked overnight and towing cars after 72 hours. With the possibility of being sequestered for two weeks on everyone’s mind, this caused a fair amount of commotion in the room, and was made worse when we were informed that no one would be allowed to leave the jury pool without an escort from a Sheriff’s deputy or a member of the Clerk of Court’s staff.

The bailiff then started a juror orientation video featuring Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Randy Koschnick. The video stressed that jury duty is a “high calling,” an “obligation of citizenship,” and among the “highest duties imposed on any citizen”. The video gave an outline of a jury trial, and ended with Judge Koschnick explaining that while jury pool members may be dreading service, he has “had many people ask to serve again” after the experience.

After the video ended the bailiff spoke to us again, and told us that “in five years of doing this no one has ever asked me that, so I don’t believe that last part.”

The bailiff then began what felt like a rehearsed comedy routine about selling a book called “101 Ways to Get Out of Jury Duty.” In a relatively lighthearted way he informs the jury pool that he is really looking forward to being transferred back to the jail in 4 months, because the people in jail generally do what he tells them to. The bailiff also told us a story about a juror who repeatedly appeared to jury duty drunk.

The room became much more animated after the bailiff spoke. People were openly talking with others about what an inconvenience having to serve on the jury would be, and worries about whether they might end up with a parking ticket, with more than one juror noticing that a parking ticket costs more than jurors would be paid for a half-day of jury service.

Finally, a member of the Clerk of Court’s staff returned with a list of about 24 randomly drawn names, these were the people to be included in the first jury panel. My name was not called, and the people that did get called left to be seated in the courtroom. It was about 9:30 in the morning at this point, and we learned that we would all be sitting in the courtroom for the entire voir dire process. We were instructed to line up single file, and the bailiffs and court staff would escort us to the courtroom.

I had been on jury duty for about an hour to this point and already had some general questions about the jury process, and I include them here to spur discussion:

1. To what extent can one good-natured but irreverent individual undermine the seriousness of the jury process? Can and should anything be done about this?
2. In a county like Jefferson with a small population, what can be done to prepare the many people involved in organizing large jury trials for addressing the logistical problems that are bound to arise?
3. If I were a lawyer for one of the sides in this case, how would I use what I knew about the jurors’ morning during voir dire?

As the day progressed I would add several more questions to the above list.